Would my occupation pop up on a traffic stop inquiry?

[TeddyBallgame]

Odd thing, I was in Buena Park earlier this evening and was pulled over for not having my windshield wipers on...it only started misting just a bit within 3 or 4 minutes of me being stopped, my windshield had no obstruction at all

I wasn't ticketed, but, after I gave my license and registration to the officer he asked me to give him a minute and he walked back to his cruiser

About a minute passed, he returned to my driver's side window, handed me my stuff and mentioned that usually within the first few minutes of any rain, the streets are much more slick, so visibility is important...I assumed he was talking about "maybe", for the sake of safety, to have my wipers on

By now it was actually raining hard enough, so, just to get a move on, I told him I would remember that, and, thanked him for his concern

Now, the odd part, before he left my window, he said to me "former ballplayer ehh"? I said "yes, I played several years"...he said "nice, my sisters son is playing for Dunedin, in the Blue Jays organization"...I told him the Blue Jays were a fine organization for young talent...we left it at that, he said drive safely and headed back to his cruiser

I got to wondering how he knew a person's occupation or even a former occupation? Can you access stuff like that? Unless he was a huge baseball fan from 20 years back, where would he get that information? I don't have that type of name recognition...what would it take to get that information?

[mixicus]

No secret database involved.

You found a baseball fan. May e he played at college and has a greater connection than a casual fan to the sport. I am no sports geek but i recall names of players on local teams from my single digit ages. Why because my dad and granddad took me to games and we traded baseball cards between the family. If you made the big leagues or played for his local college or minor league team, he just recognized the name.

Or you had some very unique tool, gear or sticker that made him think that way

[SonofWWIIDI]

He's stalking you.

[lawman18]

Remember, what kind of decorations do you have on the car? Stickers, license plate frames and the like can tell a story to the cop before he even talks to you. If I saw any pro 2A gear (NRA tag, CalGuns tag, CalTip tag ect.) I would ask if they had a gun in the car. I got a couple "yes" answers and they were legal ccw holders or cops. You may have just found a huge baseball fan/stalker.

[TeddyBallgame]

2009 Toyota Camry...no stickers of any kind or vanity plates

I'll admit I've run into people who remembered me playing, mainly because I'm from SoCal, even though the organizations I played for were in the midwest and east coast, but, you would have to be quite a fan to remember my days in the bullpen

[Dutch3]

I had a cousin who was an LAPD officer in the early 1970s. He was a huge baseball fan. Nearly every time I saw him at family gatherings, he had a little radio with him listening to ball games. He sometimes would have the little earphone in his ear so as to not disturb everyone else.

He knew all the stats and players and would happily discuss them with anyone who would listen. You probably ran into a guy like that.

[jeffyhog]

What struck me as really strange is that you were pulled over for not having wipers on. Is there a law that says you have to use your wipers? Other than that common sense would tell you when you need to turn them on?
I used to wax my windshield during the rainy season so that the rain would blow right off at speed, making it unnecessary to turn the wipers on.

[TeddyBallgame]

What struck me as really strange is that you were pulled over for not having wipers on. Is there a law that says you have to use your wipers? Other than that common sense would tell you when you need to turn them on?
I used to wax my windshield during the rainy season so that the rain would blow right off at speed, making it unnecessary to turn the wipers on.

I hope you're not asking me that...I wouldn't know, until yesterday evening it was a solid 15 years since the last time I got pulled over...my streak is over, but, I'm sure anything that could be interpreted as "unsafe" could probably get ya some kind of citation

[mixicus]

CVC26707 covers use of windshield wipers.

[diverwcw]

Baseball Fan

No secret database involved.

You found a baseball fan. May e he played at college and has a greater connection than a casual fan to the sport. I am no sports geek but i recall names of players on local teams from my single digit ages. Why because my dad and granddad took me to games and we traded baseball cards between the family. If you made the big leagues or played for his local college or minor league team, he just recognized the name.

Or you had some very unique tool, gear or sticker that made him think that way

Yup, you got a baseball fan. You probably made his night. I'm glad the contact went so smooth.

[Bucks n Ducks]

Would my occupation pop up on a traffic stop inquiry?

No, just the vital information such as
Driver License Status
Mailing Adress
Batting Average
ERA etc...
I will avoid the low hanging fruit pun of "stolen" bases.

[emvampyre]

I had a partner who knew damn near every baseball player's name and stats who made it to the bigs through most of the 80's and 90's. Working with him on and off for 2+ years, turns out I met a number of former big leaguers. Sounds like that copper was the same as my old partner...

[MontClaire]

You probably had clothing, baseball cap or bumper stickers pointing to the obvious. No mistery here.

[explorerdude]

You probably had clothing, baseball cap or bumper stickers pointing to the obvious. No mistery here.

So if I wore a Dodgers cap and got pulled over, a cop could assume I played ball for them?

[IrishJoe3]

Gonna go with...powers of observation. You can learn a LOT about someone by taking a glance at the inside of someones car.