Proposal: Dicussions on carry/OC with local law-enforcement

[ccw9mm]

Q: In your community, are you aware of (or have you participated in) meetings with local law enforcement leadership to have an open discussion on the handling of carry/OC MWAG type interactions?

In the discussion thread "Why Does It Have To Be OC v Police," Glocknug posed the question of why such interactions so often end up adversarial.

OhioCatter has proposed something that has been done in his community:

What they did in their small town was have a gathering of LEO and the folks who choose to OC. Like a meeting/gathering in the park. The Chief and fellow LEO's got together with thoes who choose to OC and had a discussion of concerns on both sides (OC/LEO) of the fence.

Discuss the viability of such discussions. Please keep this on-track, by focusing on such meetings/discussions. (Continuing the debate from the other thread should be done in that other thread.)

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[mlr1m]

There is only one full time LEO in the metropolis where I currently reside. We also have a part time officer who covers days off. We have talked about the new open carry law that will go into effect later this year. I know thats not what you're looking for but its all I got for ya.

BTW, he does not particularly like the new law but tells me he doesn't have to like it. He only has to enforce it. He has not said what his plans are when he encounters his first open carrier.

Michael

[TN_Mike]

Yep. I have talked to individual deputies and with the former Chief Deputy of the County I live in who is now the Sheriff. All have told me that they instruct their cadets in the academy on the legality of open carry but citizens. The Sheriffs office in Shelby County TN is great. The city police of Memphis, not so much.

[atctimmy]

After sleeping on this idea I realized the weaknesses it has. I live in an area with multiple small town police forces. I can drive through three of them on my way to the mall. You would need to meet with each chief and that would take a lot of time.

[ccw9mm]

After sleeping on this idea I realized the weaknesses it has. I live in an area with multiple small town police forces. You would need to meet with each chief and that would take a lot of time.

Ineffectiveness? How so, beyond the time involved? The slow progression of time hasn't worked, in many places. Understood, that many (most?) communities wouldn't be anything like the worst of the ones we all hear about.

[ElkSniper]

One friend is a cop in my town. He supports concealed carry. When he makes a contact, like a traffic ticket, and the person notifies him that they are carrying, he just says to keep it holstered.
Out at a restaurant once (wing's place) with him and an OC guy came in. Some others in our group thought he should be approached by a cop, and my friend just said "Why, he's not doing anything illegal".
I have regular meetings with a few other officers on a regular basis. I told them I carry and they have all said something along the lines of "Good", and then most give me a hard time about it. Such is Colorado (outside the Denver area).

[archer51]

While I have not had formal meetings, I have discussed it individually with LEO. Never ran across one here that had a problem with it.

[Harryball]

No meetings, but have discused with individual officers. From both Lansing and East Lansing. In lansing it a mixed bag of responses. In E.L. most of the veteran officers have no problem, the younger ones are the ones I worry about....

[atctimmy]

Ineffectiveness? How so, beyond the time involved? The slow progression of time hasn't worked, in many places. Understood, that many (most?) communities wouldn't be anything like the worst of the ones we all hear about.

My thought on why it would be such a good idea is that after some face time individuals would know each other by sight and have a bit of respect for each other. That is a little harder to do when you meet 15 police chiefs (and a hundred officers) instead of one or two chiefs and 10-12 officers.

It just a numbers thing for me. That's all.

[Chief1297]

Is it really to much to ask that LE Officers be knowledgeable of the laws they are going to enforce? Dont get me wrong, talking with each other is great and anything that improves communication is fantastic BUT if enforcing the law is your job, should you know it before you approach anyone? I know, I know there are a lot of laws but.....

[Justified]

I said yes but not in a formal setting. Just general discussion with local LEOs.

[zacii]

While I think it would be a good idea, it wouldn't fly in my neighborhood.

Don't trust law enforcement here... a lot of prejudice

Now, on the other hand, there is a small town east of me where I got my CCW training from their local sheriff. He was a real decent guy and he was easy to talk to. But, that was a different town, in a different county. Might as well have been a different planet.

[chiefjason]

I've had personal interactions with most of my local LE officers at one time or another while OC'ing. I've never had an issue. And they have ranged from walking into the pawn shop while 2 were in there, to a traffic accident, detectives working the neighborhood after a break in, and 911 call on some neighbors. One of said neighbors tried to get the officer to talk to me after I had gotten on to her son while I was OC'ing and getting ready to leave. She wanted to press charges on me. He kept reminding her that he was talking to her about trespassing on our property. The officer told my wife later that she was "hung up on that gun thing." He could have cared less.

I also know that the city of Hickory PD had some in house training on OC last year. Basically establishing that it was legal and what officers could and could not do. Lawsuit prevention. A family member of mine sat in on it and told me about it.

[Ionracas]

Yep. I have talked to individual deputies and with the former Chief Deputy of the County I live in who is now the Sheriff. All have told me that they instruct their cadets in the academy on the legality of open carry but citizens. The Sheriffs office in Shelby County TN is great. The city police of Memphis, not so much.

Mike, how are the police in surrounding suberbs when it comes to OC? Collierville, Germantown, Bartlett, etc? Im not sure I would chance OCing in Memphis. Most of my interactions with MPD (when Im working therefor not carrying) have been quite negative.

Also, you wouldnt happen to know if carrying through Farm Road and the roads passing by the prison and county buildings is legal or not? It saves so much time getting up to the sycamore area from Germantown but it does pass by government buildings and county owned park. Frankly Im not sure if thoes roads are technicaly public or meant just to access thoes government properties. Aside from the park they dont close at night and everyone uses them but I dont want to risk carrying through there.

[TN_Mike]

Mike, how are the police in surrounding suberbs when it comes to OC? Collierville, Germantown, Bartlett, etc? Im not sure I would chance OCing in Memphis. Most of my interactions with MPD (when Im working therefor not carrying) have been quite negative.

Also, you wouldnt happen to know if carrying through Farm Road and the roads passing by the prison and county buildings is legal or not? It saves so much time getting up to the sycamore area from Germantown but it does pass by government buildings and county owned park. Frankly Im not sure if thoes roads are technicaly public or meant just to access thoes government properties. Aside from the park they dont close at night and everyone uses them but I dont want to risk carrying through there.

Bartlett is good. They know the law. Collierville as well I think, not 100% on Collierville since I really don't get down that way much. Germantown is OK, but it may depend on the cop. There are a lot of libs in Germantown so it's a gray area. Memphis is not good. Honestly, while I love Memphis, it has one of the worst trained police forces in the country. Simply put, they suck. They have very little idea what the carry laws in TN are and they will harass an OC'er. I know people who have OC'ed in Memphis, I've done it myself, but it isn't a comfortable experience.

Now, out here where we live in Arlington and in near by Lakeland, OC is pretty common. The Sheriff Deputies never bat an eye. The Shelby County Sheriff's Office is great.

As for the roads you talked about, I'm honestly not sure. I can tell you, I went to the County Clerks office down there Monday and I carried on the way and back home. Not in the building because they have some seriously big signs posted at the entrance with the proper wording. I locked my gun in my vehicle safe while I was inside. But I think you should be OK just driving through.