I Met the Nice Policeman

[shooter45]

I had an interesting meeting with a small town cop, a couple of days ago. I was mixed up in an auto fender bender. When the cop showed up I told him what happened and said I had a cpl and was carrying. He told me to get my papers and my cpl then get in the passengers seat of his car. The report was filed and he said goodbye. No horror story, no problems. He never brought up any firearm questions. I hope all cops are this professional.

 

[Hardtarget]

Nice to have a professional responder. You both handled it right. Makes for a good day.
Mark.

 

[DRMMR02]

You're making it up. Everyone knows cops are smug and arrogant and like to lord their authority over everyone else. What really happened is that he put on a ski mask, grabbed his AR and made you lay on the ground and cuffed you. He also drove to your house and broke your door frame for good measure. You know that's what really happened.


/sarcasm

 

[Mr White]

Are you required in Michigan to tell the cop that you're carrying whanever you have contact with one?

 

[salvador31c]

You're making it up. Everyone knows cops are smug and arrogant and like to lord their authority over everyone else. What really happened is that he put on a ski mask, grabbed his AR and made you lay on the ground and cuffed you. He also drove to your house and broke your door frame for good measure. You know that's what really happened.

yep happens to me everyday while carrying na just kidding

 

[shooter45]

Yes, in Michigan it is required to tell any law officer you are carrying if you are officially stopped.

 

[R-Tex12]

Shooter45 wrote:

"Yes, in Michigan it is required to tell any law officer you are carrying if you are officially stopped."

Same in Texas. The nice officer (who clocked me at more than 10 mph over the limit) asked me if I would "Please hold it down" after having examined my DL & CHL. Gotta love the Texas Highway Patrol. I've never been mistreated by them, even when I deserved to be.

Rick

 

[Ryder]

Officially meaning only if you are asked for identification. Yup, a majority of the cops around here are good people. I give them the benefit of doubt but then it doesn't take me long to identify an A-hole. Sterotyping them as being all good or bad is a prescription for disaster.

 

[scout26]

Did you get your coffee can back ????

 

[yhtomit]

Texas cops, below par in my experience

And I'm using "below par" in the sense of "better than average"

I've never been stopped speeding in Texas, but have met a few patrolmen -- in West Texas, I got stopped twice in one night for the same headlight outage; the 2d cop was nice enough about it having seen that I already had a warning from the 1st. Both were appropriately courteous and professional. It took some time to get used to living in Texas, but unfriendly cops were never one of my complaints.

On the other hand, I've heard horror stories about Texas cops as well as others; my dad's had an unpleasant encounter with the New Jersey highway patrol (which has a poor reputation for ... well, what? "customer service"?), and I've been hassled with a speed trap in -- if I'm recalling correctly -- Shelby County, TN.

I don't carry right now (school in Philadelphia, two factors for the high price of one), but I do have a license to do so; I wonder if my plate is linked to a database of CCW holders, such that a PA policeman at least would know that I had it.

timothy

 

[Evil Monkey]

Good. At least the cop didn't say something like "Don't you see the deer's heart beating?"

 

[CornCod]

The New Jersey State Police is an odd outfit. They have a kind of paramilitary tradition. They were founded by Norman Schwartzkopf's father, a World War One calvary commander. They have rigid discipline, excellent training and espirit de' corps. They wear uniforms faintly reminescent of those from Hitler's Germany. Prior to the 1960's, they actually lived in barracks like soldiers. Just after the Korean War, my father passed the test for the NJSP, but decided that a married man should go home at night! They are all muscleheads and spend hours a day at the weights and look like professional weightlifters.

Well, fifty years ago they kept the peace in rural areas. Now, essentially, the whole state is served by local police departments, so 95% percent of these well-trained, militaristic, body-builders ride up and down the two big North/South highways in NJ, the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike, giving out traffic tickets. They are frustrated men. Its sorta like telling an Airborne Ranger that his main task in World War Three is to act as a security guard at the local seven-eleven.

No excuse for a cop being rude, but as Paul Harvey used to say, that's.....the....rest...of the story.

 

[BullfrogKen]

yhtomit said: I wonder if my plate is linked to a database of CCW holders, such that a PA policeman at least would know that I had it.

PA doesn't even maintain a state registry of CCW holders. Every local Sheriff Dept maintains its own. Its one reason we have such a problem with reciprocity in other states.


Back on topic. . .

