Carry permit. Would traffic stop make police be more cautious? yea or nay?

GrumpyJoe · Oct 5, 2017

After 27 years as an LEO maybe I can shed some light on this subject. In Ohio when I pull someone over and run their plate, it will tell me pretty much everything I need to know about the owner of the vehicle. This is even before I approach the car. I will know if you have a CCW, warrant, capias, driving and criminal history and if anybody with a warrant is attached to that plate. Also shows me the picture of the owner and co-owner. If a warrant/capias shows up on my screen I will know what it's for. It tells us what county you got your CCW from and when it expires. Do I feel safer? No. I treat every traffic stop the same. Just because I know who owns the car doesn't mean that person is driving it. So all you guys who don't want to show your CCW permit? We already know if you have one. And yes I will always ask the same question after I get your license. Do you have any guns, drugs, bombs, dead bodies, alcohol or anything else that I need to be concerned about inside of this vehicle? I agree that respect goes both way. But also understand the LEO wants to go and see his/her family. So what you might think is disrespect? Is us being very cautious. I hope this helps some.

RNeumann · Oct 5, 2017

GrumpyJoe said:
After 27 years as an LEO maybe I can shed some light on this subject. In Ohio when I pull someone over and run their plate, it will tell me pretty much everything I need to know about the owner of the vehicle. This is even before I approach the car. I will know if you have a CCW, warrant, capias, driving and criminal history and if anybody with a warrant is attached to that plate. Also shows me the picture of the owner and co-owner. If a warrant/capias shows up on my screen I will know what it's for. It tells us what county you got your CCW from and when it expires. Do I feel safer? No. I treat every traffic stop the same. Just because I know who owns the car doesn't mean that person is driving it. So all you guys who don't want to show your CCW permit? We already know if you have one. And yes I will always ask the same question after I get your license. Do you have any guns, drugs, bombs, dead bodies, alcohol or anything else that I need to be concerned about inside of this vehicle? I agree that respect goes both way. But also understand the LEO wants to go and see his/her family. So what you might think is disrespect? Is us being very cautious. I hope this helps some.

The questioning you reference has chewed up about 4 of the 5 pages of posts......stopped for minor infraction and asked a series of potentially unrelated questions.

topbuilder · Oct 5, 2017

" So all you guys who don't want to show your CCW permit?"
I know you are responding to several people. For me, in Texas, there was a duty to inform CCW if any officer requests your ID AND you are carrying. My point was, I will never say the words "I have a gun". My duty is fulfilled when I hand you the plastic. I wait for the next question... which so far varies from one officer to the next.

kenmac · Oct 5, 2017

They don't have a data base here in Al that lets an officer know if the owner of said vehicle has a CCP. There is also no duty to inform ,or even produce the permit if asked to do so.
A CCP here allows you to do to things. 1 carry concealed on your person, and 2. carry a pistol loaded in a vehicle.
We have no permits for long guns. I can have a fully loaded AR on my front seat, and not need any type of permit

GrumpyJoe · Oct 5, 2017

Rneumann. The reasoning behind the potentially unrelated questions? We can tell if you are lying or not. Are you nervous? More so than any normal person getting pulled over? How did you react to my series of questions? Timothy McVeigh was pulled over for not having a license plate. Thats a minor infraction. See what I'm getting at here?

topbuilder. It all depends on how you say "I have a gun". My advice when pulled over is to have your ID and permit already out. Both hands on the steering wheel. Tell the officer that you do have a CCW permit and my weapon is... And then tell him where it is. Honesty can get you out of a lot of things. We may vary on how we do things but we all want the same thing in the end.

TSO · Oct 5, 2017

Honesty goes a long way ... Be honest, courteous, and respectful to the Officers, and they will most likely return the sentiment. They have a job to do. They are trying to catch potential "bad guys" and can often find them on the most minor of offenses (speeding, equipment violations, etc). Don't get butt-hurt or take it personally... It's like fishing. Some fish you can't keep, some you can keep but aren't worth the effort, and some are trophy's you remove from the water.

In Michigan, you are required to advise an officer that you have a CPL permit and are carrying concealed in your vehicle. Chances are, the Officer will ask you where the weapon is and ask you to keep your hands off of it during the encounter. He'll probably appreciate that you are a law abiding citizen that qualifies for concealed carry, and may grant you a warning for the original offense based on that.

I know alot of Police Officers... A very common theme i hear is that someone's attitude or demeanor talks them into a ticket way more often than the actual violation.

LD48750 · Oct 5, 2017

TSO said:
Honesty goes a long way ... Be honest, courteous, and respectful to the Officers, and they will most likely return the sentiment. They have a job to do. They are trying to catch potential "bad guys" and can often find them on the most minor of offenses (speeding, equipment violations, etc). Don't get butt-hurt or take it personally... It's like fishing. Some fish you can't keep, some you can keep but aren't worth the effort, and some are trophy's you remove from the water.

In Michigan, you are required to advise an officer that you have a CPL permit and/or are carrying concealed in your vehicle. Chances are, the Officer will ask you where the weapon is and ask you to keep your hands off of it during the encounter. He'll probably appreciate that you are a law abiding citizen that qualifies for concealed carry, and may grant you a warning for the original offense based on that.

I know alot of Police Officers... A very common theme i hear is that someone's attitude or demeanor talks them into a ticket way more often than the actual violation.

Actually, in MI you are only required to inform IF you are carrying.
If your gun is home in the safe, you don't have to tell the officer you have a CPL.

TSO · Oct 5, 2017

LD48750 said:
Actually, in MI you are only required to inform IF you are carrying.
If your gun is home in the safe, you don't have to tell the officer you have a CPL.

Yeah that was a typo... Was using voice to text and didn't proof read well enough. Thanks for pointing it out

PILOON · Oct 6, 2017

I find that the LEO's initial greeting whenever stopped is what depicts the balance of the encounter.

If he arrogantly simply barks 'License and registration', that sets a bad scene. (here in Quebec it seems the norm)

In Ontario (and some States) it generally starts off with ,example, "pardon me sir but I hope you understand why I have pulled you over". Well I tell you it makes for a much better encounter and very often it ends up with a warning than a ticket.
In fact I leave the encounter and warning is actually welcomed.

Fact is driving long distances one often simply gets carried away due to the boredom and the speed just creeps up especially on some main highways that can handle much higher speeds than posted and with little or no traffic.

As a sales rep that traveled frequently between Montreal and Quebec City I learned that a Monday AM trick was to tail a speeding limo that had red lights behind the front grill as that was a member of parliament in his limo and they never got stopped!

Back then I generally put 30-40,000 miles on a car per year so a few stops was inevitable as was an occasional ticket.
Some well earned but others very frustrating as they suggested quotas being met.