G20-IWB24/7
Regular Member
imported post
So I was driving to a client's residence in Tacoma today, when I had a "run-in" with the Tacoma Police Department. I'm going to try and leave nothing out, so this will be long-winded. You have been warned.
I'm driving south on Orchard, and had just gone through the light at 12th, and I noticed a dark brown-colored Impala w/tint behind me. It looks to me like an unmarked unit, so I just make a mental note and head toward the next light. He got in front of me on the way towards 19th, where we both made a right on to 19th and then an immediate left back onto Orchard once we had crossed the overpass. I stayed in the right lane, as I was going to go straight, and the left two lanes are the onramp to 16 Westbound. He was still in front of me as we were going straight. I noticed a TPD unit, lightbar on, creeping past the "onramp traffic" and it almost looked like he was doing very thorough seatbelt checks as he stopped and looked at everyone he was passing. I thought this was kind of odd, but I was 3 lanes away from him, so my lane just kept moving forward. We went through the light, and started up the slight hill there, and as I did so I noticed this unit pulled in behind me. There is a median there, and I wanted to get past the median before I stopped, so that he could continue and I wouldn't block his way. As soon as I got far enough past the median, I pulled over and he passed me, signaling the Impala for a stop. They stopped about50 yards in front of me. Within about 15-20 seconds, there were 7-10 cruisers, all taking a position behind this Impala, and officers with guns drawn taking stance for a felony traffic stop. They had him get out and start walking backwards towards them. I had my window down by now, trying to hear what was going on in front of me. One of them near the back of the pack, closest to me, was signaling to me something, that looked to me like "back-up," but could have easily meant "stay put." (He was showing me his palms w/all 10 fingers up and thrusting them in my direction.) So I started to very slowly back up, and that was when another unit came from behind me (TP1), and pulled in to do a traffic stop on me. I'm thinking, "OK? Maybe he can tell me what's going on."
He got out of his car, staying behind the door, and shouted "Go ahead and turn your vehicle off."
Me: "OK." (I had to shout a little so that he could hear me.)
TP1: "Keep your hands where I can see them, and slowly exit your vehicle." My hands were already out the window, so that he could see I was going to be cooperative.
Me: "OK. I am licensed to carry a handgun."
TP1: "Are you currently armed?"
Me: "Yes, I am."
TP1: "Alright then. Stay where you are and keep your hands outside the vehicle." He walked up and took out his cuffs and said "My partner is on the other side of the vehicle, so just comply with me or you might get shot, alright? You're not under arrest, but I am going to put these on you for now." He cuffed my left arm (through the open window) and opened the door and had me step out. He had mebringmy right arm back and hefinished cuffing me behind my back. We walked back behind my car, next to his cruiser where I saw the other officer who was assisting him with my stop, and he asked me "Where is your weapon?"
Me: "On my left ankle." He reached down and undid the velro band on my Galco Ankle Glove holding my Kahr P9 Covert in it. He took it and put it in the front seat of his cruiser. He also took my Emerson CQC-7 which had been clipped to my right pocket, and the spare mag out of my left pocket.
TP1: "Don't let me forget these."
Me:"OK." He continued to frisk me, and left my keys and cell phone in my pockets where he found them. "I don't suppose I could ask what's going on?"
TP1: "There was just an armed bank robbery, and you happen to match the description of the suspect."
Me: "Oh, alright. Is that him in that car up there?"
TP1: "They're pretty sure. I appreciate you being cooperative with me, and the way that you handled the fact that you were carrying. If you have any friends with CPL's, tell them this story and tell them that I said you did EXACTLY what we like to have happen. I would have been pissed if I had found out you were armed after I had gotten you out."
Me: "Sure, I understand. Nobody likes surprises like THAT."
TP1: "I'm gonna hold on to these [my WADL and CPL were in his hands now, as he had gotten out my wallet and found them] until we can verify that everything is OK. I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you, and I really do appreciate your cooperation in this. I'm gonna have you take a seat just for a moment."
TP1 opened up the back seat of his patrol car and I sat down inside. He went to talk with what I later found out was the lead detective on scene, and I sat there and laughed to myself in the back of the unit. He came back after a few minutes and sat in the drivers seat as he called in my WADL, my CPL, the registration on my vehicle, and even my Kahr's serial number. Everything came back clear, and so he apologized again, and said that the detective now had my license, so he'll be back in a moment, and they would let me go at that point. A minute or so later,the detective came up and TP1 and he conversed a minute or so outside thecruiser. I couldn't hear the entirety of their conversation but I did hear the det ask TP1 if I had been apologized to or not yet. They both came around to themy side of the car and the detective opened up the door.
