not to play armchair quarterback but i will anyway. first off anybody that has had that LEO confrontation with an officer exceeding their authority or tried to intimidate and just flat out lie to you i don't know anybody that has looked back and said they handled it perfectly. my one and only bad confrontation i relive and slap myself for stuff i should have said. i should have been more prepared and know much more now than i did. common sense advice - KNOW THE LAW!!! i will comment on this video and confrontations in general -
1) have to question the idea of walking up to officer at the traffic stop. the weapon was holstered and the open carry legal opinions determine that in itself isn't a visual threat but the officer was correct in telling him to back away and question his motives.
2) the guy sounded like he was making stuff up as he spoke. even if he was right he probably needed to sound more knowledgeable. when he asked officers questions he knew the answer to he allowed them to dodge the questions.
3) he did walk away from the initial traffic stop. the second meeting was after the officer followed him and started when he turned around and videotaped the officer's car. the officer may have left without incident.
one statement the guy made that i liked was that he valued his privacy. saving that one. i should probably make LEO contact flash cards with all their coersion tactics and the answer to give them. somebody would take offense to my answers i'm sure. the negative contacts are getting less and less as education for officers is given. LEO i talked to at a funeral said their department told them to leave OC alone unless called to investigate. they don't want a quarter mil $ lawsuit (his figure) for harrasing someone NOT commiting a crime. too many videos, camphones, digital recorders, public access to national propoganda media outlets (facebook, twitter, etc.) they don't want to fight PR battles.
my suggestions for any similar contacts -
if you ask a question don't let them evade it. refuse to discuss anything further until the answer is given - "i'm not commiting any criminal offenses am i?" "well sir we are checking on that and your out here blah blah.." "you didn't answer the question. do you not know the law? you should. it's your job. i know it. i can help you if you need it. i need an answer to my question before we can proceed." once you get them to admit you are not in violation of any laws then that ends their involvement as officers and any detention beyond that is on shaky ground after it has been verbalized.
show or not show ID - i have showed my ID once when requested by oakland county sheriff deputy. he asked if i would mind showing it and said he knew i didn't have to show it. i had nothing to hide so i showed DL, CPL and handgun green registration card. i never have once heard of an officer checking the serial numbers of the weapons against any records or registrations. he looked at my card but didn't match it to the gun. my bad LEO encounter the officer didn't ask and i wouldn't have shown it anyway to that unprofessional officer. if you choose not to show then up front state that you KNOW the state doesn't require it and you choose to take the option not to. this will save all the "we need to verify you're not a felon blah blah.." stay with the statement that you know the law and are not going to do whatever isn't mandatory and don't allow any attempts to get around it. state it once and tell them to move on and your answer was given. not giving a reason doesn't negate your right to deny anything be it search, ID, or anything requiring consent. if they ask you questions then doubt your answers tell them not to ask anymore questions if they aren't going to take your answers as fact. this makes the questions futile and can only serve to give them more RAS. i point out that it is the laws of the state we live in and you are an officer in this state restricted to those laws you swore an oath to uphold. if an officer was smart he would judge if you drove to where you are and just wait for you to get in your car then ID you then.
i suggest telling them at any confrontation that you are a legal citizen of this country, a michigan resident (not necessary to OC) in a place i am legally entitled to be, not a felon, sober and not on any legal or illegal substance and legally open carrying my handgun registered to me all in compliance with michigan law. that having been said it establishes your knowledge of your situation and tells him you are ready to defend any attempts to upend your determination. it leaves nowhere to go legally for him. i would think most officers would just know they are not going to sway you and just establish your are OC and leave the call.
coming home from work years ago i was stopped several times by farmington hills police always by 2 units. where am i going? where was i coming from? i was in my work shirt, jacket, lanyard with company logo around my neck with work ID on it. what time do you get off work? you're acting nervous - that makes me suspect there is something illegal in your vehicle. can we search your vehicle? no you can't. why not? that tells us you are hiding something. we will get drug sniffing dogs, search warrants, etc. why did you stop me? we'll tell you later. just fishing attempts by them. i learned to ask if i was being stopped persuant to a specific reported criminal event that me or my vehicle match or you just fishing? once they admitted fishing then all questions went out the window. thank you have a good day. why was i stopped? ahhh..we have to go. drive careful. wait. why was i stopped? vroom...screeeech. bye. lesson learned.
ok i wrote enough. any comments let me know.