+1 to Westfield Police

[emsdial911]

+1 to Westfield Police (OK, maybe not)

Got pulled over today by the Westfield police, couldn't figure out what I did since I saw him and made sure I was doing the speed limit. So I ask him what the problem was and he said no problem but you forgot to signal when you changed lanes.
He asked to see my license and reg so I handed it to him. He asked if I was carrying a gun and I told him that I was. He asked to see my LTCH and to remove my weapon with two fingers and hand it to him so I did. He said that he would hold onto it during the stop for their safety. I said no problem sir thinking all the time of the horrable posts that I read on here.

He comes back with a warning and hands me back my weapon (minus the clip) and asks me to holster it then hands me back my clip and asks me not to load it till I get a little further down the road.

Officer Dine and his partner were very polite so hats off to Officer Dine and his partner for being curteous.

 

[thekuhnburger]

Here we go.

 

[misconfig]

s/clip/magazine/g ( regular expression for, replace all instances of clip with magazine ).

Also - I wouldn't unholster my firearm, I'd like the police officer take it off of my person but I wouldn't EVER do that.

 

[VERT]

Glad to hear he was polite. But removing the gun from the holster and unloading it on the side of the road was more dangerous then leaving it with the occupant. Not trying to start a debate about informing and officers taking possession of a firearm (yet again). But the excuse of officer safety is pretty lame. I had this discussion with my best friend (and police officer) just this weekend. If you are worried about safety then leave the damn gun alone!

 

[INGunGuy]

LIE to them, NO THERE ISNT A WEAPON YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF IN THE VEHICLE... Jesus Christ get with it people, the police fumbling with YOUR weapon is NOT GOOD. What happens when some boneheaded LEO shoots himself in the leg with YOUR weapon because he seized it for "officer safety" Besides laughing my a** off at the LEO for shooting themselves I guess I will call for assistance.

INGunGuy

 

[MinuteMan47]

Boooooooo!!!!

 

[shootinghoosier]

What happens when some boneheaded LEO shoots himself in the leg with YOUR weapon because he seized it for "officer safety" Besides laughing my a** off at the LEO for shooting themselves I guess I will call for assistance.

INGunGuy

I'm one who would answer truthfully if I was carrying, and I would certainly turn it over to the LEO without hesitation if asked. But think about what kind of predicament you would find yourself in if it was only the LEO and you around during the traffic stop, he seizes your weapon, takes it back to his cruiser and accidentally kills himself while trying to empty it.

 

[Mr. Habib]

As I have said before; Officer, I do not choose to answer that question, or consent to a search of my person or vehicle, without legal counsel present. Am I being detained? Repeat as necessary.

 

[geronimojoe85]

I didn't know that Westfield had a PD.

As for following the law, what law?

 

[emsdial911]

Ok, feel a little stupid now. After reading other posts maybe my situation was not such a good one. I never thought about reaching for a weapon while having an officer standing there. I do have to say he never had his hand anywhere near his own weapon. But I do not know if his partner heard him tell me to remove my weapon. Could have turned out worse. NEVER been pulled over and had to deal with this. Thank God that I still have a chance to learn from my mistake.

So what happens when you tell them no and they find out otherwise? I know in Indiana you don't have to tell them but if you are asked what do you do?

 

[iam1096]

My stepson got pulled over for the same thing. He said he saw the police car and was making sure he did everything right. As soon as he turned on to keystone from RT31 he got pulled over. This was at 7:30am, heading to school at Carmel High School.They searched his car and dumped everything out of his book bag. Make him stand back infront of the police car in the cold. Then Told him he could leave. I told my stepson not to let them search and call me.
I called the department but never got a return call. Not mad that he got pulled over or since he said ok to the search but they do not need to dump the stuff on the floor. Then make him clean up after them. Driving down 31 it looks like they pull over alot of younger drivers and older cars.

 

[Colt556]

I've tried to refrain from all of these threads but there seems to be more and more of them lately. I just don't understand the logic in taking a weapon from it's legal owner for "Officer safety". If the person wanted to shoot the officer he would have shot him as he approached the car or at the very least not admitted having a weapon on him. This just seems so stupid to me. Once the citizen informs the officer that he is legally armed and shows his LTCH the subject should be closed. Others can convey this thought much more eloquently than me but I just wanted to try to get my point across. Disarming innocent people and fiddling with loaded guns on the side of the road is just asking for trouble IMO.

 

[emsdial911]

I've tried to refrain from all of these threads but there seems to be more and more of them lately. I just don't understand the logic in taking a weapon from it's legal owner for "Officer safety". If the person wanted to shoot the officer he would have shot him as he approached the car or at the very least not admitted having a weapon on him. This just seems so stupid to me. Once the citizen informs the officer that he is legally armed and shows his LTCH the subject should be closed. Others can convey this thought much more eloquently than me but I just wanted to try to get my point across. Disarming innocent people and fiddling with loaded guns on the side of the road is just asking for trouble IMO.