Det: "Go ahead and step out for me here.[Iget out of the car, and TP1 starts touncuff me.] I'mDetectiveso-and-so, and we are sorry about the mistake. We've got the guy we were looking for, andyou and he look fairly similar. Thank you for your cooperationhere, and again, we're sorry about the inconvenience.The officer tellsme that you're onbusiness, do we need to call your boss or anyone and let them know why you're late?"
Me: "Nope,it's fine."
Det: "OK. Again we appreciate you being cooperative with us and sorry about this, I guess you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. If you have any questions, or someone needs to know where you were, here's my card [he hands me his business card].
Me: "Sounds good."
TP1: "I've put your knife and spare mag in your cup holder, and the pistol is in it's holster underneath the seat. Do me a favor and drive away a little ways before you put it back on your ankle. There's still a bunch of cops around, and we can get a little nervous if we see a civilian messing around with a gun in their hands."
Me: "That's fine. I'm glad you got your man."
TP1: "Yeah, it's always a good day when you can get a bank robber off the street a few minutes after the robbery occured. Here's my badge and ID number, in case you have any need for it. Go ahead and hop in your car and I'll stop the traffic so that you can go."
So I hopped into my vehicle, started it up, and he stopped traffic so I could pull in. As I pulled into the lane,I waved and said to both of them "Stay safe, guys." They waved and I drove away. (Edit to add: I found my mag and knife in the cup holder and my gun, still loaded, in the holster underneath my seat and re-armed myself at the next stoplight, while no one was looking.) THE END
My rule of thumb has been that if I was being pulled over for a minor traffic infraction, I usually don't inform that I'm carrying. As it is not required by law. I figure that if the officer was getting me out of the vehicle for some reason (mistaken identity or not) that it's courteous to the officer to let him/her know that I am armed.
To save on space, please don't quote this whole story. If you need to quote some of it, please delete the portions that you aren't going to directly comment on.
So I was driving to a client's residence in Tacoma today, when I had a "run-in" with the Tacoma Police Department. I'm going to try and leave nothing out, so this will be long-winded. You have been warned.
I'm driving south on Orchard, and had just gone through the light at 12th, and I noticed a dark brown-colored Impala w/tint behind me. It looks to me like an unmarked unit, so I just make a mental note and head toward the next light. He got in front of me on the way towards 19th, where we both made a right on to 19th and then an immediate left back onto Orchard once we had crossed the overpass. I stayed in the right lane, as I was going to go straight, and the left two lanes are the onramp to 16 Westbound. He was still in front of me as we were going straight. I noticed a TPD unit, lightbar on, creeping past the "onramp traffic" and it almost looked like he was doing very thorough seatbelt checks as he stopped and looked at everyone he was passing. I thought this was kind of odd, but I was 3 lanes away from him, so my lane just kept moving forward. We went through the light, and started up the slight hill there, and as I did so I noticed this unit pulled in behind me. There is a median there, and I wanted to get past the median before I stopped, so that he could continue and I wouldn't block his way. As soon as I got far enough past the median, I pulled over and he passed me, signaling the Impala for a stop. They stopped about50 yards in front of me. Within about 15-20 seconds, there were 7-10 cruisers, all taking a position behind this Impala, and officers with guns drawn taking stance for a felony traffic stop. They had him get out and start walking backwards towards them. I had my window down by now, trying to hear what was going on in front of me. One of them near the back of the pack, closest to me, was signaling to me something, that looked to me like "back-up," but could have easily meant "stay put." (He was showing me his palms w/all 10 fingers up and thrusting them in my direction.) So I started to very slowly back up, and that was when another unit came from behind me (TP1), and pulled in to do a traffic stop on me. I'm thinking, "OK? Maybe he can tell me what's going on."
He got out of his car, staying behind the door, and shouted "Go ahead and turn your vehicle off."
Me: "OK." (I had to shout a little so that he could hear me.)
TP1: "Keep your hands where I can see them, and slowly exit your vehicle." My hands were already out the window, so that he could see I was going to be cooperative.
