How often do you get pulled over by LEO?


4 in all over 40 years, two speeding tickets in the early days. One check point about 20 years ago, the last time I was stopped was about a year ago, Leo's checking drivers licenses and insurance. Traffic was backed up for a half mile or more. As I watched some were allowed to proceed and many were pulled over to the side of the road where they were met by more Leo's. When I got to the front of the line which was about 15 minutes later I was asked for my drivers license, insurance and registration. Already had everything out and handed them to the officer with my CC permit right on top. He hesitated for a slight moment and asked if I had a weapon, to which I replied "yes", he then asked the location of my weapon and I told him, another slight moment and he handed my information back and said "sorry for the inconvenience sir, you may go and have a nice day". I watched him pretty closely and he did not look at the insurance card or the registration. Just my CC permit and maybe a glance at my DL. The actual stop took less than 30 seconds. It was a PITA and it made me late for a meeting.
 

When I got to the front of the line which was about 15 minutes later I was asked for my drivers license, insurance and registration. Already had everything out and handed them to the officer with my CC permit right on top. He hesitated for a slight moment and asked if I had a weapon, to which I replied "yes", he then asked the location of my weapon and I told him, another slight moment

Another case of showing the permit causing the officer to, in this case, ask needless questions. After you showed him your permit, what reason did he have to ask if you had a weapon unless he doubted the validity of your permit? You just showed him evidence that what weapon you might have was legal for you to have so what difference does it make if you had one or not? If you answered no, was he going to lecture you that you should always carry your gun with you? And what difference does it make where it was located in the vehicle? If you answered, "I keep it above my visor," was he going to lecture you about how unsafe he thought that location was?
 
The last time I was stopped was in 2008 or 2009 for driving through a strangely marked intersection (on a green light) coming out of a mall. Of course the cop wanted me to inform when UNARMED, something TOTALLY outside of the law in Ohio. My response, "no".

I drive the speed limit and obey the traffic laws precisely because I have ZERO desire to interact with the police.
Funny how the law protects criminals from having to inform.
 
Don't want any tickets, cost too much to pay for! A lot of license checks points and a few of those places asked for insurance.
 
Got pulled over for tag light out, since I was a local, he asked me to get it fixed, I thanked him, went back back to the back of the vehicle to see how many light were around the tag (2). Both were out, my 18 yr old truck was hard to find parts for, but its done. He never ran my license or asked if I was carrying. He was in plain clothes and that put up a flag for me!
 
Got pulled over for tag light out, since I was a local, he asked me to get it fixed, I thanked him, went back back to the back of the vehicle to see how many light were around the tag (2). Both were out, my 18 yr old truck was hard to find parts for, but its done. He never ran my license or asked if I was carrying. He was in plain clothes and that put up a flag for me!


How petty, a tag light?

Absolutely no lights or brake lights I get, it's a safety thing, but a stinking tag light?
 
Not all states and cities are the same. Michigan is basically a police state. They will pull you over for going one mile over the limit and want to search your car. I left the Detroit airport once after a flight. As soon as I turned-on my lights I knew I had a headlight out. In the 1 1/2 hours to drive home I got pulled over six times! For a lousy head light. I now live on the NH / Vt boarder. There are few cops and most are very nice. If you go a little over the limit they wave / motion for you to slow down. That would NEVER happen in Michigan. Yes, I worked as a corrections officer for ten years in MI. because of the pay and benefits. In that time I got a lot of speeding tickets because I was driving one to one and a half hours each way. And those cops NEVER ONCE cut me a break.
If you live in an area where the police are nice and you don't drive much you may never get pulled over. Not all of us are that lucky.
 
Not once in over 25 years. I don't drive like an idiot though so that could be part of the reason.

Ding Ding Ding! There is a connection between not driving like and idjit and not having to talk to the man or woman in the blue/brown/green/tan. My general rule of thumb was "Ten you're fine, fifteen you're mine" with the qualifier that became a 5mph leeway in a school or residential zone because no one can really justify speeding in a 15mph school zone or 25mph small residential neighborhood where kids with zero supervision and common sense WILL run out into the street without looking.

Why? I was usually dealing with 5 or 6 stacked calls for service in a high call tempo area and had crime to deal with, not civil traffic. If no other exigencies were present...then we BOTH have better things to do.

I also reject the notion that a "check your license" stop is constitutional, practical, legal, or a good use of officer's time....and by extension, taxpayer's money. They aren't done here in Arizona. NOTE: The US Border Patrol DOES have several standing checkpoints in the border area, and I even think those suck because as I already mentioned I don't believe in the idea of "let me see your papers". Absent reasonable suspicion, or an observed infraction, I have no reason to talk to you. Honestly, I can go the whole entirety of the rest of my life/career never having met you and be okay with that. In other words, you had to DO something or fail to do something to catch my attention in order for me to have ANY interest in you as a motorist and decide we needed to have a chat, and that wasn't minor speeding. It had to be something that was a genuine safety concern to other motorists. YOU as the motorist, by your actions, made the decision to talk to me as the man with the lights on my cruiser.