The best man in my wedding was out groundhog hunting a few seasons ago with a friend; nice summer day, wide open fields, big rifles with big scopes. An old 60 some year old policeman he knew from the county came up the lane to say hi, with his "rookie" in tow. "Rookie" discovers they have rifles as he gets into conversation distance, unsnaps and makes a positive grip . . . Vet says basically, "You $%^*%!!! Put that #% ^^#$ thing away before you get your @$% handed to you. If they wanted to shoot your @$%, they woulda done it 10 minutes ago before you got close enough to say hi. You better learn how to better deal with the public, boy, if you wanna last long on this job."

"So, Joe, how are the wife and kids, anyway . . . "


At one time it was considered unprofessional and a sign of immaturity to not know how to appropriately interact with others. Time and experience taught the officer when he can't, and in the meantime they were mentored to learn the clues to be able to tell the difference. Some still do. Others without the ability hide behind zero tolerance, procedures, and officer safety while they go to guns on everyone without discretion.


I had an entirely opposite encounter when I was groundhog hunting before I was married. I haven't hunted in 5 years as a result of it.


The unintended consequence of treating everyone like a criminal causes the public to remove its trust from those claiming to protect us.

 

[DRMMR02]

Well it's not a claim. They do protect us. It's night time now. Why don't you grab you weapon and a big flashlight, hop in your car and drive around all night trying to deal with all the druggies and thugs out there? No, instead, you'll go to sleep tonight, while they're out there putting up with societies worst.

 

[DReicht]

^Not everyone has that benefit of police that work to protect them. I would agree that the majority does, but there are some bad cops out there, in several different senses.

Wasn't there a Supreme Court Case awhile ago that ruled it not the job of the police to protect the people? Or am I pulling something out of some false memory?

 

[SomeKid]

I've been hassled with a speed trap in -- if I'm recalling correctly -- Shelby County, TN.

Shelby Co is Memphis. Though I would like to blame it on the fact that Memphis is to TN like Denver is to CO, or SanFran to CA, our 'protectors' love the traps all over this state. Though, I hear they are the worst in Memphis.

PA doesn't even maintain a state registry of CCW holders. Every local Sheriff Dept maintains its own. Its one reason we have such a problem with reciprocity in other states.

It may be a reason for some states, but yours is good in TN. Funny, ours isn't good in your state though. I think THAT is why your state has so few. Quite a few states work on a 'recognize us and we do you' standard. Though for all I know we aren't recognized because of our own lazy government agents. Then, you are also bordered by WV, MD, NJ, and NY. Sucks to be you guys.

 

[Doug.38PR]

I Met the Nice Policeman

There is such a thing? Just kidding.

I have had a total of 5 encounters with LEOs since I got my CHL. 2 in Marshall, Texas; 1 in Corrigan, Texas; 1 (and he had a partner standing by him as backup) in Crossett, Arkansas; and 1 in Sterlington, Louisiana.

All 5 were positive encounters. The CHL and/or gun even made a good conversation or comment piece on the part of the officer.

 

[BullfrogKen]

SomeKid said: It may be a reason for some states, but yours is good in TN. Funny, ours isn't good in your state though. I think THAT is why your state has so few. Quite a few states work on a 'recognize us and we do you' standard. Though for all I know we aren't recognized because of our own lazy government agents. Then, you are also bordered by WV, MD, NJ, and NY. Sucks to be you guys.

Well, it wasn't good in TN when I drove down to Chattanooga to get our female Jack a few years ago. Its a fairly recent recognition. Actually, I think it occurred a month or two after our trip. I went down through the states that recognized it relying on my Utah permit. And those that didn't . . .

In fact, driving down through VA, my wife drove the first "leg", and got stopped for speeding on I-81 about 1/2 way through. As the officer approached, about 3 yards from the open window, she got nervous, turned to me and asked, "Where's you gun?" I gave her a very cold , and it shut her up. After he drove off she and I had a talk about how she is to never, in any way, under any circumstances, to acknowledge I have a gun on my person, to anyone.

SomeKid said: Then, you are also bordered by WV, MD, NJ, and NY. Sucks to be you guys.

Actually, sucks to be them . . . .

 

[lostngone]

Cops, not all bad.

Myself and a 2 other people were going to drive out of town to shoot in the woods it was about 9:00 at night we each brought about 8 guns. On the way a police officer heading in the other direction pasted us turned on this lights did a 180, at this point I realized this could be very bad. We had guns everywhere in the car, we were not speeding but the car had a burned out headlight. We told the driver to just pull over. The driver said with a straight face, "Maybe he isn't coming after us" we are on a deserted road with nothing around. The police officer had not reached us but closing fast, thats when the driver told us HE HAD A WARRANT OUT FOR HIS ARREST!! At this point I'm thinking we are so dead. I pretty much thought I was not going to make it out alive. I went to school with this guy but I wouldn't call him a friend.
Anyways to make a long story short the driver pulled over and the police officer asked for our IDs, asked about the guns and what we were planning to do. He didn't even make us get out of the car! He advised us that he was going to have to arrest the driver for the warrant.

