ROUTINE STOPS

[Music] he seemed like a fairly ordinary guy and like lots of ordinary guys he apparently had a Leadfoot but the traffic officer Fred Walker there was something wrong he looked as though he might even be drunk without showing it too much so just to satisfy himself officer Walker got him out and he walked him back to the patrol car [Music] [Music] Walker did nearly everything right but there was one detail he overlooked his gun was too excessive sure the violator had seemed like an ordinary guy but he turned out to be a mental case but that didn't help Fred Walker Fred Walker made one mistake and it cost him his life he was caught off guard and what he thought was a routine stop [Music] a passing motorist thought there was something wrong and he called the Highway Patrol it turned out that I was the one who answered the call [Music] after we found Walker's gun it didn't take long to reconstruct the crime it was hard to believe that Walker could have been killed with his own gun but the man was a tough reminder that proves too many of us can get the thinking it can't happen to me there's one key factor that'll do more than anything else to ensure your safety when you're on the job and particularly when you're making routine stops his key factor is something that probably doesn't come natural for the average man but it has to be not only a second nature but first nature to any law enforcement officer yes I'm talking about being continually suspicious everybody just look at me I didn't realize it showed that much it's a shame it has to be that way but our work brings us in contact with the real bad apples in the barrel we can't afford to forget that for one second you've got to make suspicion such a habit that you never go wrong [Music] well at least you don't have to worry about somebody like this pulling a gun idea or do you just a few years ago up around santa rosa one of our men stopped a gal who was going too fast as he walked over to the car her boyfriend AWOL from the sheriff's honor camp down south jumped up with a gun flew the officer out of his shoes so you can't take anything for granted you just get in the habit of protecting yourself every second because death only takes a second under the right circumstances [Music] you've got to be thinking about your own safety from the time you take off after the violator until the time you complete your contact with it when he has pulled over in part you stop behind it off setting the patrol car a couple of feet to protect you from traffic if you're going to be working on the left side of the violators car if you couldn't do this safely because of two narrower road you'd park directly behind slide out on the right and approach from that side in either instance making your exit from the patrol car as quickly as possible maintaining myself alert I keep my gun hand free never carry a flashlight or citation book in my gun hand first case the backseat if it's night I shined my flashlight in there and in a case like this the book is under my left arm and I keep my gun hand free now that I'm sure there aren't any surprises from that direction I approached the driver but if possible I don't ever go past the trailing edge of the door here's one good reason for this [Music] let's run through that again a door suddenly flung open can throw you off balance and into the path of oncoming traffic while your violator will may be a wanted felon and who has no desire whatever to beat a lawman makes a getaway here's another reason if your violator is inclined to pull a gun on you this position makes it too easy for him while in this position he has to turn in his seat it's awkward for a shooting and even awkward for getting aggressive because it puts him at a psychological disadvantage you'll notice that I've still got my book in my left hand so my gun hand is free until I'm satisfied that this is just an ordinary violator and not a hot one does this look like the same routine well not quite there are times when you want to get the violator out of his car maybe it's a question of whether he's had too much to drink or any of a number of other reasons sitting down your man is not in too good a position to take action but prepare for the worst beginning when the door of the cart is open because some characters may try to deliver a low blow and succeed so I always stand about like this where I can take any sudden attempted blow on the leg [Music] once he's out of the car I always keep the violator a safe distance in front of me I ask him politely step over to the patrol car then I follow it remembering not to stop between the two vehicles I direct him to a position near the front fender here I don't have to worry about traffic going by and I can hear my radio traffic officer Fred Walker did everything right up to this point but he hadn't developed the habit of making his gun hard to get for anybody but himself [Music] if I was about to forget it Walker's case was a pretty grim reminder to always stand with my gun on the far side so it won't be up for grabs now while I'm writing him up I keep track of the violator out of the corner of my eye even though he seems perfectly tame I'm not taking any chances [Music] I'm suspicious of him until he's back in his car and on his way this is how I keep my suspicions sharpened up for the next person I stop and the next person may be a real criminal [Music] you never know is this the one who's going to start real trouble no well then anybody in the backseat so far so good but it looks like this drivers gonna be a problem right off the bat he's surly maybe he's troublesome by Nature or maybe a few drinks that may didn't mean for whatever reason he's decided that he isn't gonna sign the citation and that he's gonna defy me so after an honest effort to get him to change his mind it's obvious that he's gonna have to be taken into custody he's big enough to be real trouble but I get him out all right I direct him toward the patrol car from behind I frisk him and if you think that's the obvious thing any officer would do you'd be amazed at how many times officers have failed to live weapons from men they have arrested now for the handcuffs because I'm not taking any chances with his character I get one hand back like this then the other [Music] the safest way to get him into the patrol car when you're alone is from the driver's side even with his hands behind him he can slide over easily this avoids the business of putting him in the right side then getting around the car back to the driver's side once he is over in the front seat I tie him into the safety belt in this case it's my safety that's involved as much as his it's pretty tough for him to give me real trouble now but I'm still not gonna take the situation for granted so I even take the time to shift my gun over to the left side just in case he turns out to be an escape artist [Music] once I get him to the station you'd think I'd consider myself fairly safe but if I did I might be making a fatal mistake [Music] this individual I have brought in his head time to build up a real head of steam I've only done what had to be done but in his mind he's ready to start a one-man revolution [Music] I've got him inside with a booking completed and the handcuffs are off if you think he can't cause real trouble now you're dead wrong with the accent on the dead the prisoner sees his chance one fast-track and it's a loaded situation I'm not going to embarrass any particular law enforcement agency but let's take statistics we all know that the number of attacks on law enforcement officers has risen sharply in the last few years I won't take percentages because that's being revised every year we don't take care of ourselves it's gonna be revised up if we do look after ourselves it's bound to be revised downward and it's my contention that if I safely established the right kind of routine and making routine stops the chances of anybody giving me a bad time are going to be cut way down too many of us get the word routine mixed up with monotonous just what does routine mean anymore the quality of the dictionary routine means a regular unvarying procedure usually prescribed or habitual so habitually you park to protect yourself as you approach the violators car remember it could contain a killer checking the backseat keeping the gun hand free not giving the driver a chance to shove the door open on and keeping him off-balance by making him turn in his seat you take precautions when you open the door if you have to get him out you stay behind him and keep the gun out of his range you'll find that putting every violator on the suspect list will help you practice safety measures automatically and you're automatically ready for action if they try to start it [Music] so if routine means regular unvarying procedure make it your regular and unvarying procedure to look after your life this is the kind of routine that will never stop paying off [Music]