Armed in patrol car.

[Guest tngw1500se]

Long story but here's the short story: I was on the side of the road open carrying with a broke down motorcycle. Flagged down a Officer I ask for a ride 1/2 mile up the road. He said sure but I had to ride in the back. He had a laptop in the front seat. I thanked him and climbed in the back and we started up the road. Then I remembered my gun that was clearly on my side, so I told him about it and that I had a permit. I was open carried in a white tee shirt. You couldn't miss my XD! He gave me the ride and I thanked him again. Nice guy for sure!!!!

Question: Should he have allowed me to get behind him in the cruiser with XD on my belt?

He was a young cop and it makes me worry for his safety. He had to know I was armed before he let me in the cruser didn't he??????? It's an XD in a serpa holster against a white tee shirt. Ray Charles would have seen it!

I was thinking I might ought to call the chief of police. Not to get the guy in any trouble but just to point out that a little training might be needed??????

If I were him, I would have given the guy a ride, but I would have never put him in the back seat behind me armed. I would have asked for the firearm and returned it when I dropped him off. Probably would have asked to see his permit too. But that's me. I don't trust anyone!

Would you call or is this just the way it ought to happen?

[Erik88]

don't call the chief. The cop obviously realized that criminals don't open carry and I'm sure he made a judgement call based on your demeanor.

[Dolomite_supafly]

If the officer felt safe then there was no need for you to be disarmed. It is officer safety that is paramount and he will be the one to determine what his comfort level is.

I would not call the chief. It will do nothing but make the officer not help next time. He had no legal requirement to help you yet he did. As is said no good deed goes unpunished and it sounds like the good deed by the officer is about to cause him some punishment.

Think about it, next time you need help he may just call a wrecker to have your vehicle removed from the side of the road rather than help you. And it would be perfectly legal for him to do so.

Also, what is you LE background? Talking to someone's supervisor when you have no LE background, don't know the officer or even know their department policy seems a little overboard. It is like me walking into your line of work and telling you how to do your job.

I say he did good. Just be glad he helped you.

Dolomite

[Guest bkelm18]

So.. the officer did you a favor... something that he didn't have to do at all... and you want to call his boss and complain? You're not his nanny, he's a big boy. If he felt safe enough to let you in his cruiser (without handcuffs), that's his business, not yours.

[Guest tngw1500se]

If the officer felt safe then there was no need for you to be disarmed. It is officer safety that is paramount and he will be the one to determine what his comfort level is.

I would not call the chief. It will do nothing but make the officer not help next time. He had no legal requirement to help you yet he did. As is said no good deed goes unpunished and it sounds like the good deed by the officer is about to cause him some punishment.

Think about it, next time you need help he may just call a wrecker to have your vehicle removed from the side of the road rather than help you. And it would be perfectly legal for him to do so.

Also, what is you LE background? Talking to someone's supervisor when you have no LE background, don't know the officer or even know their department policy seems a little overboard. It is like me walking into your line of work and telling you how to do your job.

I say he did good. Just be glad he helped you.

Dolomite

I sure am glad he helped me!!!! It would have been a long walk for an older guy with a bad hip. LOL! Just don't want to see this young officer get hurt someday. Maybe posting here will do more good than anything. There's a bunch of Officers that read the forums.

[Guest tngw1500se]

.....complain?.......

Where did you get that idea? I just didn't want to see this guy get hurt someday. I wasn't going to identify him by name, or date, or badge #.

Would you pick up a stranger on the side of the road that flagged you down if they had a gun or their side?

[Oh Shoot]

...I was thinking I might ought to call the chief of police. Not to get the guy in any trouble but just to point out that a little training might be needed?????? ...

Don't be an ass.

- OS

[JC57]

Don't call the department or the chief, you'll just get the poor guy in trouble and probably a directive put out to all officers to disarm everyone they see open carrying during any encounter. Just mind your own business and be happy for the free ride.

SOME police officers understand that carrying a firearm is your legal right, and since you weren't breaking any laws he had no need to deny you that right. I think you ran across one of the good guys. Don't screw it up for him.

[Guest mosinon]

You should definitely call the Chief of police. To thank him and point out what a great job the officer did. Cops need love to!

Don't mention the carry thing though. In this scenario there is one person trained to assess threats and one person who needs a ride. Since you didn't shoot him I think his assessment was right on.

[Guest TackleberryTom]

You should definitely call the Chief of police. To thank him and point out what a great job the officer did. Cops need love to!

Don't mention the carry thing though. In this scenario there is one person trained to assess threats and one person who needs a ride. Since you didn't shoot him I think his assessment was right on.

+1

[peejman]

You should definitely call the Chief of police. To thank him and point out what a great job the officer did. Cops need love to!

Don't mention the carry thing though. In this scenario there is one person trained to assess threats and one person who needs a ride. Since you didn't shoot him I think his assessment was right on.

+2.

[Guest Broomhead]

You should definitely call the Chief of police. To thank him and point out what a great job the officer did. Cops need love to!

Don't mention the carry thing though. In this scenario there is one person trained to assess threats and one person who needs a ride. Since you didn't shoot him I think his assessment was right on.

This! Definitely! +100!