Here is the really cool part, he let all three of use follow him to the police station and then placed the driver under arrest at the station. Pretty trusting police officer if you ask me. The only reason I can think for him to do this was he didn't have any back-up in the area and he didn't want to risk a confrontation with three armed people in the middle of nowhere. It was still pretty cool.

The warrant was a bench warrant for unpaid speeding tickets, we posted bail for him and went shooting about an hour later.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

Oddly, a CCW license seems to have gotten my mom out of a speeding ticket, and she had no driver's license on her. She said, "I seem to have left my driver's license at home. All I have is this." She handed him her CCW license, and he just told her to keep the speed down and make sure to always have her driver's license with her when she drives in the future. Seems odd, but I hear this occasionally, i.e., that some cops seem to give you a break if you have a CCW license. Seems counter intuitive, based on the attitudes so many cops on The High Road seem to have about CCW license holders.

 

[Boxerrider]

>You're making it up. Everyone knows cops are smug and arrogant and like to lord their authority over everyone else.

It isn't their fault, they're all victims of public education.

In my experiences with Texas LEOs professionalism and politeness have been the rules instead of the exceptions.

Enjoy!

 

[Big Calhoun]

TX: From my recent CHL class, I got the impression that you don't want tot get stopped by locals in any of the metropolitan areas, CHL holder or not. I first started to get that impression after I moved here and seeing what Harris County was doing relative to the whole 'travelling' nonsense. But I take it take that in TX, rural and DPS officers are the 'best in class'.

Now, one question...Texas Rangers...do they perform traffic stops or are they into more specialized stuff?

NJ: From 10 years in New Jersey, I will say that it is hit or miss depending on where you are and who you are dealing with. I will preface this by saying that I am black...cause the next statement may shock a few...

In the 3 or 4 times I had contact with NJSP (before and after the whole 'racial profiling' thing), I have NEVER been mistreated. NEVER! I do agree that some Troopers are arrogant (well, a lot of them) and they do have this military thing going on. But as far as professionalism and *my* experiences, ALWAYS above board and professional. Out of those 3 or 4 contact, I recieved 3 or 4 warnings...never a ticket. Now, I can look 'thuggish' on certain days so I don't know. But I always though NJSP got a bad rap over that.

Locals....hit or miss. For the most part, my experiences were pleasent. I've had some negative contacts in Long Branch and Ocean Township. Incidentally, the contact in Ocean Township was by an officer that ended up getting fired for true racial profiling and harrasment. On the flip side, I've had very pleasent contacts elsewhere in Monmouth County (Freehold and Red Bank). Middlesex county (East Brunswick and Old Bridge) also didn't fair too bad. It just depends on where you go.

BTW...'contacts' means traffic stops.

 

[Doug.38PR]

Now, one question...Texas Rangers...do they perform traffic stops or are they into more specialized stuff?

The Departement of Public Safety (state troopers) are (I think) a branch of the Texas rangers. So technically they do make traffic stops. But actual Texas rangers are (I think) a more investigative agency (like the FBI)

 

[mole]

I was pulled over twice in two days while carrying. Saturday morning and Sunday night (last night). My fuel pump died and I had to borrow my father's beat up old suburban. First was a police officer who wanted to inform me that the rear doors didn't fully close. Second was a deputy who wanted to let me know that a bolt had came out of the tag and it was hanging lopsided. Both were polite and neither said anything about the pistol on my hip (GA requires a permit to open carry). Both times I got out and walked to the back of the suburban to look at the problems. I had a jacket on over the gun, but the bottom of the holster was quite visible.

My experience with the GA state patrol has been the exact opposite.

I know an older gent who used to work for the NJ state patrol back in the 50's and 60's and he described them much as Corncod did.

 

[Big Calhoun]

I think one thing that contributed to my experiences in NJ with the Troopers is my attitude. My father was a state tropper (not in NJ) and then went to a state investigative office. So I've always have respect for police. So it's no big deal for me to lower the window, turn on the interior light, leave my hands on the steerin wheel and answer with No Sir, Yes Sir/No Mam, Yes Mam.

I truly believe a little bit of courtesy goes A LONG way, even with some of the most hardened officers.