I had the great fortune of driving without a current registration sticker right in front of the White House. It was dark, and I got pulled over. No MPD for me, it was US Secret Service, baby.
The officer approached (I still didn’t know he was a fed) and I placed my hands at 10 and 2. He asked for my license and registration, and I said “I will need to reach for my wallet, and my registration is in the glove compartment”. He replied “do you have any weapons in the car?”, and I said, “no sir”.
He observed my retrieval of the necessary documents, took them back to his vehicle, and returned about 10 minutes later.
He politely, but forcefully, explained that I was subject to significant fines because I was not displaying proper authentication of my registration. I looked him in the eye and said I understood. He let me go and told me to put the goddamn sticker on my plate as soon as I got home.
And he thanked me for keeping my hands visible as he approached and explaining my actions throughout.
It is a shame that it has come to that, but it’s just smart to do it. The greater shame is that I can get pulled over because I don’t have enough duplicative evidence on my vehicle that I’ve complied with every nuisance regulation.
Correction: I believe he asked if I had any firearms (not weapons) in the car.
I do exactly the same thing... hands on the wheel at 10 and 2, fingers and thumbs fully visible. Except, I retrieve my license, registration, and insurance card the second I come to a stop and before the cop approaches my car. I put them on the dashboard in front of me in plain sight so I can pick them up and hand them over. This procedure is pretty effortless, and in this day and age when cops are getting blown away as they approach a thug’s car window, that’s just the way reasonable people handle things.
I swear, half the cop-hating morons who show up on these threads are more likely to sneer at the cop and smart-ass him about their rights than they are to just shut up and cooperate for a few minutes. I am positive I’ve been let off with warnings because I simply cooperated and conducted myself politely.
Sure, there are some bad cops, just like there some bad Boy Scouts, bad Marines, bad priests, bad teachers, and bad everything else. I can’t figure out why some people have to lump all cops into the vile pig category. Like one poster said earlier, you never see an FR thread about a cop getting shot.
FRegards,
LH
The even smarter move to start is to roll down your window, place your left hand on your outside mirror, and your right hand on your left wrist (on your watch, if you’re wearing one). Then proceed as you did, getting every move approved.
If you have a passenger, their hands are on the dash for a front seat passenger, on the top of the seat back in front of them for a back seat passenger.