LEO Encounters good or bad

[glockmaster]

Got pulled over yesterday by CSP for a cracked windshield on my way to lunch (DAMN!!). The Officer came up to my vehicle and said, The reason i pulled you over is because of my windshield. I told him i know and that i was in the process of saving to get it replaced, he said i understand but just get
it taken care of asap. Then he asked for my license, registration and insurance. So i handed him all of the paper work including my CHP, he looked at it and then asked me if i had my handgun with me and i said yes it
is on my right hip, he told me to just leave it where it is and took my license and registration and said he would be right back. He came back a couple of
minutes later and handed me my paper work and a contact card and said
you have a nice afternoon a sent me on my way. I thought it went real well.
Should i have let him know when he was walking up to the vehicle that i was carrying or did i do what most everyone would have done? Anyone else have some experiences to share.

[Marlin]

MATT, quit harrassing the new members. :lol:



J/K, Matt would be the one to let You know.

[HunterCO]

MATT, quit harrassing the new members. :lol:



J/K, Matt would be the one to let You know.

Yeah what Marlin said don't you JBT's have anything better to do? :P :lol:

I think you did great and handled it exactley as I would have.

[kwando]

I've never been pulled over while carrying (knock on wood), but i plan on having the car turned off, hands on the steering wheel and windows rolled down before the LEO approaches the vehicle.

then i will informe the LEO that i have a CCW permit and that i am carrying a firearm on my right hip. my wallet is located in my right rear pocket, how did you want me to proceed?



IMHO i feel that it is the best interest to inform the LEO of all that information, rather than just reach for a wallet on the same side as my firearm. i would not want the LEO to find our after i have reached for my wallet to pull out my DL, Permit, registration, and insurance info that i have a firearm in the same area.

[newracer]

I just took a class to get my CCW and the instructor (he is a LEO) said to basically do just that.

[Colorado Osprey]

Interesting that most of you have your concealed carry on your hip. It has never been a place I have put mine.

I have been pulled over once in 15 years and I was packing at the time. I did not give up the information that I had a CCW or was packing but acted courteous and did everything the officer asked me to do. Now if for some reason I was asked to step out of the car, I probably would have revealed that info before exiting.

I understand that you don't want to reach for your wallet and brush past a firearm. If the officer had a partner and you didn't notice him and he saw your reach for your wallet it could have been mis-interpreted. That is one reason why you should have your liscense, registration and proof of insurance always ready by the time an officer reaches your open window. Also by not placing your firearms in a position that would need to be passed to get your credentials your risk of accidental lead injestion is greatly decreased.

Another way to keep the officer from viewing you as a threat, move slowly and keep your hands visible on the steering wheel preferably with the engine off. These simple steps will go a long way in keeping an officer a little more at ease.

What I always love were California residents that got pulled over and they stick their hands out the window and toss out their keys and you were only giving them a warning to slow down. It always gets me chuckling....and a little afraid.

[kwando]

my steps...

-pull over
-roll the windows down
-turn off the car
-both hands on the steering wheel

as the officer arrives

-great the officer and inform him i am a CCW holder and whether or not i have a firearm on me (and where it is at). then ask the officer how he wants you to proceed.

[Great-Kazoo]

i keep my paperwork overhead in sun visor.
have d.l , auto and CCW info at the ready. i would inform him that i am armed and have CCW but gun is not on me.
carrying on your waist is real uncomfortable. mine is off the hip and real easy to grab.

[KarlPMann]

Step 1. Pull out drivers license, registration, proof of insurance, and CCW.

Step 2. Roll down window.

Step 3. Pull over. :D

Step 4. Hand all items to police officer.




I've done this 3 times now since the new CCW law. All three times it worked fine. None have ever asked to see the gun. I only mentioned the gun to the last guy.

I said "I have a gun on, and there's my permit". He said "With the plates you have, I'm sure you do". :lol:

Note for those who haven't seen them, my plates are "UZI-SMG". Karl.

[The1andOnlyKC]

First of all I am calling BS on both Glockmaster and Karl because as everyone knows anytime you tell the POOlice you have a heater they are promptly going to jerk you out of your car by your jugular and make an example out of you. If you are lucky they will let you limp home by the time they are done. They will tow your car, they will take all your guns you have on you, and the next day be expecting them to arrive at your house with a no knock warrant and raid it looking for anything that makes you look like a terrorist.

Oh now you say you like to camp and thats why you have that camp stove, latern, and white gas in your garage huh. Its not because you are going to go fortify yourself in the mountains while your evil terrorist cell goes out and creates jihad on America huh..... Well now its over no chance of you limping anywhere except to cell number 5 pal......

