The official "Ask a cop/deputy anything!" thread

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Hmmm! I once asked a guy if he knew why I pulled him over. His response: "...Because I'm terribly good looking and you wanted to get a close-up?!?"

I laughed!

It was even funnier because he was from Australia or New Zealand, so the accent added humor to his ridiculous statement.

So, you got his number then?

[MPBK]

When you're off duty, out of uniform, are you considered a regular Joe and for all legal purposes and intents, required to follow the same rules that we must follow, or is LEO a 24x7 appointment?
For example, do you carry department gun, or no gun (since it's CA).

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by MPBK

When you're off duty, out of uniform, are you considered a regular Joe and for all legal purposes and intents, required to follow the same rules that we must follow, or is LEO a 24x7 appointment?
For example, do you carry department gun, or no gun (since it's CA).

Yes and no. Being a Police Officer/Sheriff's Deputy/State Trooper or Highway Patrolman makes you a peace officer 24/7. Correctional/Probation/Parole Officers fall under a different penal code, and thus, their police powers are not the same. In most cases I'm just a good witness off-duty, however, if I choose to act and display my badge/gun, I am immediately considered to be on-duty (...and everything I do from that point forward must be in accordance with case law, state law, federal law, and departmental policy; I can also employ only that which I have taught/trained by my department). So in essence, I can effect an arrest any time (...and in certain/limited cases I am required to act), but.....I also need to take into account that I don't have back-up, a radio, etc. (...although I do keep my department issued radio with me most of the time when I'm off-duty - mostly because I have to charge it at home - and I keep a spare tactical vest with rifle plates, a cloth badge on the front and "SHERIFF" on the back in my trunk for SHTF moments.......like Las Vegas), I must be mindful from a tactical perspective. I keep the phone numbers to the stations in areas that I frequent most should I need to get in contact with somebody; there's also 9-1-1 for the emergent stuff.

I carry a firearm EVERYWHERE I go; often at least two. I don't even walk down to my mailbox without a firearm in a pocket or tucked in my waistband. The only place I wouldn't/can't take a weapon is into a bar, but I don't drink anyway, so a bar is not a destination spot for me. I don't carry my department issued firearm off-duty because it's too big to easily conceal based on my style of dress, plus I leave it in my work locker. I carry one of 5 or 6 other handguns/revolvers that I have at home; my Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact accepts the larger 17-round magazines from my full-size department issued M&P. With that said, I most often carry my Sig Sauer P365 with a 15+1 capacity; a rather tiny, easy to conceal package.

P.S. You can carry concealed in California with a CCW. I had a CCW before I worked in law enforcement. The only problem is reciprocity among the states. California doesn't recognize CCW's from other states, so as a result we get a big "Fuck you!" from every state except Texas and Arizona (...if I remember correctly) because of our failure to recognize CCW's from other states. The county you live in will determine whether or not you can successfully acquire a CCW here. San Bernardino/Orange/Ventura/Kern counties issue almost all of the time. Los Angeles County never issues; San Diego county issues sometimes. In San Bernardino and Orange counties, there are thousands upon thousands of licensed CCW holders. Law enforcement working in those counties are used to coming across citizens with CCW's. The last time I checked, there were over 8,000+ CCW permits out of San Bernardino County; 5,000+ out of Orange County. Los Angeles County had less than 250 (...politicians and friends/associates of the old Sheriff), and I believe quite a few of those have been retracted because of the nature in which they were issued.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

So, you got his number then?

Yep.....


....right along with his autograph.......on a citation. Kidding! I didn't cite him.

[Sedan_Clan]

My aforementioned Sig Sauer P365 off-duty rig.


*Mods, if posting this is a problem I will remove it.

[DocL]

My CCW is a Sig 938. I have a P228, but it is a little too big to conceal.

[colorado.e9x]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Hmmm! I once asked a guy if he knew why I pulled him over. His response: "...Because I'm terribly good looking and you wanted to get a close-up?!?"

I laughed!

It was even funnier because he was from Australia or New Zealand, so the accent added humor to his ridiculous statement.

Adding that to the book

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by DocL

My CCW is a Sig 938. I have a P228, but it is a little too big to conceal.

ditto among others including kel-tec .380 and S&W .357 scandium

[DocL]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

ditto among others including kel-tec .380 and S&W .357 scandium

I also have a Kel-tec P3AT and a S&W M&Pc 40. Us guys also need accessories for our clothes.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

I'm reside/work relatively close to you IF the information on your profile is correct.

Yep in Burbank now. Met a GPD officer who does canyon drives as well.

He came to a friends while on a noise complaint call (I was working on car) but he stayed to talk cars lol

It's not you is it?

