LEO Encounter

[MJK]

About 8 this morning I left my house for the gym. While driving a fairly new route I was having pleasant thoughts about the previous evening and wasn't paying much attention to my driving - pretty much on auto-pilot. The next thing I noticed were flashing lights in my rearview mirror. My first thought was "I wonder who the officer is after?" Suddenly it hit me...it's ME. What the heck did I do?

So I pulled over, rolled down the window, placed my hands at 10/2 on the steering wheel and waited for the officer. When she reached the side of the car she said "Do you know that you ran a stop sign back there?" My response was "Officer, you're absolutely right. I wasn't paying attention and just made a big mistake."

She then asked to see my license, but I told her it was in my gym bag in the back of the car and then I asked if it was OK with her if I got out of the car to retrieve it. She said yes, so I opened the door and said "Officer, I want to inform you that I am licensed to carry a concealed weapon and I have a loaded weapon in a holster on my left hip under my jacket. How would you like to proceed?" Her response was "Well, OK, thanks for letting me know. Go ahead and get your license please."

So I opened the hatch on the back of the car, pulled out my gym bag (which has a giant NRA stenciled to the side) and the officer asked "So, are you a member of the NRA?" I responded "Yes, mam, I'm a lifetime member." She then asked if a practiced at the range very often, to which I responded "Yes, I try to shoot at least once a week with one of the local IDPA chapters." We continued to trade pleasant small talk for a few moments while she examined my license and proof of insurance.

Suddenly she looked up and said "You know, I really appreciate you telling me about having a CCW permit and that you're carrying a weapon. I also appreciate that you are taking responsibility for your own safety. Here's your license, it looks like everything is in order; I must have made a mistake about you running the stop sign."

So we continued our discussion about training, qualification, teaching kids to shoot, etc., etc. We traded business cards and she said that if I ever run into any problems in the area just give her a call and she'd be glad to help out.


Whoa! How cool can that be???

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[ZRT600]

Very nice.

[MoResident]

Can I use you as a reference?

[silo]

Hey, I'm in the St. Louis area, too. Pass around the name so we can all use her! Just kidding!

Very cool cop. You handled it perfectly, and you were rewarded for it. Even better, the point of the stop was made: she made you aware that you went though a stop sign, and I'm sure that now that you're aware of it, you'll be more cautious there and yield to it. Got the point across without having to damage your wallet.

Great outcome all around.

[xXxplosive]

Unbelievably terrific.............

[69Pwned]

Now that's Awesome .........

[cammerfe]

Here in Michigan, we are REQUIRED to inform LEOs of carrying during any automobile-based contact. The LEOs all seem to be very casual about the whole thing.
KS

[Saber]

Oh please, if this stop was any better, you guys will end up getting married and living happily ever after. That sort of thing would never happen to me. Now I’m tempted to go to the gym for six months, get hair plugs and veneers on my teeth!

[grady]

Hey, I'm in the St. Louis area, too. Pass around the name

Ya beat me to it.


Nice to hear a good outcome. Now watch for those stop signs!

[BugDude]

Oh please, if this stop was any better, you guys will end up getting married and living happily ever after. That sort of thing would never happen to me. Now I’m tempted to go to the gym for six months, get hair plugs and veneers on my teeth!

They trade business cards, next thing you know they're splitting a box of ammo at the range, yada, yada, yada, they're honeymooning in Vegas.

[ccman]

Super cool.

[mcgyver210]

Nice to hear about a good LEO for a change.

[Spec]

Is that all it takes is running a stop sign? what the what..... that's Marvelous

[Neocount]

I've yet to get pulled over in St Louis (or anywhere for that matter) since I began carrying, but I can only hope that my experience will go HALF as well as yours did! Congrats.

[rottkeeper]

It should always be that easy.