Question about carry during police ride along

[CathyInBlue]

It's Terre Haute, which means it has managed to both suck and blow simultaneously.

 

[SteveM4A1]

I know how you feel. I lived there once upon a time.

 

[poberly]

I asked an officer who is a friend of mine. It is against policy to allow people to carry who are not sworn officers, like people on a ride along. With that being said, he said that if it was someone he knew that he showed them how to release the shotgun in case something happened.

 

[k1500]

This sure is a hypothetical situation. First off, I simply wouldn't carry during the ride along. Why do we carry (aside from the 2nd amendment)? Because we don't have a personal armed police officer with us all the time. If I'm in the car with a LEO, I have a "personal" officer with me.

If I'm armed in any given situation, that pistol is to only protect myself and the loved ones/friends that are with me at the time. I have no intention of being a "back up" police officer. Of course, if I happened to be in a "danger close" situation where a thug got a lucky shot in a LEO's leg and was going to shoot him execution style in the head, I wouldn't turn a blind eye.

 

[stephen87]

I don't carry because of the lack of LEOs around me. I carry regardless of how many LEOs are around me. Unless you become LE, you'll never have a "personal" LEO.

It's not about being a backup LEO, it's about protection for you. Again, doesn't matter how many LEOs are around, I prefer to have my firearm. That being said, we all know the rules, we all know what CAN happen regardless of where you are and who you are with, but to me being around LEO doesn't make me any safer, it makes me less safe. No offense to the LEO on here, but people out there don't like LE and will do whatever it takes to NOT go to jail. Even if it means a shootout with the police with citizens around.

 

[bingley]

Too much hypothetical. Just live, man. Knowing where to grab the back up gun is good enough for me. The chances that you'd get into a firefight while riding along are really, really slim.

 

[SteveM4A1]

Too much hypothetical. Just live, man. Knowing where to grab the back up gun is good enough for me. The chances that you'd get into a firefight while riding along are really, really slim.

Are we really arguing chance? It is not the likelihood but the stakes.

 

[bingley]

Are we really arguing chance? It is not the likelihood but the stakes.

I think we are. Even if you have your favorite gun, surviving a gunfight is going to have a foot on chance, too.

 

[Bunnykid68]

I would rather have a long gun in a firefight anyway so access to the rifle or shotgun would be good enough for me

 

[CathyInBlue]

Handguns are not real guns. They are just a means to keep your assailants' heads down while you go for a real gun (long gun).

 

[JMWetzel89]

I have done several ride alongs. When I asked the officer and police chief if I was aloud to carry they both said the more guns the marrier. Just as long as I understood that it was only for personal protection, I stay in the car at all times and only use the weapon if my life is in danger. Or the officer has lost control of the situation and his life was in danger.

I have been in on a ride along where we were involved in a 6 car pursuit the man was armed and ended up turning the gun on himself, I never felt the need to even draw my weapon. Most cops can't wait for something exciting and will be all over any situation. Plus they are the ones getting paid to do it. Stay in the car and don't grab a gun until sh@$ hits the fan.

 

[stephen87]

Stay in the car? On all calls, or just ones that were more likely to turn deadly/traffic stops?

 

[JMWetzel89]

Stay in the car unless the officer your with tells you to get out

 

[rbMPSH12]

I have done several ride alongs. When I asked the officer and police chief if I was aloud to carry they both said the more guns the marrier. Just as long as I understood that it was only for personal protection, I stay in the car at all times and only use the weapon if my life is in danger. Or the officer has lost control of the situation and his life was in danger.

This is similar to what I was thinking about in the OP. Obviously, if you are carrying on a ride-along, you should stay in the car and never use the gun unless YOUR life is in immediate danger. But, as you and the officers you were with said, I can also see another case, though extremely unlikely, in which it is clear that the officer is very likely to lose his life, having lost control of the situation, and no other backup is there (which would also be unlikely if he's had time to lose control). What should the rider do then?

I just saw on-body police footage from New Mexico of a huge chase/gunfight between cops and a heavily armed guy. Cops were shooting ARs from inside their cruisers and getting hit inside the cruisers. What if there were a civilian riding along? Maybe they would have dropped him off on the curb before pursuing a heavily armed guy. But if there were a civilian in there and he was armed, do you think he'd be justified in shooting back if bullets were flying through the windshield at them. He's still in the car, right? Life in danger, right? Again, this whole scenario is extremely unlikely to happen, and has probably never happened. But it doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility.

 

[SteveM4A1]

I think we are. Even if you have your favorite gun, surviving a gunfight is going to have a foot on chance, too.

I'm not arguing that chance exists. However, I don't think it is wise to make a decision to carry or not to carry at a particular time based upon the likelihood I would need my firearm.

 

[KW730]

I'm not arguing that chance exists. However, I don't think it is wise to make a decision to carry or not to carry at a particular time based upon the likelihood I would need my firearm.

Remember the deputy in Morgan county, I think it was, who had his son on a ride along when he was shot and killed? We carry guns daily when there is very little likelihood we will need it. The poster upthread who commented about the officer getting called to a school is still the only comment that even makes me hesitate.

 

[SteveM4A1]

Remember the deputy in Morgan county, I think it was, who had his son on a ride along when he was shot and killed? We carry guns daily when there is very little likelihood we will need it. The poster upthread who commented about the officer getting called to a school is still the only comment that even makes me hesitate.

I agree.

 

[rhino]

If I got invited on a ride along, I would not be so rude as to offer to discuss intimate details of my personal habits and hygiene.

If something bad happened, I'd be too busy trying to make myself small enough to crawl into the glovebox and hide that whether or not I was armed would be a non-issue.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

Remember the deputy in Morgan county, I think it was, who had his son on a ride along when he was shot and killed? We carry guns daily when there is very little likelihood we will need it. The poster upthread who commented about the officer getting called to a school is still the only comment that even makes me hesitate.

The son (now a State Trooper) used the shotgun in the car to keep the suspect at gunpoint until other officers arrived.

 

[JMWetzel89]

This is similar to what I was thinking about in the OP. Obviously, if you are carrying on a ride-along, you should stay in the car and never use the gun unless YOUR life is in immediate danger. But, as you and the officers you were with said, I can also see another case, though extremely unlikely, in which it is clear that the officer is very likely to lose his life, having lost control of the situation, and no other backup is there (which would also be unlikely if he's had time to lose control). What should the rider do then?

I just saw on-body police footage from New Mexico of a huge chase/gunfight between cops and a heavily armed guy. Cops were shooting ARs from inside their cruisers and getting hit inside the cruisers. What if there were a civilian riding along? Maybe they would have dropped him off on the curb before pursuing a heavily armed guy. But if there were a civilian in there and he was armed, do you think he'd be justified in shooting back if bullets were flying through the windshield at them. He's still in the car, right? Life in danger, right? Again, this whole scenario is extremely unlikely to happen, and has probably never happened. But it doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility.

We have discussed this as well. If bullets are flying anywhere near you, your life is in danger. You have every right to defend yourself, but their rule is only if you can do so with exposing yourself anymore than you already are. Your not the only gun on your side of the fight, don't go out of your way to be the one to end it

most cops are good guys, and if one if them trusts you enough to ask you to ride along with them. They will take care of you before during and after the ride.

my advice get to know the department, even if it's against the policy for you to carry the officer your with will go over everything with you show where the back ups are, where the mags are, flashlights, how to use the radio, etc.