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

Yep in Burbank now. Met a GPD officer who does canyon drives as well.

He came to a friends while on a noise complaint call (I was working on car) but he stayed to talk cars lol

I have buddies at both Burbank PD and Glendale PD. What was the GPD officer's last name?

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

I have buddies at both Burbank PD and Glendale PD. What was the GPD officer's last name?

Officer Saunders. He has a great list of cars haha

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

Officer Saunders. He has a great list of cars haha

Ahhhh, ok! I don't know him. It's cool when law enforcement officials relate, or attempt to relate, to citizens they serve and protect. It helps to bridge the chasm a bit.

[pennsiveguy]

Several years ago, I was pulled over for...um...operating my vehicle in a very expeditious manner. I had my license and proof of insurance waiting for the officer when he got to my window. He gave them a quick look and began our conversation with "Why were you going so fast back there?" I answered truthfully with "Because I didn't see you." He had to try really hard not to laugh. I got a stern verbal warning and a paper souvenir of our brief but enjoyable time together. I considered this a good outcome.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Ahhhh, ok! I don't know him. It's cool when law enforcement officials relate, or attempt to relate, to citizens they serve and protect. It helps to bridge the chasm a bit.

When they rolled up I was under the car and based on the conversation I thought it was my friends neighbor stopping by.

My friend goes hey Phil come and meet them. I get out from under the car and it's two cops LOL. Then we just spoke about our cars and his cars and our mods.

Should we all go for a canyon cruise once?

[F30lolz]

I was about 45 minutes away from home this morning when my wife called and told me that our son may have broken his arm playing soccer (he was playing goalie). My wife was going to meet me at either his school or at home as she would most likely beat me there as she was closer. I hit 130 MPH on the highway as I was nervous for him and wanted to be with him. Was I a idiot going that fast? Yes I’ll admit that but it was only for maybe a few seconds before I slowed down.

Still wrong, however, if you would have clocked me at that speed, would you have drawn your weapon at me upon approaching me? Would my reasoning be enough to give a warning, escorted me to my sons school or jail?

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

I was about 45 minutes away from home this morning when my wife called and told me that our son may have broken his arm playing soccer (he was playing goalie). My wife was going to meet me at either his school or at home as she would most likely beat me there as she was closer. I hit 130 MPH on the highway as I was nervous for him and wanted to be with him. Was I a idiot going that fast? Yes I'll admit that but it was only for maybe a few seconds before I slowed down.

Still wrong, however, if you would have clocked me at that speed, would you have drawn your weapon at me upon approaching me? Would my reasoning be enough to give a warning, escorted me to my sons school or jail?

"Off with his head!"

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

When they rolled up I was under the car and based on the conversation I thought it was my friends neighbor stopping by.

My friend goes hey Phil come and meet them. I get out from under the car and it's two cops LOL. Then we just spoke about our cars and his cars and our mods.

Should we all go for a canyon cruise once?

I'm totally down...........but not Angeles Crest. My CHP buddies love to issue citations there.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

I was about 45 minutes away from home this morning when my wife called and told me that our son may have broken his arm playing soccer (he was playing goalie). My wife was going to meet me at either his school or at home as she would most likely beat me there as she was closer. I hit 130 MPH on the highway as I was nervous for him and wanted to be with him. Was I a idiot going that fast? Yes I’ll admit that but it was only for maybe a few seconds before I slowed down.

Still wrong, however, if you would have clocked me at that speed, would you have drawn your weapon at me upon approaching me? Would my reasoning be enough to give a warning, escorted me to my sons school or jail?

While the situation wasn't emergent, I would have understood. If I had kids and they were injured - and a broken arm is significant - I would race home too. I would tell you to slow it down; putting yourself at risk by driving at those speeds won't help you or your daughter should something unfortunate occur...........but again, I get it.


As far as drawing my weapon....


....it depends on the totality of the circumstances (..the car you're driving, neighborhood, etc.), but not likely. I exit the vehicle with my weapon drawn often, but I also patrol a gang infested city.

[dogbone]

In my 20 years of living in Los Angeles, I wish I had encountered more reasonable police officers like you. The ones I have came across were just downright mean to me. I have a 100% clean record---no speeding tickets in 20 years. My paperwork is in order. No outstanding/unpaid issues. I am polite. I answer all their questions. I don't give them any attitude. For goodness sake, for many years, I used to work on the tv show America's Most Wanted. I used to record John Walsh's voice-overs every week and mix the show. You'd think I would have a little good karma from that......nope.

I have a long-running build thread for my E90 M3 track car in the E90 track sub-forum, and in June 2018, I complained of an encounter I had in May 2017 that ended up with a point on my license.