Yes, there have been DUI checkpoints, but I personally have never worked one, been asked to work one, and only know of one actually being done by our department and that was isolated at a specific annual drinking specific event after several people were killed the previous year....so they decided to set up a DUI checkpoint at the exit of the event. Personally, I have no problem with that one. You may disagree, that's fine.

Do I believe in DUI task forces? Yes, absolutely. But those are different from the "mandated stop", those again, are infraction motivated stops, and reasonable suspicion must pertain before a stop can be made.

Yes...there ARE departments where the brass institutionally pushes officers to write citations....I can mention several here. They have a 4 MPH leeway, and 5 over will get you cited, period. There is one community that still has speed cameras and those stinking vans (both of which I hate) set up on virtually every street/road and they WILL flash at 6mph over and you will get a REASONABLE AND PRUDENT citation in the mail. Some of the vans even shoot on IR so you won't even know they got you. Yes, again, I think they suck and violate the spirit and intent of the law. The former Sheriff in the county in which I reside got rid of them on the first day of his administration, and the current sheriff...a close friend and former partner on a narcotics task force has upheld that ban on them.

Though I worked in a major city, the moment I had the ability to purchase a home WAY out in the sticks, I did. For the first 5 years of my career, we had to live within the city limits. That changed around 1992. After the move, I literally had to drive through six different municipalities to get home and a total of 8 different jurisdictions including 1 county, state, and six municipal departments....and never got pulled over on my commute in 22 years of having to do it. I did get hit with a flashy cam for 7 over in one of the aforementioned communities...I paid the fine. I did it. I know I did it. My smiling face was clear on the photo...did it suck? Yeah, but it was me, I took my medicine. I should have known better and more importantly, not had my head up my ass and kept to the posted limit.

In the last 30 years, I have been pulled over exactly twice by a living, breathing officer/trooper. Once was way back in 90, and the only reason I remember the year is because that is the year my oldest son was born and I was coming home from seeing him and my wife at the hospital. It was a difficult pregnancy/birth and my wife had to stay in the hospital for a week. I was coming home at 0300 on the 4th of July and there were a LOT of drinking specific events around the county so DUIs were naturally increased. I was doing 11 over on my way home on a 55mph stretch of desert. I got pulled over. I wasn't a jerk flashing my badge, I just informed the deputy that I was armed (This was BEFORE CCW permits were available here in AZ, though open carry was legal and common), handed over my DL, Reg, POI, and waited for my naughty paper so I could be on my way. He came back, gave me a verbal warning, handed back my documents and sent me on my way with the admonishment to "go and sin no more" and congratulations on the birth of my son. The issue of my gun never came up after I told him I had one, my job never came up because I never mentioned it, and the ticket never materialized because I wasn't a jerk.

The second time I got pulled over in the last thirty years was last year AFTER I retired, I was towing my boat to Lake Havasu and apparently my brake/trailer light cable had loosened up and when I stopped, I had no brake lights and a LHC officer pulled me over. We had "the discussion" and when I checked the connection on the cable and found it had merely been loose, we parted ways....no harm, no foul. Funny thing...there was an SBR AR15 laying across the back seat along with a range bag in plain view and I wasn't even asked for my papers on that. I wasn't a jerk to him, and wouldn't ya know....he wasn't a jerk to me. Can anyone else see a correlation in behavior begetting behavior?

The stories that start with "Every time I get pulled over by the cops...." make it seem like you're pulled over every other week...I'd submit that with that kind of contact tempo, it really IS you driving like an idjit. Likewise, every time I hear a "Cops are always effing with me..." story, I have to wonder why you act like a jerk so often as to get the attention of officers.

Most people...and the extreme vast majority....never really have an interaction with an officer unless they call for help/service because most people just don't act like wankers.
 
Twice in 60 years...the last one was 5 years ago for improper wear of a seat belt...I had the seat belt on just had the chest strap pulled down under my arm pit <insert rolled eyes here>. I was briefed I could receive a citation for it which I never would have went into once I found out the person was in fact wearing the seat belt but to each his own....No citations. (Now watch I will get one tonight while going home)
 
I have been pulled over 1 time in the last 20 years ( before I started carrying concealed) for a tag light that was blown and I didn’t know it.
But I’ve gone through two traffic check points. Both times after hello’s by myself and the officer, with both hands on the steering wheel I told the officer I was a cwp holder and told him the location of my weapons. Both times the officer was polite, friendly and on one of the occasions actually told me that he was glad to see individuals like myself carrying.
 

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