Posted on 01/11/2018 5:11:45 AM PST by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — It’s a sight dreaded by drivers — red and blue lights flashing in the rearview mirror.
But a traffic stop may not just be bad for the driver, sometimes they are downright dangerous for the officer.
A report by the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund shows 128 federal, state and local law enforcers were killed in the line of duty in 2017. Of those, 18 died after being shot or being struck by vehicles while conducting traffic enforcement.
Many more officers are injured each year during traffic stops, making it one of the most dangerous activities performed by law enforcers, according to Policeone.com, an industry website that publishes several articles on officer safety.
The Herald/Review recently asked the heads of several local law enforcement agencies about traffic stops, just weeks after a Texas trooper was killed with a rifle as he approached a car during an afternoon traffic stop and another died during a traffic stop when his squad was struck by a passing vehicle.
All agreed there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop.
“Each stop presents its own set of circumstances and hazards,” said Douglas Police Chief Kraig Fullen. Which is why it’s vital for the public to understand what to do when flashing lights appear in your rearview mirror.
Tombstone Marshal Bob Randall suggests drivers remember “the 3 C’s” — stay calm, collected and courteous.
“All traffic stops are based on some kind of probable cause,” Randall said, whether it’s a safety concern, a violation or perhaps “their vehicle matches that of a suspect vehicle in a serious incident that just occurred.”
It was a point reiterated by Benson Police Chief Paul Moncada, who stressed that “traffic stops are nothing personal” and that officers usually have no idea who they are stopping.
A lot of warnings
Certain violations, such as DUI, require a criminal citation or arrest. But many traffic stops deal with infractions such as speeding, failure to obey traffic signal, improper lane change.
In Cochise County, only Tombstone and Huachuca City receive revenue from civil traffic fines because they operate their own magistrate courts. The other cities see none of the money, so “there is no financial benefit to the city or department for issuing more citations,” said Adam Thrasher, Sierra Vista Police Chief.
While all patrol officers are expected to perform traffic enforcement, none of the agencies dictate how many civil traffic citations must be written. That decision — including whether to issue a warning — is left to the officer’s discretion based on the circumstances. And possibly on the driver’s behavior.
“Our officers are expected to extend professionalism and respect in each of our contacts including a traffic stop,” said Fullen. “We understand that a traffic stop is not a pleasant experience for most drivers,” but “having courtesy extended to the officer in return goes a long way.”
The frequency of warnings versus citations is evident in an Arizona Department of Public Safety report which shows troopers issued warnings in more than 201,000 of the 480,000 traffic stops conducted in Fiscal Year 2016.
A review of preliminary 2017 statistics for local agencies shows many traffic stops did not result in a citation. Through Nov. 30, the Sierra Vista Police Department was involved in more than 8,700 traffic stops, resulting in less than 2,200 civil citations compared to 314 criminal citations or arrests. They also issued nearly 2,800 written warnings and repair orders.
In Tombstone, only about one-third of the 1,400 traffic stops conducted by the Marshal’s Office resulted in a citation, while Huachuca City officers gave out more than 750 warnings on 2,320 traffic stops.
What to do
Staying composed, as Randall suggested, can help a driver perform a few common sense steps to ensure a safe traffic stop for all involved.
“Drivers should try to pull over in a safe location, clearly off the side of the shoulder of a roadway, on a side street or a parking lot if possible,” said Thrasher with the SVPD. “If they cannot pull over right away because they think it is unsafe, at least slow down and turn on a turn signal so the officer knows they are acknowledging their intention to pull over.”
Once the vehicle comes to a stop, Thrasher says everyone should remain inside while the officer scans the situation for possible threats and “gets a decent feel for the occupants of the vehicle.”
Then follow the officer’s directions.
All agencies provide officers with situational training for traffic stops such as identifying safe locations to stop vehicles, radio procedures, vehicle positioning and safe approach tactics.
It also includes “desired verbiage upon contact with the drivers,” which is something Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels has seen change in the 30-plus years he’s been in law enforcement.
Gone, said Dannels, are the days when deputies simply “barked out orders and had little dialogue” with the driver or passengers. Nowadays, traffic stops often involve questions, even a bit of conversation.