[KarlPMann]

:roll: OK, KC, nappy time for you. You obviously need your rest real bad tonight. :P Karl. :twisted:

[HunterCO]

:roll: Come on now you know damn well that camp stove and colmen fuel is for a meth lab! :P :lol:

[glockmaster]

First of all I am calling BS on both Glockmaster and Karl because as everyone knows anytime you tell the POOlice you have a heater they are promptly going to jerk you out of your car by your jugular and make an example out of you. If you are lucky they will let you limp home by the time they are done. They will tow your car, they will take all your guns you have on you, and the next day be expecting them to arrive at your house with a no knock warrant and raid it looking for anything that makes you look like a terrorist.

Oh now you say you like to camp and thats why you have that camp stove, latern, and white gas in your garage huh. Its not because you are going to go fortify yourself in the mountains while your evil terrorist cell goes out and creates jihad on America huh..... Well now its over no chance of you limping anywhere except to cell number 5 pal......


Well belive it or not thats how it happen, you must have had a bad experience or something because not all Cops are jerks. I did get the
window replaced and now i wont have to worry about getting pulled
unless its for speeding and i dont do that to often.

[Colorado Osprey]

I think the 1AndOnlyKC is having a little fun with you Glockmaster.
But remember that the chances of what he said happening are greatly increased in parts of our lovely state. The way a particular law enforcement department handles this issue is very subjective. All the officer has to state is maintaining control for officer safety and you will be face down while you are talking to him off the ground, while your CC piece is lawfully taken and held for testing and it will need to be picked up at their department later on some time.

Although in some areas having a CC with a CCW permit and you are treated as if you are not even armed at all. Unless of course you are breaking the law...which includes traffic violations.....keep this in mind fellas. To keep good fellowship with other CCW permit owners and carriers, do we really need to break traffic laws and make us all look bad?
We are the good citizens, that's why we have the CCW permit.

[KarlPMann]

I think the 1AndOnlyKC is having a little fun with you Glockmaster.



Ummm, yeah, remember KC is one of our resident JBT's. :lol: :P :lol: He's just poking fun at us. Karl.

[glockmaster]

I think the 1AndOnlyKC is having a little fun with you Glockmaster.

Don't forget i'm a newbie.

[HunterCO]

I think the 1AndOnlyKC is having a little fun with you Glockmaster.

Don't forget i'm a newbie.

KC is a CSP officer he was just having a little fun come to our shoots and you can meet him and have some fun. :wink:

[The1andOnlyKC]

Yeah My last post was a joke! :lol: maybe :?

No one was harmed in its making, no individual rights were violated, and no ones house was raided....


I have never had to disarm a CCW holder. I have pulled many guns off of people but never have they been a CCW holder. Usually the crack head, the drunk, the people in the stolen vehicle... but never a CCW holder. I always ask if I know they are CCW but that is just so I know how many guns are on scene shall something change.

Alot of people dont even tell me. CCIC does though. So if they dont tell I finish with my business and carry on not even mentioning that I know they are a CCW holder or asking wether or not they are armed.

Just my experiences your may differ.....

[glockmaster]

Yeah My last post was a joke! Laughing maybe Confused

No one was harmed in its making, no individual rights were violated, and no ones house was raided....


I have never had to disarm a CCW holder. I have pulled many guns off of people but never have they been a CCW holder. Usually the crack head, the drunk, the people in the stolen vehicle... but never a CCW holder. I always ask if I know they are CCW but that is just so I know how many guns are on scene shall something change.

Alot of people dont even tell me. CCIC does though. So if they dont tell I finish with my business and carry on not even mentioning that I know they are a CCW holder or asking wether or not they are armed.

Just my experiences your may differ.....


Thanks For the warm welcome.

And i would like to join everyone in some shooting this weekend
but one of my sons is having a birthday this weekend and wont
have the time. Maybe next time.

[MuzzleFlash]

Last summer I was pulled over in the People's Republic of Boulder en route to a popular shooting spot on forest land north of town. I was packing my handgun and did exactly what Karl suggested above - my DL, POI and registration were ready and waiting. I didn't inform him I was carrying since the law doesn't require me to. Normally I would, but I was a teency bit worried that he may overreact or take a hard look and notice several gun cases and ammo cans in the back of the SUV I was driving.

