Wall of text incoming, TLDR at the bottom.I see a lot of posts on Reddit and other forums where people with concealed carry permits ask why did that cop disarm me when all I did as run a stop sign, speed etc. I also see people say you should never reveal to a cop you are carrying unless you are required too. Others have said they feel like they are treated like criminals just because they happen to be carrying a concealed handgun. So I’m going to share this story as a way to offer some perspective on a police officers side of things.My backstory: I’ve been a cop for less then a year. I spent 5 weeks in my departments training, 3 months in the academy, and 3 months in the field training program before being allowed to do anything on my own. Since I hit the streets after the academy I’ve interacted with someone with a pistol permit 4 times. The first 3 times went smoothly. The driver informed me even though they are not required to, I asked what pistol they carry, made fun of them because it ain’t a Glock, and wrote them a warning. The 4th time went differently.There were 2 other officers present during the incident, they will be referred to as Sergeant and Corporal for simplicity.Sergeant is conducting a traffic stop in a high crime area of the city. While on the stop he notifies dispatch a second vehicle has shown up on scene. This raises some alarm bells, and I get dispatched as his backup. I arrive on scene and Sergeant explains he screwed up on radio traffic, and meant to say he was stopping another car. I relax a little bit, and go make contact with the occupants of the vehicle. There is a male driver (MD), male passenger (MP) and female passenger (FP).I walk up to the passenger side of the vehicle and make small talk. I ask MD why he was stopped and he admits to speeding. FP interrupts and asks me why I showed up, with a little attitude. I tell her its department policy due to the number of occupants in the vehicle. MP hasn’t even looked at me yet, and is staring at his lap. That’s a little weird so I ask him his name. He tells me, we make small talk no big deal.At this time Corporal arrives on scene and walks up the drivers side. At this time, Corporal notices the driver wont make eye contact, and is acting more nervous then the average driver. He steps back and explains to Sergeant, who isn’t concerned with it. Sergeant walks back to the car to write down the VIN number, and at this point even I, as the least experienced officer on scene, notice the driver start to act nervous. FP and MP both start making subtle looks around, like they’re checking if I’m still there. FP asks me if it’s necessary for a 3rd officer to be here. I tell her we like to check up on each other during stops, look after each other. She gives me a deadpan look like she doesn’t believe me.MP pulls out his phone and tries to play a game. I say try, because his hands are shaking so hard he almost drops his phone in his lap. I also notice his heart is beating so fast his shirt is moving.I subtly wave Corporal over, tell him what I see. Corporal tells Sergeant who decides now we have reasonable suspicion to ask for a K9. Keep in mind its his stop, so all decisions are up to him. No K9 is available so he asks the driver to step out of the car, walks him to the front of his squad car, and asks for permission to search the vehicle. The driver gives it.Everyone steps out of the car. I immediately notice a bulge in MP waistband, and ask him if he has any weapons. He tells us he does, and he has a permit in his wallet. Sergeant chooses to disarm him for the duration of the stop. MP was carrying a full size Sig Sauer P229 in .45. Sergeant clears the pistol and places it in his back seat. At this point I think the dude was nervous because he’s a black guy with a gun, and he watches the news and thinks the worst of cops. Understandable given the political climate and media these days.I check out his permit, which is legit. He completely relaxes, we talk guns, college football, and find out we both went to the same college. Then my Sergeant walks up, and has MP place his hands behind his back, and informs him he is under arrest. It turns out while we made small talk, the pistol came back confirmed as stolen from the county we were in. MP hangs his head and refuses to talk for the rest of the stop. MD and FP are cut loose after MD got a ticket and a warning.The pistol he was carrying was valuable enough to make possession of it a felony. Sergeant admits to me it was Corporals idea to even run the gun, and he wasn’t even worried about it because the guy had a permit and no criminal history. Sergeant transports MP to the station to be interviewed and I return to service.Ill admit my perspective on disarming people on traffic stops has changed slightly because of this. I’m probably more likely to do so now that both me and my Sergeant would have missed a stolen gun because we both were honestly just going to trust the guy.So next time an officer wants to disarm you, just keep in mind we don’t deal with law abiding citizens on a day to day basis. We assume the worst of people because at any point the nervous guy were talking to could end up having a stolen gun, or drugs, or anything else on their person. I promise the majority of cops aren’t treating you like a criminal ,they’re treating you how they treat any one else.So feel free to ask questions, Ill do my best to answer. If you see any mistakes, inconsistencies, or something you want me to clarify, Ill address that and fix it in the OP. I’m hoping this post will generate some discussion, and everyone, including me, can walk away with a better understanding of the relationship between law enforcement and people who conceal carry.Also Glock makes the best handgun, fight me.TLDR: Dude was acting nervous. Dude had a permit and a pistol on him. Pistol was stolen. Dude now could end up with a felony.Edit 1: Pistol could not have been a P229. But it was a full sized Sig in .45. Original post kept unchanged to document my screw up. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2zs0vK6
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