TexasCHLforum.com

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?

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.

Keith B wrote: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.

Abraham wrote: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.

Abraham wrote: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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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..

I haven't been stopped since 1989.

GrayHawk wrote:

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.

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.

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).

GrayHawk wrote:
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.