That would not have been a pretty thing as I had a full auto Reising, an American 180 and an Vector Uzi cased in the back. All are legally owned and I had my F4 registration paperwork, but this is Boulder after all. For those who care, Colorado law makes it an affirmative defense to have registration paperwork meaning a gun hating chief & DA could arrest you and force you to lawyer your way back to freedom and recovery of your property. I had visions of a yard sale in that parking lot and my handcuffed, sorry puss on the front page of tomorrow's Daily Camera. :shock:

Anyhow, he took over ten minutes to run my DL and the first thing out of his mouth when he came back was "Are you carrying a concealed firearm, sir?". OMG, here we go I'm thinking. "Why yes I am officer. I have a permit to carry." "No problem, it came up when I ran your DL. I don't need to see your permit, but I will have to write you a ticket.".

FWIW, I have heard that there is no official CCP entry in the CBI database, but there is a "person of interest" flag that they use.

And that was the extent of it all.

[AdkMtnGuy]

Hey guys,

I had an interesting interaction with Lakewood PD one day. I had just gotten my CCW license and decided to take my motorcycle out for a spin to have lunch with my gf (now my fiancee!! :mrgreen: ). I had turned off from my street onto the next primary road (still a sideroad) and watched the officer watching me as I was doing 40 in a 30...not even noticing the stopped school bus with red lights and stop sign activated on a perpendicular road. Yeah that was bad and sure enough, his lights came on and he pulled me over. At first I thought I would pull into the gas station just another 100ft up to go to the pump but then waived him over into the gas station and to the side.

Man was I nervous! He came walking up and the first thing I did was to admit guilt and apologize profusely for speeding...then he informed me of the bus (yeah, he had to inform me of it). To this day, I still don't remember where the bus actually was but I don't remember seeing it in my peripheral...I must have looked like a wide-eyed dork without my helmet on (another stupid move but God has been good to date) to the Lakewood PD guy I passed.

I was so nervous I think he saw it, so when I pulled out my ID (same side as my concealed Sig 225) he saw my firefighter badge on the flip side. The tone of the siutation changed immediately when he happily asked me if I was Denver Fire. I explained I am a transfer from NY. He was a moderately stocky (more built like a linebacker, just short comared to me at about 5'2") and black. He said he's not going to give me a ticket but just going to run my license to see if there was anything that might cause an issue here. He came back and as he went to leave I just had to ask him if he knew I was packing. He said, "sure. it comes up when I run your plates but I'm not concerned because I didn't read danger in this situation. Then he turned and gave me his contact card and we chatted for a couple minutes like we've been friends for a little while and we both drove off.

The nervousness didn't leave me until I got to my gf's work 20 minutes away. I guess I have one of those sensitive "fear of God" consciences and the video playing through my mind if he'd differently how my gf would have come to the scene to ID me in hysterics.

Phew, he was a really nice guy though. I think what helped me is that I admitted I knew I was in the wrong right up front, my firefighter badge and finally my CCW license actually seemed to reassure him. Now the LEO's know who I am, not to mention being in the list on CSP applicants. I laugh with friends about this today but it's probably the one and only time I've ever been so nervous I felt kind of scared in my life.

KC - I applied to CSP last year and didn't get on even though I passed everything, just didn't score higher than the rest of the 1500 or so applicants...not many spots available. Would you like to send me an email to meet your personal acquaintance? I would like to reapply for CSP next year and am currently applying to Lakewood, JeffCo, and Golden to date. I think I'd rather be Denver in some ways but I've got some time before the app process opens back up and I know some of the guys there so I can get a real-deal feel for what happens in the daily life of an officer. I would like to do a ride-along with CSP someday soon. If you email me I can ask you if you know a mutual CSP friend of mine who just recently lateraled to Commerce City.

[KarlPMann]

FWIW, I have heard that there is no official CCP entry in the CBI database, but there is a "person of interest" flag that they use.


Huh? What's that mean? An entry is an entry. Karl.

[AdkMtnGuy]

A friend of mine and I were going to scout out our hunting grounds back in mid-August and stopped for coffee He was open-carrying drop-leg- tactical style with my Sig 225. I figured we'd be ok because Colorado is an open-carry state. He doesn't have his concealed carry permit yet (if he ever wants to get it anyway). We weren't there but 5 minutes when I noticed a chain reaction happening. The store owner disappeared, two guys with a radio came in and left it loud enough for everyone to hear which I fireured out was a police band. I didn't think much of it until...

On the way out of the coffee shop we had two Boulder undercover stop us, showing badges (and lifting their shirt hems to show their pieces) and asking to talk with us. They called for backup imediately because I noticed a big black SUV pull up out of the corner of my eye and two guys step out. One white, and wearing a goatee, the other black, both thin athletic-looking but built and with attitudes written all over their face. I figured out wuickly they wanted something to go down. The two original guys, coffees left inside they had ordered began talking with us. I remember my friend saying it was his second amendment right, politely, no worries. the guy questioning me told me it was illegal to carry a firearm in Boulder. He asked us both where we were headed to, to which we replied to hunting grounds.