[Bubba0031]

I'm not sure I'd even call the chief to thank to guy as must as he deserves it. Public service personnel never get thanked. It may be OK for him to give a ride, a judgement call on his part, but it may also be against City policy and he was just helping out. If you can identify the specific officer then thank him directly and he can decide whether to share the thank you note/letter with his superiors. I absolutely would not call and complain that he let you in his car carrying.

[daddyo]

This is like open carrying into a restaurant that isn't posted and wanting to let the manager know that you're concerned that he, his employees, and patrons are unsafe because he allows weapons.

It makes no sense.

[LagerHead]

don't call the chief. The cop obviously realized that criminals don't open carry and I'm sure he made a judgement call based on your demeanor.

Criminals usually go out of their way to avoid contact with the police, period. Very, very seldom will one wave down an officer. The last place they want to be is in the back of a squad car.

Don't call the department or the chief, you'll just get the poor guy in trouble and probably a directive put out to all officers to disarm everyone they see open carrying during any encounter. Just mind your own business and be happy for the free ride.

SOME police officers understand that carrying a firearm is your legal right, and since you weren't breaking any laws he had no need to deny you that right. I think you ran across one of the good guys. Don't screw it up for us.

There. Fixed that for ya.

[Jonnin]

Not sure, but I suspect the police car has a bullet stopping barrier between the back and front in case a perp manages to sneak a gun that far along. I know some police cars have this but not if all of them do or not. Even taxis have this in some areas of the country.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Not sure, but I suspect the police car has a bullet stopping barrier between the back and front in case a perp manages to sneak a gun that far along. I know some police cars have this but not if all of them do or not. Even taxis have this in some areas of the country.

I still wouldn't trust my life on bullet resistant glass.

Dolomite

[GhstFace38]

I've been a Police Officer for 5 years in West TN and I've yet to see a squad car with a bullet-resistant barrier.

Reading your post makes me nervous, thinking of someone behind me in my squad car with a pistol, but I wasn't there and I didn't have personal interaction with you. I'm sure if I did run into you I would respond the same way.

Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk

[DaveTN]

This thread is a prank isn’t it. You had a bet with another forum member that you could get more responses than he could…. Didn’t you?

I’ll post and help you win because you can’t be serious.

[Guest 10mm4me]

No offense dude, but if I was that cop, and you called on the chief on me for that, we would have a problem.

[vontar]

This thread is a prank isn’t it. You had a bet with another forum member that you could get more responses than he could…. Didn’t you?

I’ll post and help you win because you can’t be serious.

plus 1

every been to Lake City?

Small place.

I am in agreement, some kind of prank.

[East_TN_Patriot]

Not sure, but I suspect the police car has a bullet stopping barrier between the back and front in case a perp manages to sneak a gun that far along. I know some police cars have this but not if all of them do or not. Even taxis have this in some areas of the country.

No, police cars don't have a bullet stopping barrier. What you are thinking about is the partition and it is nothing more than thin metal and Lexan or plexiglass to prevent a prisoner from physically attacking the officer. It will not stop a bullet in most cases unless it was a very low velocity round and even then, I'm not sure the standard partition would stop it. I assume that there are some that are bullet resistant, however they would be expensive and most departments wouldn't use them (heck some don't even pay for the basic ones). As a side note, cops always like to hide behind their car doors, but those aren't bullet proof by a long shot. However, I digress...

As far as the officer's actions, I am certain that I would disarm the person before transporting them, but each officer has to make that call individually. There is something to be said about the idea of an average Joe who is open-carrying that flags down a cop and tells them they are armed not being a threat. Seriously, what sort of person would do that if their intent was to kill a cop? Obviously, we have some nutty folks out there, and I personally wouldn't take that risk myself, but if that officer was comfortable with it, so be it. It's also a documented issue that cops spend too much time worrying about getting killed and it results in everyone becoming a "symbolic assailant" and a potential grave threat to the officer. Realistically, out of the millions of police/citizen encounters every day in America, police homicides are a fairly rare occurrence and policing is ranked 10th in the most dangerous jobs behind agricultural work, construction, and others. Pretty consistently, about half of the officers who die every year are killed in car wrecks and not homicides, and of those homicides, the officer was typically engaged in a criminal investigation of some sort, not a motorist assist.

My point? The officer's actions are not what I personally would do if I was back on patrol, but far from being suicidal.

[TN-popo]

I was thinking I might ought to call the chief of police. Not to get the guy in any trouble but just to point out that a little training might be needed??????

No good deed goes unpunished...

[alwaysonjohn]

I would have searched you and disarmed you if you wanted a ride. Depending on the person i might put them in cuffs for my own safety... Each department is different but it comes back to what the officer was trained in, and if he was new and it was a small town, then he might not have been trained properly or his department doesn't care...

If you say something to the chief then your town WILL get a new policy and you may not be allowed to ride in the car at all next time. I would just call the department and give a letter of commendation to the officer for driving you down the road and for stopping in the first place and leave the gun out of it.

[Punisher84]

I would have searched you and disarmed you if you wanted a ride. Depending on the person i might put them in cuffs for my own safety... Each department is different but it comes back to what the officer was trained in, and if he was new and it was a small town, then he might not have been trained properly or his department doesn't care...

If you say something to the chief then your town WILL get a new policy and you may not be allowed to ride in the car at all next time. I would just call the department and give a letter of commendation to the officer for driving you down the road and for stopping in the first place and leave the gun out of it.

You would cuff a stranded motorist to give them a ride? Why even bother then? Jesus.