Firemark,
I am wondering why you would "wave" an LEO over to you. Can you explain if that is exactly what you meant?
Sure, you have to imagine what it is like to be LE. Most of their day is filled with calls to go and deal with people complaining, angry, and dealing with possible criminals, all of which are either lying or manipulating the truth to get what they want, or get out of trouble. Many people today have issues with authority, and as such react negatively and tend to take out their frustrations on LE especially in a verbal manner. So thats just a small inkling of the mindset they have to be in and deal with when interacting with the public. Now throw on top of that a MWAG call.
First, the idea that they may be encountering an unknwon situation with a possible "crazy" person with a firearm planning to do who knows what, could put them into a state of excited stimualtion and/or fear. That is what they have been trained to believe and do. Then they might think it could be an UOC'r then they could think "great, another brow beating by a rude person who thinks he knows the law and guns, is going to make me look stupid." Or maybe they have yet to encounter a UOC, or maybe the first time was nothing but attitude and disrespect, or at least the story from a coworker. So before they even show up, you can see they can be in one of many bad moods or preconcieved notions all of which are negative. Throw on top of that they may know its going to be recorded, so even more stress.
Also, if a call was made, and the officer(s) were sent to investigate, Dispatch will try and get as much info about description and may or may not describe activity or demeanor of UOC'r, or they may but the officers just arent listening. So they already know what your wearing and what you look like, so trying to blend in and be unobtrusive is really futile. Also officers pick up on non verbal cues so people that turn away or move in a way that is like...
"Cops!! Quick hide!!! or Act normal..."
LE are going to perceive that as "What are you hiding...criminal?"
So this brings me to why I wave a LE officer over. If im in a place that the arrival of LE is not usual or normal, and im carrying, and notice maybe some people earlier looked at me in a funny or nervous way, and avoid me, im going to assume LE is their FOR ME! No reason to pretend, thats just silly. So by making eye contact and communicating immediately it sends a few messages.
1) Im not afraid, or intimidated, im not hiding or trying to escape. Not the behavior of a criminal.
2) Situational awareness---LE trys to enter a potentially unsafe situation in an inconspicuous and unobtrusive manner to observe first then act. By ID'ing them immediately you are demonstrating you have heightend situational awareness, and you know LE is on scene. So any cat and mouse sneaking around is out of the question. You both know each other are there. You're not surprised by their arrival, and your response to it is calmness.
3) Invitation---by inviting them over, by waving over or pointing to yourself you are initiating the contact in a non aggressive manner, they may or may not realize your the one they are here to investigate, they could mistake you for the reporting party, (which is what people that call 911 and expect LE arrival to do, is make contact.)
4) Safety---by waving and using your hand you arent gripping or holding your weapon, another non verbal communication your trying to show your not trying to be a threat.
The LE will approach with many preconcieved notions in their head, both good and bad, we cant control for all for them, we can only display by behavior our intentions. With the interaction verbally, I tend to give the first 30 seconds-1 minute of interaction with LE, a tough skin approach, I let the minor insults and mild abrasive condescending comments just roll of the back, in many cases its just the officer getting thru their already programmed responses and biased opinions. I try to be polite, cordial, friendly, and helpful. It an attempt to de-escalate the situation.
Then if appropriate I THANK them for being professional and treating me with respect, usually when they return my weapon. This is very important for those that are actually being polite and friendly it reinforces good behavior, and for those who may be on the fence, somewhat rude and a little pushy, it gives them notice that your trying to be friendly helpful and LAWFUL and maybe they might want to rethink their approach cause they are actually the ones acting badly infringing on rights and the law. And hopefully witnesses are watching.
For those officers who are just going to break the law and trample your rights its just going to happen most likely anyways. But getting it recorded that your being civil, polite, and helpful, and they are being gestapo like lends strong argument to any court case that may come from it to prove your point and win your argument.
Just remember the most likely law breaker in an encounter with LE and a UOC'r is going to be the one who is the least cordial and civil.
