We just finished a class on vehicle contacts. We worked on the procedures in pulling someone over in a traffic stop. I can’t stress this enough: Pulling someone over is a lot more then just walking up to the driver and writing a ticket. In my opinion this is actually one of the most dangerous aspects of being a cop. My reasoning is based on all of the unknown factors regarding this person. You don’t know who they are or what they are doing. The situation regarding weapons is unknown as is the drug situation. Thus, it is important to keep your officer safety procedures as the number one priority. It is important to remember and plan everything from preparing to stop an individual to your approach and your professionalism.
These are just a few things to keep in mind. Those of you applying will learn this but seeing hands of the individuals is a very important aspect of making a vehicle stop. Movements are very important. The instructors are great and I gained an amazing amount of knowledge in just one class. There are a lot of things to keep in your head, but the most important is to never, ever, become complacent. No stops are routine and one must always prepare themselves to be as safe as humanly possible.
