Met Barney Fife and Andy Taylor in OKC...

[Dragonfighter]

...Figuratively of course but reading this thread made me think of it.

So its almost two years ago and my wife's, cousin's husband dies. So our family goes up to OKC for the funeral and to help her get her affairs in order. Without going into too much detail, her house was in massive disorder and a lot of material (ith some heavy cleaning) and papers needed to be gone through.

My FIL and my wife's cousin went to run errands and left us at the house. Due to the conditions, we both wore plastic gloves and filter masks. It's getting late and I thought I heard voices; stopping work and looking around it got quiet. About five minutes later there is an "authoritative" knock on the door. I answer it and it's a twenty something OKC PD officer and another man in regular dress. I pull down the mask and ask, "may I help you?" The officer asks, "would you step out here please?" I do and he asks for my name and ID. I hand both my DL and LTC as I was armed and there is a duty to notify in OK. He separates, looks at both and then states he needs to hold on to them for a bit to which I consent.

It should be noted that I am wearing my department's t-shirt and I do have my ID and badge in my hip pocket as well. So we are on the front steps discussing what I'm doing there and that the other fellow (was a friend of my wife's cousin that fed their cat) didn't know me. He then asks if there is anyone else inside and I say there is and call for my wife.

About now a couple more cruisers are pulling up and three more officers, including a more senior officer and a sergeant. So I and the first officer step off to the side and as we are speaking he finally notices the bulge of my sidearm. He cooks off and yells, "HE'S GOT A GUN!" I'm afraid I chuckled a bit and said, "yes, that's why I handed you my license." He had stepped back and unsnapped his holster withhis hand on the grip. I kid you not, his face twisted up and his lips pursed like Barney's and he stated in a higher voice, "in Oklahoma you're supposed to say when you have a gun!" I replied frankly, "okay, I have a gun." I really was surprised at how fast this was going sideways.

He was spinning up and I admit to a moment of smart alec-ness, "dial it back Barney, I'm not the bad guy here". I said this while pointing to my department's logo on the t-shirt and then producing my badge and ID holder. He was looking back and forth rapidly like he didn't know how to process the information. The more senior officer noticed and came over to where we were and asked me what the problem was. "No problem here but your boy is wound tighter than a watchsping." He turned to the young guy and said, "go on back to the car and call in the IDs." He hesitated, removed his hand from the weapon and walked back to the car, looking back at us a few times.

Now I was dealing with "Andy" and he asked, "do you mind if I remove your weapon so he'll calm down?" I held my hands out and said, "help yourself." He removed the pistol and didn't even bother clearing it until we walked back to the house. He told the sergeant what had transpired, he was non-plussed about the weapon or anything else; just seemingly interested in clearing up who we were.

While we waited for my FIL and wife's cousin to call back "Andy", the sergeant and I were just chatting like you would across the table at Starbuck's. The sergeant did ask why we were wearing gloves and a mask to which my wife said, "come in and you'll understand." He stepped just inside and said, "yep, I get it." After my FIL and wife's cousin called back and spoke with the PD and family friend, "Andy" seated the magazine and handed me the weapon back. I holstered and we talked a bit about "Barney" and the sergeant said there would be "retraining" in his future. "Andy" went back to the cruiser and said something to "Barney" and he came up to us and returned our IDs followed by an "I'm sorry for overreacting" type statement and we all shook hands and went on our merry way.

The bottom line was that it was, globally, a positive encounter. I have had occasion to deal with OK troopers and OKC PD before and they all seemed very "chill". Recalling my dealings with "Barney" I am still amused at how similar his actions and expressions were to his fictional counterpart. That said, I am also a little disturbed as I also relive the scenario and remember how fast it went sideways.

[ScottDLS]

Now if you get to Tulsa, tell us if you meet Sean "Sticks" Larkin from Live PD .

[rotor]

If that's a positive encounter and you are law enforcement I hate to think what the average person might have to go through.

[mojo84]

Just think how sideways it would have gone if you started reciting the 2nd Amendment and arguing with Barney about how he is infringing upon your rights. Doing so could have ended with you being right but dead.

[RicoTX]

If that's a positive encounter and you are law enforcement I hate to think what the average person might have to go through.

I agree.

[Dragonfighter]

The impression I got was his “retraining” may be pretty intense. FWIW, fire not LEO.

[Maxwell]

Way to stay cool under someone else's pressure! (Maybe borderline paranoia and panic would be a better descriptor) Barney does need a wee bit of retraining, and something tells me that Andy will be the one to do it.

My hat's off to you for doing what you do daily, but even more so for helping clear out the estate. That's always a tough job in many ways.

[Deltaboy]

Barney needs 2 weeks of intensive retaining and unarmed duty on the call desk for 90 days!

He wound too tight!