Good Reason NOT to Consent in Lynchburg
From the VCDL news letter comes the following item. I have noted that this is the SOP for LPD and it happens whether you tell them you have a CHP or not. If you don't tell them they will search your person and your vehicle because you have a CHP showing up with your DL. They really want to register your gun.
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14. LEO encounter in Lynchburg - poor scorecard
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Here is another stop documented in an email sent to me. This time by Lynchburg PD and shows police overreacting and searching a vehicle for the sole reason the driver told them he had a CHP and a gun. A little research showed that this was a standard operating procedure of Lynchburg PD. Not good.
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My son was stopped by the Lynchburg PD...
He waited for a safe place to pull off and stop, rolled his window down about 6-7" and waited for the two officers to reach his car and ask for a license and registration...
He retrieved both requested documents and included his CHP when handing them to the officer. At the same time he alerted the officer to the CHP and told him that he had a handgun in a padded case under the drivers seat and wanted to let them know as a courtesy to them, and for everyone's safety. [PVC: As he's about to find out, courtesy doesn't go both ways with some officers.]
At this point the officer ask him to step out of his vehicle and come to the back while the other officer retrieved his gun from under the seat, search the console, glove box, under the passenger seat, as well as the back seat area of his car. [PVC: I would object, saying clearly that I do not consent to any searches of my vehicle or my person. This is really an insult. Criminals don't have CHPs and they certainly don't volunteer they have a gun under the seat. What could these officers possibly think he might have? This is just a fishing expedition.]
After finding nothing else of interest, the second officer told my son he was going to run the serial number to make sure the handgun wasn't stolen, which it wasn't. [PVC: Of course it wasn't. Would they have done any of this to an off-duty officer?]
The officer removed the magazine and extracted the round from the chamber and laid both gun and live round in the back seat, then allowed my son to go on his way. [PVC: At least they didn't ask him to open his trunk so they could put his gun in there. That would allow them to snoop around in the trunk. I would deny such a request and tell them to put the gun on the back seat.]
No ticket was given. [PVC: A consolation prize for all the unnecessary abuse.]