Are You Often Stopped By LEO's?

[Abraham]

By virtue of what I've read here, it would seem quite a number of folks are being stopped by LEO's with great regularity and have put a lot of thought into their personal standard operating procedure when it happens.

What's the dominant reason for being stopped so often?

Am I in the minority of those who has decades pass without ever being stopped by any form of LEO?

[Keith B]

I have not been stopped in over 25 years (knock on wood .) I do drive fast sometimes, but usually nothing that is more than 10 over.

[The Annoyed Man]

I have not been stopped in over 25 years (knock on wood .) I do drive fast sometimes, but usually nothing that is more than 10 over.

The last time I got stopped by a cop was on Christmas day, 1997. I got a speeding ticket from a CHP officer along Kanan Dume Road, coming home from my mom's house. I was about 5 mph over the posted limit on a long, downhill straightaway. I traffic schooled it. I haven't even been given a warning since. The last time I had to show ID to an LEO was in June of 2005 when I got called to the scene of an accident which had totaled my wife's car.

This is a radical change from how it used to be for me. When I first got into sport bikes, I got stopped a lot, and I earned tickets at an unacceptable rate. I use the word earned deliberately. I only ever got one ticket in those years which I did not deserve. In that particular case, I was overtaken by a group of guys on sport bikes who were speeding just as we all entered a corner together on Mulholland Highway. As we came around the corner together, there was a big speed trap with a bunch of CHP cars, and we all got pulled over together. I had no idea who those other guys were, and I was definitely not speeding because I had advance knowledge that the speed trap was there; but I got a ticket anyway for being on the same road at the same time and place as them. I did try to fight the ticket, but it was a pointless exercise, as it turns out the judge lived along Mulholland Highway, and he was very supportive of the CHP interdiction program along that stretch of road. So, I shrugged it off, and credited it to one of the times I should have gotten a ticket but didn't.

Anyway, I'm not a saint. I do speed sometimes - not crazy speeding, but definitely over the limit. But I do have a radar/laser detector, and I do pay attention to it. I actually think that I drive more slowly ever since I bought my first radar detector than I ever did before buying one.

[RKirby]

Am I in the minority of those who has decades pass without ever being stopped by any form of LEO?

Nope..the last time I was pulled over was in 1984.

[Charles L. Cotton]

What's the dominant reason for being stopped so often?

Driving a Corvette. Actually, I've been stopped very few times over the years and then only in so-called "speed traps." Well, . . . I do remember one time on Hwy. 290 . . .

Chas.

[Fangs]

I've been caught a total of 3 times for speeding and once for "street racing". Wasn't racing but the cop was a jerk, on Christmas Eve too.

I don't have anything on my record though, thanks to the many ways out of tickets in our legal system.

Never got caught on a bike though, and I have "evaded arrest" more than a couple of times in one night. I didn't realize the severity of those actions at the time, I just knew that by the time the officer turned around I'd be doing at least 140, and I've always been good at those kinds of math problems...

The more I think about it, the more it seems like Jesus really does love me, even when I'm being stupid.

[cowboymd]

Radar Dectector! Still stay within 10 mph, if over at all. Average getting stopped about once every 15 yrs, the last time for driving in the left lane w/ no traffic around. Just a warning though.

[Target1911]

I have only been stopped twice since I received my CHL. Both times in the same night for a headlight out.

However, with my job, I get to call on their services on a somewhat frequent basis. Sometime they ask for ID, sometimes not. I have been disarmed twice by Arlington PD

[Liberty]

I probably get a ticket on average about year every 2 or 3 years, I also put about 50-70k miles on the road. I probably average 2 or 3 encounters per year with LEOs that have nothing to do with traffic infractions.

[GrayHawk]

However, with my job, I get to call on their services on a somewhat frequent basis. Sometime they ask for ID, sometimes not. I have been disarmed twice by Arlington PD

After being disarmed, did you find their explanation reasonable? Just wondering..

[KC5AV]

I haven't been stopped since 1989.

[Target1911]

However, with my job, I get to call on their services on a somewhat frequent basis. Sometime they ask for ID, sometimes not. I have been disarmed twice by Arlington PD

After being disarmed, did you find their explanation reasonable? Just wondering..

The first time I understood. It was a somewhat heated confrontation, tho not a dangerous one.
The second time I had completely left the scene and met the LEO at totally different and safe place. This time I did not understand it but I didnt argue at all and was very accommodating. They were very professional during the entire visit (even gave many compliments on my choice of carry).

Since the second time, anytime i had to call the Arlington LEO out for a visit, If at all possible and safe to do so, I would disarm (put it in the console) before the LEO arrived and inform them if they asked for ID. I usually, again if safe to do so, inform the 911 operator that I do have a CHL if I am armed.

I have asked several LEO about why they would disarm CHLs and most have said they dont worry about it. But the ones that said they do responded with," I dont want anyone around me carrying a gun" and two even went further to say, "The CHLer could just snap for no apparent reason and shoot me"

I will say that even though I disagree with being disarmed, I do understand it from the LEOs standpoint IF tempers are hot at the scene of a disturbance.

[NcongruNt]

I have been pulled over once about a year and a half ago, shortly after I got my CHL.

It was in downtown Austin near the Capitol, and was frustrated by recent light timing changes, so I gunned it (as much as you can in a 1-ton van, anyway) to try to make the light they changed. I didn't make the light anyway, and my brief speeding was limited to about half a block, and only about 7 over in a 35 zone. I got pulled over right after that light, but the trooper apparently never got a clock on me, just noticed that my engine was working loudly and I was briefly going a bit fast. Anyhow, the stop was courteous (on both ends), and beyond the initial inquiry about whether I was armed ("do you have your gun with you?"), nothing more was mentioned about the CHL or my firearm. After the DL/ID checks went through, I was given a warning and thanked for my courtesy.

Beyond that, the last time I got pulled over was around 2001, by DPS on 183 in NW Austin. I got a ticket for speeding as I should have.

I don't speed at all. In fact, the most recent stop was a fluke and the only time I've intentionally sped (albeit briefly) in probably 4 years. My driving record is clean, I drive safely, and do not take unnecessary risks. I thank myself (and USAA) for my low insurance rates.

My other interactions with LEOs with my CHL have been as a result of my calling them in regards to other people, and all those interactions have been courteous and I have never been disarmed.

[GrayHawk]

I have asked several LEO about why they would disarm CHLs and most have said they dont worry about it. But the ones that said they do responded with," I dont want anyone around me carrying a gun" and two even went further to say, "The CHLer could just snap for no apparent reason and shoot me"[quote][/quote]

I am certainly glad they acted professionally. Your actions and response to their request was certainly admirable and goes a long way in showing LEO's that CHL holders are not a threat. Kind of ironic that they would say a CHLr could just snap, especially when a LEO could also (as most recently seen in Garland).

[Target1911]

I am certainly glad they acted professionally. Your actions and response to their request was certainly admirable and goes a long way in showing LEO's that CHL holders are not a threat. Kind of ironic that they would say a CHLr could just snap, especially when a LEO could also (as most recently seen in Garland).

That was exactly what I was thinking about as I was typing the response.