My late father-in-law was a Texas Ranger. My nephew works for the Texas Department of Public Safety. My son is a special agent in federal law enforcement and also worked as a deputy in East Austin back in 2001. I appreciate their willingness to serve in these difficult and often dangerous fields, and our communities are the safer for it. I know many other honorable folks in other law enforcement agencies, and I appreciate their service to our state and communities. I've also encountered a few that should never have been issued a badge and gun. They're the ones carrying a big chip on their shoulders (probably acquired in their teenage years), and everybody's getting a little bit of their payback. But I'm not writing about them. I see something that's damaging law enforcement's public relations unnecessarily, and it happens daily with traffic stops.
I just saw a news report about an officer in Austin who stopped a vehicle, and when the person got out of his car and started reaching for his wallet, the officer unholstered his pistol and fired off a shot-- thinking the person was going for a weapon. The man ended up going to the hospital for a panic attack. I probably would react the same way. What law enforcement doesn't seem to realize is that the man was doing exactly what he thought he was supposed to do during a traffic stop.
The protocol for traffic stops has obviously changed in law enforcement over the years, but many of the older drivers aren't aware of it. This must be a baby boomer thing, but we were taught that if you get pulled over by law enforcement, you get out of your car and respectfully greet the officer, and then show him or her your driver's license and proof of insurance. That was the normal and acceptable practice for many years.
A few months ago I was driving my father's pickup, and I was pulled over. I knew I wasn't speeding, but then I noticed the license sticker on the windshield was out of date. I knew to stay in the vehicle because I'd been a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over in years past, and when the driver started to get out of the car, the officer yelled at him to stay in the car . The officer acted like we were about to commit a worse offense, and it was frightening and humiliating.
So I didn't get out of the truck, and the officer came over to my window and we talked a while. The conversation was very polite and friendly. I told him that the truck had been parked in the garage and hadn't been driven for a while, but I was sure Dad had received his license renewal, and that he probably just forgot to put it on the windshield. When the officer went back to his car to call in the license number, I opened the car pocket and sure enough, there was the license sticker in plain sight. I pulled it out and opened the pickup door to show him that I'd found it.
The officer screamed at me to get back in the truck-- like in the sixty seconds since we were chatting like old friends, I had somehow become a dangerous threat by opening the pickup door. That shook me up pretty good. And I'd have to say that the screaming reaction on his part didn't make for a good impression of him on my part. I wonder if he would've fired a shot in the air if I'd taken several more steps. We were in a parking lot, so he wasn't yelling at me because of a safety issue.
Why does getting out of the car on a traffic stop make law enforcement officials so paranoid? Does the Academy teach nightmare scenarios of rare situations when something bad happened when people got out of their car? I would think the most dangerous position for the officer in a traffic stop is when he walks up to a vehicle where he can't see the driver's or passenger's hands, which might be holding a weapon. If the driver gets out, the officer knows what he's facing. And I'm not talking about the danger of people getting out of their vehicles on the side of a busy road. I understand that.
If law enforcement continues to teach this protocol of people staying in their cars, part of the lesson should include not automatically assuming that everyone that gets out of their vehicle is fixing to shoot them. Many older drivers think they are doing exactly what they're supposed to do when they get out of their vehicle for a traffic stop.
If you want to change people's behavior during a traffic stop, then re-educate us in a nice, friendly way. Don't scream at us or fire warning shots. Most of us will respond to a normal tone of voice because we already respect the law.
Don't give us reasons not to.
On the other side of the coin: Parents, model and teach your children how to respond respectfully to law enforcement officers as well as anyone in authority. Law enforcement officers have seen more bad behavior outside of war than anyone else in the country, and their job isn't easy dealing with the people who have no respect for life or property or common decency. We don't see what they see most every day.
And just in case you aren't familiar with current traffic stop protocol:
- stay in your vehicle unless the officer says otherwise
- if it's at night, turn on the inside light
- keep your hands on the steering wheel
- speak respectfully
- wait until the officer asks for your driver's license & proof of insurance
- don't argue if you are issued a ticket; if you disagree, you can appeal it
- if you're only issued a warning citation, thank the officer
- remember to not peel out when driving away : )
If you have a handgun, you definitely need to look up the protocol for informing the officer that you are armed and licensed.
Drive safe. All of you.
No comments:
Post a Comment