“Things like making sure the driver is OK, making sure they understand why we pulled them over,” said Dannels. “We work for the community, so I expect my deputies to set a respectful tone every time we have a citizen contact.”
But being respectful doesn’t change the fact the deputy must remain in control of the encounter. It’s important, said Dannels, to remember the deputy doesn’t know if someone in the vehicle is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or suffering from a mental illness that interferes with the person’s ability to comprehend what the officer wants.
A recent social media posting on a Sierra Vista community page criticized an officer for approaching a car with his hand on his holstered gun. “My son was speeding 5 miles over, he’s not a mass murderer,” the posting read. “The officer obviously wanted something to happen!”
However, Dannels stressed that law enforcers are trained to be alert for dangers throughout the interaction. A hand on a holstered gun is not an offensive move but a defensive one, said Dannels, who added “I want our deputies to control the situation and go home at the end of the day.”
And get criminals off the streets so the cops don’t have to be concerned over their safety!
Police work for politicians ant their primary responsibility is to generate revenue for the government. There is no law, no matter how immoral or how trivial, that the police will not murder you to enforce.
Watch a few episodes of “LivePD”. Instruction video on how not to conduct one’s self when interacting with the popo.
I hope you are just being sarcastic my FRiend.
Of course most such fishing expeditions come up empty handed. Once in a while they do get a winner.
But then again, there is always the benefit of imposing fines on the population which can help pay the salaries of the police and judges.
And there may also be the ego satisfaction that some officers receive from dominating the submissive and law-abiding population. Even more so from crushing the ineffective resistance of a few malcontents.
"Public Safety" (other than their own) is generally the least of concerns.
It is a system that needs to be keep on a short leash.
Um, no. I’m not being sarcastic.
I agree with every word of your post.
This thread needs some humor.
A couple of years ago I was pulled over for rolling through a stop sign.
I was on the way home from the vet, with my chow chow in the back seat.
I stopped and opened the window on the driver side—just a little bit.
(cute) female cop asks: “Is your dog dangerous?”
Me: “Yes.”
Chow Chow (on cue): Tail down, ferocious bark.
Cop: “OK. Well, this is just a warning.”
:-)
Unless they are receiving federal or state grant money for traffic enforcement. I can't state that as a given though I know grant money is often offered up to entice traffic enforcement.
That said, some speed traps are just there to generate revenue. LE and their supporters (of which I generally count myself as one) can try to deny it, but I see it with my own eyes. Between where I live and work there is a miles long stretch of nearly uninhabited, straight, county road. The speed limit is only 45. During morning and evening commutes people routinely go 55 or so - some a little more, some a little less. We've all been up and down that road every single work day for years - in some cases this amounts to 7 to 10 thousand trips. We know that road probably better than the back of our hands. Aside from a close encounter with the occasional skunk or prairie dog there's no danger to be found on that road. Yet at least once a month a Sheriff's deputy will be out there writing tickets on some poor guys and gals just trying to get to work, just rolling along with traffic. That's not safety, that's just filling quotas. And no, I've never been ticketed, this isn't sour grapes - just an observation.
I second this motion.
I must be doing something wrong.
I haven’t been pulled over since I first got licensed to carry almost ten years ago.
Oh just stop already
That's a laugh. Out here you get pulled over if you have out-of-state plates just to see what you're up to.
I was on Grand Jury for a while and saw several of these cases come through where they had found drugs being transported by out-of-state vehicles. They would state something lame like "pulled the vehicle over for 'failure to maintain a lane.'"
Oh yeah! Live*PD is Must See TV here...although delayed to cruise-through by TiVo.
Then we had a problem with some teenagers speeding through the housing area in the late afternoons, after school let out. Concerned for the children in the neighborhood, we asked the police to do something.
So the police set up a speed trap in the industrial park section, at 7:00 am, and wrote tickets on almost every parent and resident as they headed out to work that day.
Did nothing to address the problem with the teenagers speeding through the neighborhood but we learned to not ask the police for help anymore.
Gee, I hope nobody spills a few bags of cement in the road one night. That might destroy a cars front end alignment.
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