Found an interesting question on PDO. It poses some interesting problems.
There have been several LEO impersonators in the DFW area lately. One in the last couple of days stopped a woman, handcuffed her and fondled her. He was driving a car that had a light bar and some sort of decals on it, even had a DIAL 911 decal.
The problem as I see it is that as a CHL, we are required to present our CHL along with drivers liciense. LEO has a right to disarm. NOW if the imposter is presented with this information and knows the law, he can disarm you and leave you defenseless.
At least to me, this is just cause why this part of the law needs to be changed. After all, when the DL is run it will come back as CHL holder.
There have been several threads recently debating being disarmed by a LEO during a traffic stop and I don't recall seeing this possibilty brought up.
You're right. This needs to be addressed. It would seem that almost any legislative fix would also have the effect of removing some of the LEO's authority.
I guess if you suspect that something isn't right you could refuse to disarm untill the LEO called for backup (say a supervisor) and that other officer arrived.
I know some do, but it would be nice if all LEO's realized that we are the good guys.
i've dealt with some of these fakes. most of them are rapists and perverts. you really have to be a weak target before they'll mess with you. i preach for people to make eye contact with others around you. show curiosity, not fear or intimidation. i know people who drive and absolutely will not look at other drivers. to me, it shows fear and they would make a great victim. if someone stares at you, look back at them. if you feel uncomfortable, wave. just don't show that you're intimidated.
i don't disarm CHL holders, but i think it's necessary to give police that power. i can think of a few circumstances where it should almost be required, but if they stay in the car, there is no point in the disarmament. when a cop stops you on a traffic stop, you know who you are, and what your intentions are. the cop has no idea what kind of person you are, what your intentions are, and what you're capable of. sometimes we forget that, as we have a personal bias to ourselves.
women are the worst about this kind of stuff and make the easiest targets. when they go to their cars at night in the parking lot, they look at the car and nothing else. look around and check things out. if you see someone following you, acknowledge their presence by just saying something as easy as, "how are you?" it shows you're not intimidated.
there is nothing in the law books that says you can't roll your window down about 3-4" and pass your information through that way. in tens of thousands of traffic stops, i've only had one female do that on a dark night on the highway. i commended her for it.
there are very very few occasions where a fake cop will stop a male. crooks want to get in and get out; not fight it out or take a chance they might have to.
remove fear and intimidation from the equation and you don't have a formula that equals victim.
Good idea with the femal stop at night. I will pass that info along to my girlfriend. I have told her that if she is getting stoped at night to hit the flashers, slow to a crawl and dont stop till you get to a well lighted area. I would rather her be safe then sorry.
I don't think the "cop" was in uniform, and he was driving a plain white car. It did have 911 on it.
I have instructed my wife to NOT ever stop for less than a fully marked, obvious police car. If a vehicle less than that attempts to stop her, she will dial 911 and request a marked unit before she stops. She will activiate her 4 way flashers also.
If the 911 dispatcher tells her that the unmarked unit has made contact and that they are legitimate, then she can stop
*CHL Instructor*
"Speed is Fine, but accuracy is final"- Bill Jordan
Remember those who died, remember those who killed them.
A fake cop pulls over a wanted fugitive female. He goes back to the car to "run her info" or whatever they say. He comes back and she feels like she's busted and things turn ugly.
I too have wondered what to do about LEO impersonators.
-nick
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison
I had a good scare one night when returning home from work late, around 2:00am. Car pulls in behind me in a residential neighborhood, I hear him say on a PA system "Law enforcement, pull to the side of the road". When I checked the rear-view, I noticed both headlights were flashing low-hi-low-hi at the same time, they were not alternating. I was suspicios about this and the fact that he said "law enforcement" and not "sherrif's office" on the PA. When I turned out of the intersection, I looked again and saw that this "patrol vehicle" was a dark colored Buick, and the S.O. and Constables partol in either Crown Vics or Impala's. It just didn't sit right, so I kept driving at 20 mph, dialed 911 on the cell, and before I could hit "send", the guy u-turned and sped off. I instead called the Montgomery County SO, told them of the incident (unfortunately I was never able to make out a plate), and the lady I talked to informed me that units were on there way to search, I should go home.
After this incident I told my wife, mother, sister and all other family members what txinvestigator told his wife. It can save a lot of heartache.
