Cincinnati Police
District 2
What to do at a Traffic Stop
The following information is provided for informational services only.
Regularly we listen to citizens describing a contact she had with a
Cincinnati Police Officer. A type of contact that occurs dozens of times a day. The
citizen was stopped
for a minor traffic violation.
For the person however, it was anything but routine. For some reason typically a traffic violation, an officer decides to stop a citizen
Many of those who we talk with become anxious and frightened even after the initial stop.
After asking some additional questions, it often becomes apparent that people are unsure as to what the officer expected of them. Some of the officer's actions were peculiar and they did not understand what was occurring.
A person being pulled over by the police should first understand
that the officer is participating in what he/she regards as potentially a life-threatening
action. In the annual listings of circumstances leading to the death of on-duty police
officers in
this country, traffic stops are always in the top three (along with felonies in progress
and domestic disputes). We train officers to be especially careful and cautious during car
stops.
Many comment on how the officer appeared threatening to them.
Officers approach slowly and deliberately and looked closely in the interior of the car,
including the back seat. When someone opens the glove box to retrieve their vehicle
registration, the officer cranes his neck to the point where he almost had his head inside
the car window.
All of these actions were intentional; officers train intensively to
do these things under the banner of ‘officer safety.’ An officer is taught to
approach a car cautiously and
deliberately, and to look for ‘furtive movement’ by the suspected violator. The
driver could be trying to hide something under the front seat (gun?, drugs?, can of
beer?). Inspecting the passenger compartment and carefully watching the removal of
something from the glove box is done for the purpose of personal safety and detecting the
presence of possible contraband.
So what does the honest citizen do to minimize the officer's concerns? First, please try to understand why the officer is talking these precautions. There is no such thing as a routine traffic stop, as a way of emphasizing that police officers must be ever vigilant. When you sense this caution or tension in the officer, please understand that he/she does not usually know that you are an ‘honest citizen.’
Once the officer learns your identity, confirms the vehicle registration, and sees no
evidence of criminal behavior on your part, you will probably see the officer noticeably
relax his/her approach.
You should also avoid getting out of the car immediately after being stopped and approaching the officer while he/she is still in the vehicle. Officers are cautioned about being ‘trapped’ in their own vehicle. This behavior raises suspicion in the officer's mind that the traffic violator may have something, or somebody, in the car that the citizen does not want the officer to see. Remain in the car and let the officer approach you, keep your hands plainly visible, and avoid those ‘furtive movements.’
When police officers make their initial contact, permit them to
speak and act first. They will ask for your driver's license, registration, and proof of
insurance. These are lawful
requirements of you, but more importantly, it helps the officer determine that you are not
a car thief and you are not driving with a suspended license.
Once these essential preliminaries are taken care of, it is appropriate for you and the officer to discuss why you were stopped.
The suspected traffic violator will sometimes disagree with the officer's observation. Police officers are similar to baseball umpires in that they will listen to the other side of a dispute. Unlike umpires, however, an officer may be persuaded not to take enforcement action. Convincing arguments are usually characterized by facts and logic, not emotion, threat, or volume.
Traffic citations are not pronouncements of guilt. Police
officers, being human, make errors. Courts of law have been created to impartially hear
complaints of disputed tickets. Police officers readily accept the fact that their
judgments are subject
to question and review by competent authority.
[submitted by anonymous author]
Current time
Updated on December 02, 1999
Created on December 02, 1999