I am a white, middle-aged male, who lives in the South. Now some people would say that the first factor
(skin color) is more than enough for me to get a pass in the eyes of local law
enforcement, with factors two through four (age, gender, and location) just being
bonus points. Well, all I know is I’ve
been stopped three times in the last year and a half, and that’s three times
more than the previous 30 years. And,
even assuming that I’m the beneficiary of some positive law enforcement bias
(either conscious or subconscious), I still try to act in an overt manner that
reassures the officer that I’m not a potential threat.
All three stops were at night and I did the same thing: put the vehicle in park; turn the interior light
on; turn the radio off; roll all four windows down; hands on the steering wheel
at 10:00 & 2:00. On one stop, I was
pulled over a few blocks from the office.
Once the officer got to my window and saw my face, he reported over the
radio to his Sergeant that I worked in that building, and that’s why my vehicle
was seen pulling out of the back parking lot.
That was the end of the encounter.
On the other two stops (brake light out on one, headlight
out on the other, and no I didn’t know about either one at the time) it went
something like this:
Officer –
Good evening. I’ve stopped you because
your brake/head light is out. May I see
your driver’s license?
Me – Yes. It is in my right rear pocket; may I reach
for it.
Officer –
Sure, go ahead.
Me – (with
hands still at 10:00 & 2:00 on the steering wheel) To do that I’ll have to
reach around my firearm (concealed by a shirt/jacket) on my right hip.
City Police
Officer – [kind of chuckled] OK. Georgia
State Trooper – Don’t show me yours and I won’t show you mine [totally casual
and non-threatening tone].
Both times I drove off with a verbal admonition to get the
light replaced, and without a ticket.
I’ve been told that in my state, if you have a Georgia
Weapons Carry License, it shows up when they run your tag. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not. My point is that two nighttime encounters
between a LEO and an armed citizen ended without issue. I wasn’t ordered out of my vehicle; I didn’t
get thrown across the hood, or manhandled to the ground. And, if I had been instructed to do anything
by the officer, I would have complied, regardless of whether I thought he was
acting properly or not. The side of the
road is not the place to adjudicate your case.
And, it should go without saying, but regrettably it doesn’t,
so… DON’T TRY TO FIGHT THE POLICE. I
hereby make a standing offer of $100.00 for any and all verifiable stories of citizens fighting with law enforcement that end with the LEO saying “You know
what? You were right and I was
wrong. I’m glad you fought me until I
realized the error of my ways. You’re
free to go and have a good evening.”
