How to handle being cuffed for your own safety

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

wheelgunslinger

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2005
Messages
2,439
Location
0 hours west of NC
On the heels of a couple of other threads and so I don't drift them with this question:
In a traffic stop, if an officer finds your weapon on you and it's legally on you, but they decide to cuff you for your own safety until the stop is over, what should you do?
Clearly, you're not free to leave.

Yes, this happened to me.
 
they decide to cuff you for your own safety
Click to expand...

First off no one needs to handcuff me for my safety. I am not a criminal and am going to do anything to escalate a simple traffic stop into something more serious. It has nothing to do with any gun I possess.

The cop is cuffing you because he assumes you are guilty of something. He just is not sure what you are guilty of yet.

Not much you can do other than tolerate it, keep you mouth shut, and when he takes them off ask if you are free to leave.

Of course if you feel all of this was unwarranted and over the top you can seek out legal counsel to gain recourse. Make sure you know his name ande badge number before he leaves.
 
Yell and cuss at the cop while threatening to sue his life away unless he releases you at once. It wouldn't hurt to mention the names of any prominent political figures you might know.
Yeah that'll work for ya.
 
I too fear this "cuffing for you for your own good" mentality.

When I was in LE school our instructor told us that a majority of the time people will comply with you until you put the cuffs on them. Thats when things go south.

I'm with him on this one, if I were pulled over I would do anything I peacefully could to keep the cuffs from being put on me.

But if I were being cuffed, and I know I did nothing wrong, well, I hope our society hasn't slipped so bad that that will happen.
 
In many jurisdictions this is SOP for someone found to have warrants or a weapon.

You can think all the crazy conspiratorial things you want about it, but it's going to happen anyway.

Do not argue, or fight, you'll only make it worse.
 
For more information...
Why were you stopped? Why did the officer have to "find" the weapon on you? Was it found during a pat-down? Did he spot it some other way? Are you required to provide CCW/HCP with a DL and notify said officer that you are carrying?

Generally (imho)
The cuffing is for "officer safety" more than "your safety," but in LE speak, it means, "I'm not sure who you are, but you do have a gun that you could use to kill me. Then I'd have to shoot you as well. So, in the interest of both our safety...."

I can't speak for other officers, but if you hand me your DL and CCL/HCP/etc, I'm not going to cuff you unless you're doing something else totally crazy to make me think that you're less than all there at that moment. Some officers might be on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to guns. Or "I'm securing any weapon I come across to make sure I don't get killed" types.

I don't think you'd win the "illegally detained" argument in court. As wheelgun said, you're not free to go. Of course, you were being detained on a traffic stop, anyway, so you weren't free to go until the stop was over, regardless of the cuffs.

As to how to handle it- like you'd handle any other encounter with any LE. Relax, don't overreact. If you have a problem with any of the officer's actions, WAIT to take it up later, not on the side of the road. Unfortunately, if you have an encounter with an LEO who decides to cuff you even though everything you are doing is legal, you might not even get a "sorry for the delay." Just write a letter, call the attorney, etc if you believe your rights were violated and file a complaint. The courts tend to side with the officer if someone on the side of the road gets "up in arms" and starts arguing with the officer (especially on tape). Sorry, it might not be right, but that is how it is today.
 
The police deal with bad folks all day, every day. How can they differentiate you from a bad guy who might harm them. The fact is that they cannot, unless they know you personally, so precautions such as these are taken. It is an inconvenience that responsible citizens endure to keep men in blue safe.

The fact is, you can lawfully be detained for a resonable period of time. And this is for "Your Safety" because if you get out of line, it is "Your Safety" which will be in jeopardy. Not to mention, falling on the wrong side of the law is a good way to lose your "privilege" to possess a CCW.

The best thing someone can do is be compliant, if you have done nothing wrong those cuffs will come off as quickly as they went on.

