PoliceLink

Just sort of a spin off of the impersonator thread. Here is my question, and I  have had it asnwered by my husband, an Officer but I want the input of the rest of you that aren't afraid of answering me cause you sleep with me. :)

I have an 18 yo daughter, and with the increase of fake LEO's and impersonators on the road I have very strongly taught her that if she is out at night, and lights go on behind her, she is to SLOW DOWN, put on her flashers, and keep driving. She is to call 911 on her cell phone and verify that it is an officer behind her, and to drive to a populated location before pulling over.  Now, on your worst day of patrol in your worst mood, how would you guys react to a child doing this? Obviously we have respect for the law and we live with it. BUT my girl's safety is far too important to take chances with. As Officers and/or Dads- what is your reaction?

Thanks

well i hope i can add alot to your question.  first, telling her to call 911 is rather risky.  this now takes her attention off the roadway and puts her talking on the phone.  probably swerving all over the road, causing the officer to believe he might have a drunk refusing to stop.  i am not sure where or why someone along the line told people to call 911 if they are being pulled over by anyone.  sorry but none of the agencies that i know of in the state of tennessee call their traffic stops in to the 911 office.  i never have and have never heard of any officer doing this.  also, this ties up an emergency line and takes the 911 dispatcher's time possibly away from a call that really needs attention.  sorry but if 911 gets on my radio and asks if there is an officer in the county, city, or state that is attempting to stop a vehicle at a certain location, they are probably not going to like what is said back to them and what advice the person getting stopped is going to recieve. 

now with her slowing down, paying attention to the roadway - NOT calling 911, turning on her 4 way flashers would be enough for me.  that means to me that the driver of the car knows i am back there and i am trying to stop them.  i fully understand that they want to be sure for their safety and i can respect that.  dont drive on and on for about 5 miles and think that i am not gonig to get a little upset, but in a lit up and secure location is fine.  drivers must also realize from our stand point what is going through our head.  what is this person doing and why are they not stopping?  turning on the inside light when the vehicle is stopped also is a help.  notice when the vehicle is stopped, not driving down the road because that makes it harder for some to see. 

we as officers, i believe that when we decide to stop a vehicle, we do our best to try and make the traffic stop in a safe location.  now this isnt always possible, especially in the county where the shoulder of the road is a ditchline.  but if i am stopping a vehicle, especially for a minor traffic violation, i dont have to stop you immediately.  i can follow for awhile to make it safe for both myself and the driver of the car.

hope this helps.

vsp305 says ...

Let me add one more thing, turn on the dome light inside the car and signal to the officer that you see him like motioning up the road with your hand. Most will understand this and have no problems after seeing this. Once she's sure the officer has seen her, she can cut off the inside light as it does tend to interfere with one's vision a bit.

I have worked in some really rural counties in my career, and sometimes there's not a street light in the county, the nearest town may be 20 or miles away, best you can do then is just find a safe place and pull over.  I'd suggest she only partially roll down her window, until she is positive the man is in uniform.  Most plain clothes officers won't make stops unless it's really bad like DUI or something.

That would help alot. What most people don't know (especially those who always claim discrimination on every stop), is that we don't KNOW who we are stopping. Like hcgale said, if she slows but starts swerving all over the road while digging out her phone or making a phone call...I don't know if its a DK I'm dealing with, someone who's looking to dump some dope, or someone looking to bail on me. We tend to think the worst.

I'm with Tommy, put on flashers and continue to the closest area with other people (witnesses). i.e., store, mall, any business that is open at that time. Ask the Officer for his or her department ID, that should be plenty of reassurance that she is dealing with an LEO.

Georgia_Cop says ...

hcgale says ...

sorry but none of the agencies that i know of in the state of tennessee call their traffic stops in to the 911 office.  i never have and have never heard of any officer doing this. 

Wow.  That in and of itself is an officer safety issue.   WIth the rare exception, my blue lights don't go on until I've given the traffic stop details.