I see your point and agree, someone that is going to shoot an officer is not going to tell them they have a weapon.

There are two problems.
1. Police officers feel the need to control the weapon (trust issue and understandabel, maybe not right but somewhat understandable. Even a small cute dog can bite and cause serious damage. Just because you have a LTCH doesn't mean that one day you can't snap from the pressure.)

LTCH does not translate into "I WILL NOT SHOOT YOU"!

2. People like me that have never been put into this situation and not quite sure how to handle it. I have read posts where the person informed the LEO that he was uncomfortable in handing over his weapon and that he would rather have the LEO disarm him, which didn't go over well. I also heard that someone got shot and killed because he complied with the LEO's command to hand over the weapon but his partner didn't hear the command and just saw the driver going for his weapon.

So where do we draw the line between LEO safety and our rights to carry a weapon? How do we handle these situations? Each one will be different and every LEO will react in his/her own way.

 

[Mr. Habib]

Ok, feel a little stupid now. After reading other posts maybe my situation was not such a good one. I never thought about reaching for a weapon while having an officer standing there. I do have to say he never had his hand anywhere near his own weapon. But I do not know if his partner heard him tell me to remove my weapon. Could have turned out worse. NEVER been pulled over and had to deal with this. Thank God that I still have a chance to learn from my mistake.

So what happens when you tell them no and they find out otherwise? I know in Indiana you don't have to tell them but if you are asked what do you do?

See my previous post.

 

[serpicostraight]

if one of them does have a nd while handling someone elses weapon the citizen will probably be charged with something. very bad situation to let cops handle your weapon.

 

[pathfinder317]

Simple fix for that

answer NO !

 

[Colt556]

I see your point and agree, someone that is going to shoot an officer is not going to tell them they have a weapon.

There are two problems.
1. Police officers feel the need to control the weapon (trust issue and understandabel, maybe not right but somewhat understandable. Even a small cute dog can bite and cause serious damage. Just because you have a LTCH doesn't mean that one day you can't snap from the pressure.)

LTCH does not translate into "I WILL NOT SHOOT YOU"!

2. People like me that have never been put into this situation and not quite sure how to handle it. I have read posts where the person informed the LEO that he was uncomfortable in handing over his weapon and that he would rather have the LEO disarm him, which didn't go over well. I also heard that someone got shot and killed because he complied with the LEO's command to hand over the weapon but his partner didn't hear the command and just saw the driver going for his weapon.

So where do we draw the line between LEO safety and our rights to carry a weapon? How do we handle these situations? Each one will be different and every LEO will react in his/her own way.

I should have put in my post that I wasn't criticizing you, just trying to get my point across. Everyone responds differently in these situations and honestly I don't know how I would respond. I've read so many of these threads now and people like to arm chair quarterback about how they would respond and I wasn't trying to do that. If I were to be stopped I'd hope that I would remain calm and just answer his questions. I would not offer any information unless asked and not allow any search if at all avoidable. Again, not criticizing your actions by any means. Sorry if you thought otherwise.

 

[geronimojoe85]

And just to clarify. What everyone is saying on here is their opinions on what they would do or what they have done in the past. While things like surrendering a weapon are done in the interest of "officer safety" they are technically a violation of your rights. I would be more than happy to comply if it didn't violate my rights and kept everyone at ease and safe. Which in my opinion is keeping it in the damn holster.
What it all comes down to, at this point, is you handled the situation the way that you saw fit and it turned out well, and everyone made it home alive. You need to answer the questions of inform/don't inform, surrender/verbally resist, handle/let LEO handle yourself and hope the officer sees it the same way. And in this case it looks like that's exactly what you did.

Carry on brave soldier

 

[emsdial911]

Ok, for all of you that are saying "NO" and I would not allow an LEO to handle my weapon (Pathfinder and Mr. Habib) here is a question.

Have you ever been pulled over and told an officer no or defied his orders? and if so what was the outcome? I can't see an officer just letting you go on your merry way.

 

[emsdial911]

I should have put in my post that I wasn't criticizing you, just trying to get my point across. Everyone responds differently in these situations and honestly I don't know how I would respond. I've read so many of these threads now and people like to arm chair quarterback about how they would respond and I wasn't trying to do that. If I were to be stopped I'd hope that I would remain calm and just answer his questions. I would not offer any information unless asked and not allow any search if at all avoidable. Again, not criticizing your actions by any means. Sorry if you thought otherwise.

Colt, I did'nt take it that way.
My comment was basically geared towards those who have not been in the situation and say that they would lie to the officer when asked about a weapon or not ALLOW an LEO to handle their weapon pretty bold statments in my opinion. I have two brother-in-laws that are LEO's so I can see things from both perspectives. Like I said just because you have a legal firearm doesn't mean that you won't use it. How is an LEO that dosn't know you from Jack supposed to trust that you won't shoot him because of a pink piece of paper. I also don't agree with them taking it either.

Can you say conundrum?