Folks, as for complaining, find something better to do with your time.
 
but they decide to cuff you for your own safety until the stop is over,
Click to expand...

i hate that phrase. im being cuffed for the COPS safety. not mine, im not gonna pull out my gun and shoot myself cause i got a speeding ticket.

aside from that id ask if hed rather just hold my gun. point out that i told him i had a gun. had i intended to harm him i would not have said i had a gun. and ask him how hed like it to be cuffed for no reason.

aslo. my personal fav "you can cuff me/search my car/etc if i can pee in your boot. its a compromise." :)

as a criminal justice major

The best thing someone can do is be compliant, if you have done nothing wrong those cuffs will come off as quickly as they went on.
Click to expand...

that made me laugh
what you did, what your charged with, what they say happend, and what your convicted on are rarely the same thing
 
just tough it through the humiliation, get your car and weapon back, then possibly decide if you want to get his name and badge and file a complaint/seek recourse. It sucks, but thats all you can do. Anything else can be considered 'aggressive or suspicious' behavior and give him the 'right' to look through your car and make it even more humiliating. It could also make you go to jail and make your gun magically disappear.
 
Why were you stopped? Why did the officer have to "find" the weapon on you? Was it found during a pat-down? Did he spot it some other way? Are you required to provide CCW/HCP with a DL and notify said officer that you are carrying?
Click to expand...
I was stopped for having an expired vehicle inspection sticker. I had been stopped and ticketed for the same two days before by the same officer. This time they made sure there were two officers on scene.
Officer found the weapon laying on the seat beside me. In plain view. My hands were on the wheel.
They asked me to get out, secured the Ruger and hooked me up while one searched my car and the other stood there with me.
You don't need a CCW/HCP for vehicular transport or if it's in plain view in NC.

This was a very rural, very wealthy, very small town in the middle of nowhere.
They cited me 4 times in 2 weeks for the sticker.
Even the ADA in traffic court said it was pretty excessive, and dismissed all but one ticket, but still sided with them.
Once I changed vehicles and started driving a Porsche 944, complete with expired sticker, the stops stopped because they didn't know what I was driving.
Them's the facts.
I surmise that they used two officers in that stop to corroborate the story that I gave them permission to search.
 
1. Am I free to go?

2. After that, remain silent and do not give him a reason to take you to jail.
Click to expand...

I didn't know to do #1. So, I kept quiet. They took my silence as me being "hard to get along with."

In the end, they just wrote me more tickets and tried their best to get a rise out of me so they could have an excuse to do more, I guess. I got my gun back after they ran the numbers.
 
Be calm, remember everything, say nothing, consent to nothing and think about the nice fat settlement check you will get from this, and all the ammo you can buy with that money.

That is, assuming you didn't actually break the law.

Get a cell phone that records audio. Learn how to turn it on with one hand from inside your pocket.
 
LEO power trumps human rights, every time.

For some reason this thread reminds me of the photo of the ATF guy talking on his phone while he kneels on the back of the neck of the handcuffed kid who was on his way to Bible chair "pirate and ninja" mixer.

I'd be as polite as possible, and taciturn. These folks have lots of guns, backups, radios, jail cells and a Mike Nifong waiting to destroy your life.
 
I surmise that they used two officers in that stop to corroborate the story that I gave them permission to search.
Click to expand...
Did you give them permission to search? Or did they commit perjury covering each other?

A local guy here had a similar incident, except in his case the cops accused him of trafficking drugs because he was driving at an odd hour (very late or early). He complied as far as was required, refused the search, was detained on the side of the road for a couple hours, grilled extensively and then let go. Little did they realize he was a college professor and a regular columnist in a local newspaper. He blasted the officers and the department in the paper that week. The police chief must have loved getting that kind of publicity with his morning coffee. :p
 
just tough it through the humiliation
Click to expand...

Are we born into this world just to be humiliated and degraded???:fire:

Cooperating with the officer is one thing, but it also means we should pursue full legal compensation possible afterwards. Try not to give them anything they can use against you in court later.
 
Being raised in the gun friendly south I can not even imagine being cuffed for a routine traffic stop. I can't help but wonder why you were driving with expired inspection & why you continued to drive after being reminded?
I know few LEO's that may have taken that as you thumbing your nose at the the law & them if they had already reminded you to get it fixed.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
On police searches of cars
2
Replies
38
Views
2K
Jeff White
J
J
  • Locked
What information should you get from an LEO if they are confiscating your weapon?
Replies
15
Views
705
Reyn
R
T
  • Locked
Punisher Decal gets me PUNISHED!!!
2 3 4 5
Replies
113
Views
9K
RobMoore
R
Old Hobo
  • Locked
Traffic Stops; know your rights under the law
Replies
2
Views
490
Frank Ettin
Frank Ettin
2
  • Locked
New Mexico Supreme Court Rules "Officer Safety" Supercedes Rights
2 3
Replies
64
Views
3K
Art Eatman
A
Back
Top