TexasCHLforum.com

Since I stop to help people on the side of the road on a regular basis,
my Ford Ranger is equipped with white-and-amber, police quality strobes,
with a front-facing set on the dashboard and a rear facing light bar as well.
I also carry 4 large cones with reflective tape on them. These items are to
increase the safety factor for myself and the people that I assist.

Of course another 2 pieces of safety gear that I carry are my CHL and my Taurus.

Tonight about 1000 PM I came upon a gentleman changing a flat on his Kia,
on the southbound side of I-35E in Hickory Creek, right before the highway
crosses the bridge over Lake Lewisville. This is Denton County (north of Dallas).

I had the rear strobes rocking, my 4 cones out, and was wearing my lime green safety vest
with hi-viz silver stripes. I did not have the front strobes on since no one could
be approaching us on the one way highway.

A young DPS trooper pulled over and asked who I was. I told him I'm just a citizen
helping out the gentleman changing the tire. He asked me to turn on my dash-mounted
strobes so that he could see that they were also white-and-amber, and not red or blue.
Then he shone his Maglite on my radar detector and said "What's that?"

I replied "it's a radar detector." He said "So you're using that to break the law."
I replied "Well, sometimes you guys get the wrong guy when you'r working."
He smirked kind of a "Whatever" look and dropped that line of chatter.

The trooper was about to book when I said "Hey, I'd like to give you some information that you
may find useful" and I told him about the study of bad guys' gun habits, and where they
hide their guns when LEO's question them. He listened and thanked me for the information.

He then got into his cruiser and left. What's funny is that he never asked me for any ID when
he was inquiring about me or my strobes, but then when I told him about the gun stuff, I thought
sure he would then ask me for ID and I'd present him with both my DL and CHL.

But he never did. My PT111 was in my right front pants pocket and I had 2 mags on me.

Chuckle, chuckle. It doesn't take much to amuse me.

SIA

Sounds like it was relatively pleasant experience. It is weird to me that he didn't at least ask to see your ID. If he was that concerned with who you were to stop, seems like he would make sure you were telling him your true identity.

shortysboy09 wrote:Sounds like it was relatively pleasant experience. It is weird to me that he didn't at least ask to see your ID. If he was that concerned with who you were to stop, seems like he would make sure you were telling him your true identity.

Oh, I dunno. LEO is often criticized for doing doing too much... then too little, then too aggressive, then not agressive enough. Seems to me he read the situation correctly and acted appropreately.

Hey, I saw that car on the side of the road....

surprise_i'm_armed wrote: I thought
sure he would then ask me for ID and I'd present him with both my DL and CHL.

You're just dyin to show off that purdy piece of plastic aren't ya ?

BTW , I don't use a radar detector to break the law. I use it to keep me from breaking the law.

Sounds like a good encounter to me.

My favorite quote regarding a radar detector came from a preacher, when asked why he would ever need one.
He replied "In case I need to slow down "

USA1:
Well, I am quite intrigued as to how the 1st LEO to see my CHL will react.

PappaGun:
I'm not one of those guys that will refuse to show ID without a Supreme Court
warrant. I would have gladly shown both my DL and CHL to Young Trooper.
I believe that he asked a few pertinent questions, and I was being kind of an
imp to bring up the bad guys' gun-hiding habits. I kind of skated near to the
point of being asked for ID, but he never asked.

SIA

I personally hope that I am never legally compelled to display mine.

I have yet to be stopped by an LEO in the three and a half years that I've lived in Texas. Must be all that clean livin'.

My only LEO contact at all was with the guy we spoke to about filing an accident report when my wife was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. He never asked to see either of our IDs (my wife was carrying at the time too), advised us to not file a police report about it, and wound up dealing only with the insurance company... ...and they don't know about our CHLs.

I am actually surprised by the number of people on this board who get stopped; and I'm not claiming to be a saint or anything. I do speed a bit... not recklessly or necessarily intentionally, but definitely over the posted limits with some degree of regularity. But I do rely on my radar-detector to warn me, and between that and just being vigilant I've avoided being stopped, even in sneaky speed-traps.

USA1 wrote:[
BTW , I don't use a radar detector to break the law. I use it to keep me from breaking the law.

Ummm, how does a radar detector prevent you from breaking the law? (Outside of the area immediately surrounding the LEO, anyway.)

sjfcontrol wrote:

USA1 wrote:[
BTW , I don't use a radar detector to break the law. I use it to keep me from breaking the law.

Ummm, how does a radar detector prevent you from breaking the law? (Outside of the area immediately surrounding the LEO, anyway.)

Maybe it is the adage 'You are only breaking the law if you get caught' thing??

sjfcontrol wrote:

USA1 wrote:[
BTW , I don't use a radar detector to break the law. I use it to keep me from breaking the law.

Ummm, how does a radar detector prevent you from breaking the law? (Outside of the area immediately surrounding the LEO, anyway.)

I guess what I really meant was... I use it to keep me from getting caught breaking the law.

Keith beat me to it.

sjfcontrol wrote:

USA1 wrote:[
BTW , I don't use a radar detector to break the law. I use it to keep me from breaking the law.

Ummm, how does a radar detector prevent you from breaking the law? (Outside of the area immediately surrounding the LEO, anyway.)

I was wondering about that myself. I use the cruise control for that.

A lot of people who get pulled over when asked if their radar detector went off say no. I use to just use what we called the trigger on the radar so I didn't have to leave it running just for that reason. When I observed a car speeding I could just hit that button on the top of the remote and it locked in their speed. If someone had a detector it would come across as a half a second beep.

Just to add a little humor what I sometime found amusing was sitting at a light behind someone with a radar detector in view of me. You can hit the same button I mentioned above and make their radar ping over and over again. If you're really good you can tone out different songs like shave and a haircut, etc. Drives them crazy and they usually turn it off.

gregthehand wrote:A lot of people who get pulled over when asked if their radar detector went off say no. I use to just use what we called the trigger on the radar so I didn't have to leave it running just for that reason. When I observed a car speeding I could just hit that button on the top of the remote and it locked in their speed. If someone had a detector it would come across as a half a second beep.

Just to add a little humor what I sometime found amusing was sitting at a light behind someone with a radar detector in view of me. You can hit the same button I mentioned above and make their radar ping over and over again. If you're really good you can tone out different songs like shave and a haircut, etc. Drives them crazy and they usually turn it off.

That is funny. No wonder I keep putting off buying any.

gregthehand wrote:If you're really good you can tone out different songs like shave and a haircut, etc. Drives them crazy and they usually turn it off.

Love it !

The best method of knowing when a cop is sitting just over the hill/overpass
is to watch for the brake lights of the cars in front of you IMO .

I'll be honest , I have been pulled over 3 times in the last few years for speeding . I have yet to get a ticket (knock wood).
I simply respectfully inform the officer that I was focusing on the traffic and road conditions around me
and not so much on the speedometer.

That way I'm not denying speeding , but displaying alert driving. Respect and a good attitude goes a long way.