I got a ticket and missed my court date! Freaking out a little!

[DaveTN]

How does it help an officer asking if you ar armed? If you are a "good" guy and answer yes, is his mind any further at ease than if he simply had not asked? If you are a "bad" guy and answer no but really are armed should the officer let his guard down? Seriously its kind of a silly question IMHO, as the person who is not a threat will answer honestly and the person who is a threat will not. Am i missing something here?

It’s just conversation. Engaging a person in conversation can tell you a lot, and possibly keep you alive. He may also be asking so he can let his partner (who is walking up on the passenger’s side of your vehicle) know what’s going on. Everyone has their own style of how they handle a traffic stop.

If I was stopping a vehicle as a possible DUI and it comes back he has an HCP; my first concern would be determining if he is armed and separating him from that weapon. As any cop that has been on the street for a while can tell you; a “routine” “minor” traffic stop can quickly turn into something much more.

[Hozzie]

Unless Tennessee is 30 years behind other states (I'm pretty sure they are not) he is wrong. I could run a plate and get the registered owners, and their DL info, also showing convictions for the last 12 months, with one query. That’s how we did it. That’s why our dispatchers would simply replay with “Owners revoked” sometimes when we ran a plate.
I’m not sure why this is always such a big deal here, but if an Officer was stopping a car, or looking for a car; that would be a good piece of info to have.

 

I can tell you for a fact that he is right in the strict sense of how it works.  When you called dispatch and they gave you that info, you probably weren't aware that two different queries were taking place (or probably even more at that time).  

 

I will break it down a bit more if it would help.  

 

When a tag is run, a QT request is sent to an interface server of the Dispatch provider (the 911 software used by any given agency).  That dispatch provider uses a standard interface which has different queries available such as Query Tag, Query Person, Criminal History, etc to MULTIPLE systems.  This is typically a state database, federal database (NCIC), and sometimes local warrants databases and even records management systems.  

 

When the tag response comes back, the system is able to scrape the Registered Owner information from the response.  It then uses this information to immediately send back a QP on the registered owner.  It is not all one query.  It used to be that the NCIC responses came back in plain text, but today they can come back in other formats, usually XML.  Using XSL, we then display the response to the users. Sometimes this is formatted on one response and sometimes the QT and QP responses are separate.  It just depends on the agency.

 

Again, from a practical perspective, yes, most places get both responses automatically and it appears they are one query.  From a purely technical perspective, they are not.  If the system is not setup to run the registered owner automatically after the tag response comes back, it will not have the HCP information.  

 

I have been working on these system for the last 8 years around the world and have a better than average knowledge of how they work.  I don't argue that you got the info 30 years ago from the dispatcher, but I am confident it wasn't all one report.  NCIC didn't even start having the ability to piggyback queries until around 2007-2008..  If you are talking a criminal history report, that is something different.  Nowdays, you can't just run a criminal history on someone without a good reason.  Most officers cannot run a criminal history without approval and if they do, they are in some deep crap.

 

In the end, it is semantics, but technically he is correct.

[JayC]

I know with 100% certainty the database query that is ran to look up your plate does not contain either your DL or HCP status.  That requires a separate query.  

 

Now, it's possible some departments have setup their software to automatically query the registered owner's information when they run a plate.  But, in some situations that won't work unless you happen to be the registered owner of the vehicle in question.

 

Starting July 1st, you won't need a permit to carry a loaded gun in your vehicle, so it really becomes mute at that point anyhow ;)

 

I have known about them knowing you have HCP through your license tags for over a year so it didn't surprise me when he asked if I was armed without having my drivers license yet. It would only make total sense for the tags that are on your vehicle would be connected to your motor vehicle registration which is connected to your DL so why would your HCP not be tied to it also? That is becoming the way of the world.

 

There is no real privacy any longer except if your the President and he has locked up his records so no one knows who he really Is        "but vote for me anyway"  Like Hillary Said."What difference does it make now"?................jmho

Edited June 25, 2014 by JayC