A question for you LEOs- How would you react?

[Lone_Gunman]

There have been several threads in the 2A section lately dealing with different interactions with LEO and their respective outcomes. One of the things that keeps coming up is that legally a citizen is not obligated to talk to the police at all and when asked if we have any weapons etc in the car we dont have to answer the question. I wanted to see how you guys would respond in the following situation.

LEO: Do you have any guns, knives, Etc. in the car?

Citizen: As far as I know there is nothing illegal in my vehicle.

LEO: Where are you coming from today?

Citizen: With all due respect Officer that is my private business.


At this point in the exchange what is going through you mind? What is the thought process? Where would you go from here? I would assume the Citizen is going to get a ticket for what ever the stop was for but are you going to take an even harder look at him? Try to find PC for a search?

I am really curious about this as there has been MUCH discussion on this topic. I wanted to get the Officers prospective.

Thanks.

-LG

[Jonathan Doe]

Whether the driver cooperates or not, it is the call of the LEO. If he sees a reason to search, he will search. If not, he won't.

I used to ask questions if they had a weapon, just for my safety. I used to get the drivers out of the car for my safety reason, depends on where the stops are made. When I stopped the cars, I didn't want to stand near the traffic lane, because I had a few close calls.

The driver's attitude will dictate the officers' reaction.

[Ron-Solo]

Please leave the moderating to the Moderators. -leelaw

[bambam8d1]

lol yeah i always hear that you should just change direction and say I have nothing illegal in my vehicle... As good as this seems on paper I just see this as pissing off a cop and havin him FIND a reason to mess with me more.

[yzErnie]

This is in your signature line....

NEVER talk to the police. Watch THIS video.

That makes me think the question posed is bait...sorry, not going to bite.

[CaliTheKid]

This is in your signature line....



That makes me think the question posed is bait...sorry, not going to bite.

X1

[chefdude]

I am non LEO and I agree with YZERNIE.... Look if you have nothing illegal in your car tell them. If you are driving around with a CA complient AR and you are not coming from the range, you may have some problems, if you are detained, taken in, or your weapon confiscated, get a record of it and contact your lawyer. Your attitude will dictate the LEO's response. If you decide to be a smart *** and clam up they will find PC..its not worth the headaches.

[TRICKSTER]

There is nothing wrong with replying the way posted in the OP. It is not necessarily what you say, but how you say it. Being polite goes a long way. I start out every contact being extremely polite, where it goes from there is entirely up to you.

[fullrearview]

Depends on the circumstances....body language, time, place, any recently occuring crime. Stop A could be for the same reason as Stop B, but the circumstances dictate how far it will go.

[Swatter911]

This is a question for which there is not a right answer. The question presupposes that most cops will behave the same way under a given set of circumstances. LEOs are individuals and each will react according to their training & experience. I would only advise you to be polite and be preapred to conduct yourself in whatever manner you feel comfortable with. You may get stopped by a cool, collected experienced guy, or you may get a rookie who just went through a stressful call before he contacted you or you may get someone who is behaving unprofessionally.

Those threads in the 2A forum are full of bad advice from people who make me go .

[BigDogatPlay]

This is a question for which there is not a right answer.

^^^ This ^^^

Not going to go deeper than that.

[Triad]

All I can say is....depends on the situation.


Too many variables that are unaccounted for.

[IrishJoe3]

Those threads in the 2A forum are full of bad advice from people who make me go .

LOL yup

[Lone_Gunman]

OK. Thanks for the input guys. I wasnt posting this as bait BTW. This is the LEO forum and I respect that. I just really wanted to get your perspectives. If I wanted an arguement there are no less than 4 threads on this subject in 2A going right now where I could fight about this. It's a pretty hot subject because a couple of incidents where people have been detained and/or arrested for perfectly legal guns. I'm trying to figure out the best way to approach an interaction with a LEO. Is it better to just keep the guns out of sight and say no when asked? Respond with the "nothing illegal" line?I understand there is no easy answer for all officers but I am interested in individual perspectives. If the person is polite and respectful (like I would be) would you think he was someone who is into civil rights and knows the law or would you think he has something to hide? (Which he well may.)

As to my sig line - It seems to be pretty good advice in most situations. Im sure you have had many more folks talk them selves into jail than out of it.

[rcpilot_971]

so what would the procedure be if you were stoped and you told the LEO you had a unloaded gun in the vehicle. would just that lead to a search