I didn't even know I had a point on my license until I was talking to my insurance. It took a year for the point to even show up. We were moving out of CA, so I was dealing with insurance logistics. While sorting out all the details, the prices seemed high, and I asked why, and that's when I was told I had a point on my license......At first, the insurance people couldn't even figure out what had caused it. The whole thing was so sneaky!

In May 2017, a cop pulled me over while I was towing my enclosed trailer with my track car from storage to my house. (I was preparing for a track day the next day.) I was sitting at a light in LA @ Sepulveda and Venice. The cop was sitting in a parking lot set back from the street while I was sitting at the light. Once I turn onto Venice Blvd, he lights me up and pulls me over. He walks up to my hitch setup and stares at it for like 2 minutes---literally 2 minutes. I have an Equalizer-brand weight-distribution hitch with sway control which is more complicated than just a ball hitch. (I've tried to build a safe trailer rig----air springs on the truck so it doesn't sag, a weight distribution hitch, sway control, a camera on the back of the trailer, regular axle maintenance, reflective tape even though my rig isn't long enough to require it, I always check the tire pressures......this is not a garbage unsafe setup.) After a couple minutes, he starts taking pictures of my hitch.

Finally, he comes up to me and says (this is word for word the exact conversation), "Are you the owner of this truck?" Yes. "Who owns the trailer?" Me. "What are you carrying?" An automobile. "Is it new or old?" It's a 2009. Would you like to see it? "No. I'm citing you because your emergency brake cable is not attached correctly." I'm sorry. How should it be attached? He explained how it should be and then asked for my license and registration.

At first, he tells me to stay in the vehicle. Then, he changes his mind and has me exit the vehicle and look at the hitch with him. Then he leaves me standing there and goes to his cruiser. While he was in his cruiser writing a ticket, I pulled out a carabiner from my truck and fixed it right there on the spot. When he came back with the ticket, I asked, "is that how it should look?" He got a sheepish look on his face and said, "yes, that's how it should be." He handed me the ticket and took off.

Now I know why he had that sheepish face----it turns out, he cited me with the nastiest possible version of the ticket he could. It was listed as a not-correctable offence, with points and no traffic school option....I'm sorry, but how is it not correctable when I fixed it right in front of him????

I don't have any experience with tickets. So, I hired a generic traffic ticket lawyer for the trial in Nov 2017. They told me to just let them handle it on my behalf. They accomplished nothing. (In fact, I think they hosed me worse.) The cop showed up at the trial and the judge simply sided with him, advised our side to plead no contest, and put the court fees on my head. So I paid everything. And I thought this dumb adventure was over in Nov 2017. No one advised me that points would still be coming my way months later.

So, now this point is on my license for three years and is going to cost me a couple thousand extra dollars in insurance fees.

And btw, there's NO WAY he could have seen how my brake cable was attached from where he sat in that parking lot. He was 40 feet away on the right side of my rig sitting in his SUV, and that very thin cable was attached on the left side. The Equalizer hitch is a big 60lbs chunk of metal. There's ABSOLUTELY NO WAY he could have seen how it was hooked up. He stopped me assuming he would find something that he didn't like. ummm do we not worry about probable cause now? I was just a trailer sitting at a light.....And did he really need to power slam me with such a nasty ticket? I was polite and succinct and gave him no attitude. Ok, my emergency brake cable wasn't attached properly.....You wanna give me a ticket? Fine. But does it have to be some super nasty non-correctable thing with points? Really?

And I have other stories of meter maids putting parking tickets on my car incorrectly because they check a different pay machine than the one I used, and the machines haven't updated each other on the network. They're still around, so I ask them why I got a ticket and show them on the pay machine I used that I still have plenty of time on the meter. Do they remove the ticket? Nope. They admit that they made a mistake and then tell me to go fight with the city about. Takes weeks of fighting the city to get the ticket voided.

My race car is still in CA, so I still find myself driving there. November 2018, my trailer developed a problem and I was stranded on the side of the 134 Freeway in Glendale for 3 hours. Many police cars drove by in those 3 hours. Did any police officer even bother to stop and check in to see if I was ok? Nope.

Should I start in on the jay-walking tickets in front of my mid-block apartment when I lived in Santa Monica?

I'm a law abiding citizen, raising a couple kids, volunteer in the community, coach kid sports, pay lots of taxes......I just don't understand why they gotta be so nasty....so condescending.....blah.

[upstatedoc]

cliff notes man

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

cliff notes man

Cliff what?

Anyone who's read my build thread knows that I have no idea how to be brief!! Well, except when a cop is questioning me.