 

Anyhow, no veteran officer worth his salt is going to give a woman a hard time for safely finding a well lit, public area in which to stop.  If nothing else, it also helps the officer remain safer than stopping on a dark stretch of road.   Hot heads and rookies are a different matter.  The "respect my author-ity" <<said in my best Cartman voice......mentality make them do some pretty boneheaded things.

I think the Phrase for that is "Contempt of Cop"  Lot of Younger guys have it at first, unfortunately, some older ones too.

All the advice here is great, But there has to be common sense on both parts.  We all know what the "local" cop car looks like where we live.  If she speeds past a marked car parked on the side of the road observing traffic she should pull over to the far right of the roadway at the safest point as soon as practical. On the other hand if its a set of lights that just appear behind her then she should do what the rest of the officers on this page said, the ones I think are the best are always turn on the flashers and interior lights so the officer knows she is aware she is being stopped and don't make any movements that could be confused with hiding something or maybe reaching for a weapon, and getting to a area with lights and people...like a store parking lot is a safe bet for all involved.  I also think outside those few idiots that every department has the officer will appreciate and understand why she did not pull over right away.  I know I would. 

Thanks everyone. I really didn't think about the going for the phone part, so we will take that out of the equation. She knows I better not catch her talking and driving, so yea, she would have to move around for the phone. She also knows this only applies at night. From where she works to where she lives (she is at college) are all dark country roads. She knows if she gets caught in the daytime she is to respect and react immediately. She also knows that all Officers in our state are required to carry ID and she knows what a real one looks like cause Dad has one and we showed her. She also knows, cause this happened here, if a REAL Officer tells her - do me or go to jail tell his A@@ to take her to jail. She is a good kid and very respectful, so our concern is not that she disrespect an Officer, all our children have been raised that you don't ever play THAT trump card. She does have a thin blue line sticker on her car, not to get her out of trouble, but mostly because I believe the majority of officers on or off duty, seeing a young girl broke down, will help her. Thats why we put it on her car, for safety. If she's speeding give her the ticket and call her Momma!

The rookie thing- last fall I had one pull me over and write me up. Yes, he saw my sticker. He asked if I was related, I respectfully answered my husband, asked what department, I told him. He wrote me up. I don't find that significant. Would I find significant was it was for a burned out tail light. Not speeding, not running a stop sign, not careless and reckless. A tail light. I had a burned out tail light. OK- which one of YOU would write up another Officers wife for a tailight?????? Dang Rookie- was so PROUD of himself and that little book.

Oh and about the tail light ticket, was it burned out?  If he doesn't write at least one or two tail light tickets in his career to the average citizen then some slimey, scumbag, weasel of a defense attourney (souless excuse for a human being) will use that fact to raise doubt and suspicion about the reason he target his black/hispanic/asian/white trash client who just happened to be up to something bad when his case finally goes to trial.

That Rookie made a moral and ethical choice that should never be second guessed except by the Rookie himself.  Don't sweat the small stuff and Keep up the good Parenting.

911 centers do have direct access to the police dispatcher. While I'm certainly the first to say "hang up and drive". A person, slowing down, being attentive and calling 911 is not a bad thing to do. the 911 dispatcher can notify the police dispatcher, a push of a mike button and the officer knows what's going on. Happens daily.

If memory serves me right.  (Big if)  Some thing like this happened in WY back in the mid 1990's.  A young female college student was speeding through nowhere WY in the wee hours of the morning.  She was alone.  A slick top WHP unit attempted to make a stop on her.  She refused to stop and continued down the highway with WHP lights and sirens behind her.  If I remember right she went several miles (40 or more).  She finally stopped when a second unit arrived.  She was charged with Obstructing a Peace Officer.  (I'm not 100% sure of the charge.)  But all charges were dropped except the speeding.  Does anyone have any info on this case?