Me: "OK. I am licensed to carry a handgun."
TP1: "Are you currently armed?"
Me: "Yes, I am."
TP1: "Alright then. Stay where you are and keep your hands outside the vehicle." He walked up and took out his cuffs and said "My partner is on the other side of the vehicle, so just comply with me or you might get shot, alright? You're not under arrest, but I am going to put these on you for now." He cuffed my left arm (through the open window) and opened the door and had me step out. He had mebringmy right arm back and hefinished cuffing me behind my back. We walked back behind my car, next to his cruiser where I saw the other officer who was assisting him with my stop, and he asked me "Where is your weapon?"
Me: "On my left ankle." He reached down and undid the velro band on my Galco Ankle Glove holding my Kahr P9 Covert in it. He took it and put it in the front seat of his cruiser. He also took my Emerson CQC-7 which had been clipped to my right pocket, and the spare mag out of my left pocket.
TP1: "Don't let me forget these."
Me:"OK." He continued to frisk me, and left my keys and cell phone in my pockets where he found them. "I don't suppose I could ask what's going on?"
TP1: "There was just an armed bank robbery, and you happen to match the description of the suspect."
Me: "Oh, alright. Is that him in that car up there?"
TP1: "They're pretty sure. I appreciate you being cooperative with me, and the way that you handled the fact that you were carrying. If you have any friends with CPL's, tell them this story and tell them that I said you did EXACTLY what we like to have happen. I would have been pissed if I had found out you were armed after I had gotten you out."
Me: "Sure, I understand. Nobody likes surprises like THAT."
TP1: "I'm gonna hold on to these [my WADL and CPL were in his hands now, as he had gotten out my wallet and found them] until we can verify that everything is OK. I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you, and I really do appreciate your cooperation in this. I'm gonna have you take a seat just for a moment."
TP1 opened up the back seat of his patrol car and I sat down inside. He went to talk with what I later found out was the lead detective on scene, and I sat there and laughed to myself in the back of the unit. He came back after a few minutes and sat in the drivers seat as he called in my WADL, my CPL, the registration on my vehicle, and even my Kahr's serial number. Everything came back clear, and so he apologized again, and said that the detective now had my license, so he'll be back in a moment, and they would let me go at that point. A minute or so later,the detective came up and TP1 and he conversed a minute or so outside thecruiser. I couldn't hear the entirety of their conversation but I did hear the det ask TP1 if I had been apologized to or not yet. They both came around to themy side of the car and the detective opened up the door.
Det: "Go ahead and step out for me here.[Iget out of the car, and TP1 starts touncuff me.] I'mDetectiveso-and-so, and we are sorry about the mistake. We've got the guy we were looking for, andyou and he look fairly similar. Thank you for your cooperationhere, and again, we're sorry about the inconvenience.The officer tellsme that you're onbusiness, do we need to call your boss or anyone and let them know why you're late?"
Me: "Nope,it's fine."
Det: "OK. Again we appreciate you being cooperative with us and sorry about this, I guess you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. If you have any questions, or someone needs to know where you were, here's my card [he hands me his business card].
Me: "Sounds good."
TP1: "I've put your knife and spare mag in your cup holder, and the pistol is in it's holster underneath the seat. Do me a favor and drive away a little ways before you put it back on your ankle. There's still a bunch of cops around, and we can get a little nervous if we see a civilian messing around with a gun in their hands."
Me: "That's fine. I'm glad you got your man."
TP1: "Yeah, it's always a good day when you can get a bank robber off the street a few minutes after the robbery occured. Here's my badge and ID number, in case you have any need for it. Go ahead and hop in your car and I'll stop the traffic so that you can go."
So I hopped into my vehicle, started it up, and he stopped traffic so I could pull in. As I pulled into the lane,I waved and said to both of them "Stay safe, guys." They waved and I drove away. (Edit to add: I found my mag and knife in the cup holder and my gun, still loaded, in the holster underneath my seat and re-armed myself at the next stoplight, while no one was looking.) THE END
My rule of thumb has been that if I was being pulled over for a minor traffic infraction, I usually don't inform that I'm carrying. As it is not required by law. I figure that if the officer was getting me out of the vehicle for some reason (mistaken identity or not) that it's courteous to the officer to let him/her know that I am armed.
To save on space, please don't quote this whole story. If you need to quote some of it, please delete the portions that you aren't going to directly comment on.