The officer talking with meth then pushed the issue about carrying is illegal which I then told him unless you're carrying concealed legally. He then asked me if I was armed so I told him yes, but legally. He asked me for my CCW license, I produced it (I was packing deep concealment) easily without ever going near my carry. He radioed it in and while he did so, I noticed everyone was wearing their badges on their lanyard-attached wallets. So, me, figuring I wanted to be part of the guys, produced my (firefighter) badge on my own lanyard-attached ID wallet. I was also thinking it's better then putting it back in my pocket and it's easy access when they figure out I'm legit and give me back my licenses.

They radioed me in, figured out all was cool and that was it. They let us go, no more questions and I bid everyone a good day and to be safe. The two ruffian backup guys gave me the sneer and cold eyes.

I think the store owner had to about wet himself when I pulled and hung my badge around my neck like the cops but that didn't occur to me until after I drove away. I was more concerned about the situation at hand.

So looking back on the situation, I wouldn't have done anything different and I can understand the attitudes of the officers, officer-safety and coming off as tought guys. The demeanor was a little more relaxed when they had checked me out but I will never forget the looks I got from the backup undercover guys.

Those are my two interactions with LEO's regarding a possoble problem. If there is any more interaction with these guys in the future, I want to be in uniform as a PoPo myself, Fire Marshal (Arson Investigator), or Game Warden, or off-duty with my LEO ID on me along with my badge and firearm.

[MuzzleFlash]

So is open carry illegal in the PRB? Concealed carry obviously is not with a permit.

BTW Karl, what I heard is that in the old CCIC database there was not an enty type for CCP holders so they mapped it to "person of interest" which has several possible meanings including some that are sinister. Probably with all the CHP holders these days, the database has been updated to distinguish permit holders from the riff-raff one would normally find in a criminal database. I'd sure like to see my database entry given that I own Title 2 weapons with the full knowlege of the Sheriff.

The trouble is with the POI entry is the cop doesn't know which you are when he pulls you over.

Here's some somewhat dated info from the RMGO site for those who carry:
http://www.rmgo.org/alerts/2003-ccic.shtml
http://www.rmgo.org/alerts/2004-ccic2.html
http://www.rmgo.org/CCWsummary.html

[KarlPMann]

Actually he does know. The POI entry has a small field that they enter a "description" of why you are of interest. They just put CCW or whatever. Like KC said above, they do know you have the CCW. Karl.

[oddthomas]

I live on the outskirts of Boulder and recently completed a CCW class at the Boulder Rifle Club. We were told by the police officer helping with the class that while it is legal to open carry expect to be stopped fairly quickly and asked, "Why are you carrying?" His comment was that it wasn't so much from a "wanting to harrass you" standpoint but more from an educational one in that you might not understand the public reaction if you open carry. As far as he was concerned, support your 2nd admendment right as much as you want to just be prepared for the uneducated reaction that you might receive if seen with a pistol on your belt.

Boulder is a strange mix of people which is why I don't live anywhere close to downtown but there are over 700 CCW permits issued in Boulder and it is going up all the time. Our Doctor mentioned to us that Boulder has far more weapons in it than one would suspect and as far as he is concerned Boulder would be more than capable of taking care of itself if need be during civil unrest scenarios. After shooting at Left Hand Canyon every weekend for the past 6 months I can certainly believe it. Every weekend has a new group with either AK's or AR's on them along with the occasional .50BMG that shows up.

edit: By the way, the CCW class at BRC (http://boulderrifleclub.com) was excellent IMHO. It only had about 4 hours of range time but I wasn't there for that anyways.

[Flyer]

Last January I was camping up by peak to peak hwy between Nederland and Ward. I just got all packed up and threw the dog in the truck when a Boulder County squad car blocked my path. He saw my atv and drilled me about exactly where I was riding and at what time. The more he asked the less I wanted to say. I thought I was gonna take a ride downtown. This took about 30-40 minutes for him to finally tell me that they found a body about 300 yards from my campsite!
In the end when he cleared me to leave he said as soon and he realized I had a ccw permit he knew I was one of the good guys and not some idiot squatting in the woods. When I drove by where the body was there were 2 black Suburbans, a black Impala and about 6 squad cars in the area!!!Never did find out what happened, but it didn't seem like natural cause with all the ruckus. Glad I was carrying that night.