In the academy, we have spent several days learning the proper way to stop vehicles for traffic violations. As cops, our first focus is our safety. This includes parking our patrol cars and approaching the other vehicles in a cautious manner. There is really much more than I realized that goes into a stop. I have often heard that there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop. In fact, it is one of the most dangerous things we will do as cops. We have watched many videos in the academy that show how quickly things can go down hill during these stops. Many officers have gotten into full-on fights or even gotten shot after pulling over a vehicle. It is critical that we be at our very best each and every time we pull someone over.
We worked on what we will say when we make contact with drivers. In essence, we have worked on coming up with a "spiel" that identifies who we are, why we made the stop, and the action we take. We also must give drivers specific instuctions regarding safety for them and us, and what they must do for their violation. We got to get in real cop cars and go through everything from notifying dispatch of the stop to writing tickets while pulling over real cars driven by our instructors. We also got to go through scenarios, which have really occurred before. This forced us to think on our toes and use the skills that we have learned so far in the academy.
Here I am speaking with a driver who was speeding
Officer D from Westmintster did a good job setting up this safe stop
Officer B is going to keep the roads safe in Lone Tree
This is a high-risk stop in which two patrol cars are needed because the driver is under arrest
Deputy H keeps her gun pointed at the suspect during this high-risk stop
Officer O safely clears this car of any other occupants