LEO encounter

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no no no- i obviously was NOT open carrying. duh. but this was the first time i have gotten pulled over while ARMED. i drove all the way from houston to manatee county today, and had a headlight out the whole way. go figure, when i'm 10 minutes from home i get pulled over. i was going south, and cop was going north- i saw him turn around, and when he finally caught up to me, he got right behind me. i didn't even wait for him to turn the lights on, i just pulled over. he came up and said "i guess you know what's going on", i said "yeah i've been driving all day and had yet to be stopped." and then i handed him my insurance, DL, and CWL and said, "i just want to let you know i have a concealed weapon license and i am armed." he said "ok. is everything on your DL correct?" told him yes, and he said he'd be right back. never said a word about the gun or even asked where it was. he was very talkative and a real nice guy for it being 215 in the morning...oh- no ticket just told me to get it fixed when i could.

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So the cop was rational. It would be very strange to be afraid of someone who told you that he was armed in a friendly manner. That's why it's so incredibly stupid that open carry is illegal here.

If any reasonable person, especially a cop, gave it 2 seconds thought, a criminal is always going to conceal a weapon. I think we have a right to conceal without a permit, but if a person was looking for trouble they're going to hide their weapon to surprise.

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I have to ask. Was this a Manatee County deputy? I avoid that county due to the crazy sheriffs. They are corrupt and been in the newspaper more then a politician.

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thejax wrote:

I have to ask. Was this a Manatee County deputy? I avoid that county due to the crazy sheriffs. They are corrupt and been in the newspaper more then a politician.

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yes it was. i've lived here 25 years- i'm not sure i've heard enough stories of deputies to make it stand out to me....maybe i just haven't been paying attention..

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thejax wrote:

I have to ask. Was this a Manatee County deputy? I avoid that county due to the crazy sheriffs. They are corrupt and been in the newspaper more then a politician.

Click to expand...

I've said this before, but it looks like I'm going to have to say it again.

if you are going to make a claim, provide the source.

As you are talking about "been in the newspaper more then a politician" then provide the links to the story.

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It ain't Manatee county the problem is in...it was Okaloosa County. Quite a bit northwest in Florida.

Charlie Crist even got involved with cleaning it up All's quiet now, except for the trials.

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marrandy wrote:

thejax wrote:

I have to ask.  Was this a Manatee County deputy?  I avoid that county due to the crazy sheriffs.  They are corrupt and been in the newspaper more then a politician.

Click to expand...

I've said this before, but it looks like I'm going to have to say it again.

if you are going to make a claim, provide the source.

As you are talking about  "been in the newspaper more then a politician"  then provide the links to the story.

Click to expand...

Here, let me help:

http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg44868.html

If you search for more info on this you'll find some pretty shocking details. Outright fabrication of "facts" and planted evidence. People who became felons by simply driving down the wrong street. All in the name of pumping up arrest numbers for these guys and gathering more power to themselves. They were golden for a while until people started to push back. Its great that they're all behind bars now, but I doubt that the entire mentality was cleansed from the SO.

FWIW, in Manatee I see more LEOs driving down a single road between the interstate and my home 10 minutes away every evening than I would in an entire work week in Pinellas. Every time I see one of their extreme multitude of cars driving down the country roads by my house I think of this story and wonder if I'm going to be the next guy they "find" something on.

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Talon,

Thank you so much for citing in my absence and I apologize to anyone for not citing originally. I told you, Manatee County has some serious issues with that and I hope it gets better one day. Till then, I stay on I-75.

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thejax wrote:

I have to ask.  Was this a Manatee County deputy?  I avoid that county due to the crazy sheriffs.  They are corrupt and been in the newspaper more then a politician.

Click to expand...

Manatee county? I've not heard of problems there... now - Broward county on the other hand is a COMPLETELY different story.