TexasCHLforum.com

I had a nice conversation with a couple of Grapevine's finest this afternoon. I was at Buon Giorno, a coffee shop on Hall Johnson Road, when I noticed a couple of GVPD standing there waiting for their coffee. I found myself staring at them because both were young, bearded (first GVPD cops with beards I've seen yet), and quite tall. The shorter one of the two was at least 6'2" but I didn't realize at first that he was tall, because his partner was GIGANTIC...... I mean, like, professional Ukrainian basketball player tall. Maybe 6'10" or thereabouts. (Turns out he is eastern european, and has the accent to prove it).

Anyway, they were chatting up anybody who came near them, in a very friendly and approachable way. They grabbed an outside table and sat down, and if you came up to talk to them (like I did), they'd offer you a chair and ask if you wanted to join them. It was almost like a deliberate outreach to connect with the community and patrons of the shop. They were shaking hands with people, joking around, etc.

So before leaving with my wife's and my coffees, I tarried a bit to chat. They asked if I wanted to join them, and I said normally I would, but that if I didn't get back with my wife's coffee, they were going to have to take me into police protection. I asked them if they had experienced any reactions or fallout from passage of HB910. They both gave me a blank look, and one of them said I was going to have to tell them what HB910 was. I said "Open carry". One of them said that the GVPD department hadn't received a single MWAG call yet, and one of them said, "...and frankly, I don't CARE. As long as it's legal, I don't care". The other one agreed, and the first one said that he doesn't even look for or notice if someone has a gun on their hip. They also said that the department has received no calls regarding anyone violating a 30.07 sign. I said that was great, but that I was surprised as I had personally had conversations with people who said stuff like if they saw someone open carrying they were going to call the police. Both officers said they hope that nobody does that because it was a waste of time and resources, and they had better things to do with their time.

Given the department's previous policy of enforcing non-compliant 30.06 signs, and the city's policy of posting public festivals on public streets with 30.06 signs (and I'm sure 30.07 going forward), I was pleased to see that individual officers are taking a much more libertarian approach to open carry than expected, just like they have always seemed to have toward concealed carry.

It was encouraging, and I came away thinking that we've got some pretty cool cops policing our neighborhoods.

The Annoyed Man wrote:I had a nice conversation with a couple of Grapevine's finest this afternoon.
It was encouraging, and I came away thinking that we've got some pretty cool cops policing our neighborhoods.

Did you invite them to your church on Sunday?

To me, this is the most refreshing part of your entire post.

Anyway, they were chatting up anybody who came near them, in a very friendly and approachable way. They grabbed an outside table and sat down, and if you came up to talk to them (like I did), they'd offer you a chair and ask if you wanted to join them. It was almost like a deliberate outreach to connect with the community and patrons of the shop. They were shaking hands with people, joking around, etc.

Thanks for sharing.

WildBill wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:I had a nice conversation with a couple of Grapevine's finest this afternoon.
It was encouraging, and I came away thinking that we've got some pretty cool cops policing our neighborhoods.

Did you invite them to your church on Sunday?

The only reason I didn't is that I had tarried long enough with She Who Must Be Obeyed's coffee.

Maybe the next time.

The Annoyed Man wrote: The other one agreed, and the first one said that he doesn't even look for or notice if someone has a gun on their hip.

Overall a great encounter....but I hope that he doesn't notice remark is hyperbole. While it's unlikely a BG will be open carrying I think good situational awareness would dictate noticing someone with a gun on their hip.

Experiences like this reassures me and gladdens my heart that there are great LEO's out there.

VMI77 wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote: The other one agreed, and the first one said that he doesn't even look for or notice if someone has a gun on their hip.

Overall a great encounter....but I hope that he doesn't notice remark is hyperbole. While it's unlikely a BG will be open carrying I think good situational awareness would dictate noticing someone with a gun on their hip.

I think the officer would notice right quick if the body language was off beat.

May wife and I owned a retail business in Grapevine for many years and all our interactions with GVPD were positive. Our store security system was that we left the lights on all night. Several times I received calls in the middle of the night from the PD telling me that they had found our store,s front door unlocked. I would go downtown to the store to find a group of officers shopping (usually greeting cards). And GVPD CID even stood up for us when we had a hassle with (another city's) PD over some stolen property - offering to personally escort the other city's officers to the city limits if they weren't a bit more respectful. Really good folks.