First LEO encounter with CHL

[jguzman75]

So I went camping this weekend and on my way in to San Antonio from Graner State Park. A few miles outisde of Hondo around 11 p.m. I just crested a hill when BAM radar went off 74 in a 65. I looked at the oncoming traffic as I wizzed by DPS going other way, I tapped the brakes to cut off the cruise control and I look in the mirror to see if he is going to turn around. Sure enough he turns on his signal so I pull to the shoulder and wait for him to find a turn around and come and get me. About 30-45 seconds later he pulled up behind me and by then I had the interior lights on windows down and all of my paperwork out ready for him. Well he comes up on the passenger side window so I roll it down and as I hand him my stuff he askes if I had a radar and I said yes. He looks over my stuff and tells me his going to give my a citation for my speed and hands me my stuff and goes back to do the write up. He returns explains the ticket and I am on my way. This was a pretty good stop minus the ticket but what I thought was weird is he never asked where my weapon was and before he even ran my information told me he was going to cite me. I was hoping that since I pulled over ASAP and didnt keeping going plus my CHL was going to get me out of it but Oh well next time I will remember to SLOW DOWN!!!

[kidder014]

Did he ask you the infamous question, "Do you know how fast you were going?"

Between that, and the fact that you had radar detection and immediately stopped as he was turning around, you could have admitted wrongdoing without even realizing it.

I know a lot of the traffic officers I work with will not hesitate to write a citation for someone who intentionally or unintentionally admits guilt with regard to speeding.

I'm sure that he appreciated not having to chase you down though!

[Keith B]

So I went camping this weekend and on my way in to San Antonio from Graner State Park. A few miles outisde of Hondo around 11 p.m. I just crested a hill when BAM radar went off 74 in a 65. I looked at the oncoming traffic as I wizzed by DPS going other way, I tapped the brakes to cut off the cruise control and I look in the mirror to see if he is going to turn around. Sure enough he turns on his signal so I pull to the shoulder and wait for him to find a turn around and come and get me. About 30-45 seconds later he pulled up behind me and by then I had the interior lights on windows down and all of my paperwork out ready for him. Well he comes up on the passenger side window so I roll it down and as I hand him my stuff he askes if I had a radar and I said yes. He looks over my stuff and tells me his going to give my a citation for my speed and hands me my stuff and goes back to do the write up. He returns explains the ticket and I am on my way. This was a pretty good stop minus the ticket but what I thought was weird is he never asked where my weapon was and before he even ran my information told me he was going to cite me. I was hoping that since I pulled over ASAP and didnt keeping going plus my CHL was going to get me out of it but Oh well next time I will remember to SLOW DOWN!!!

Most LEO's will write you a ticket if you have a radar detector where they might have otherwise let you off with a warning. They figure you are trying to beat the system, so they take joy in knowing they beat your attempt to defeat them.

[Rokyudai]

Well good for you to do what you should anyway. Everyone goes home safe and a little bit smarter.

[bpet]

Did you take advantage of the situation to calibrate your radar detector?

You said 74 in a 65. What did he say?

Just curious since I've heard that anything less than 10 over would probably be ok. Or, did you get tagged as a result of night verse day speed limit reduction (60 at night verse 65 during the day)?

In any case, you can at least say you've had your first CHL equipped stop and lived through it. Good job and sorry about the ticket.

[jguzman75]

He never asked if I knew how fast I was going and it was at night so the 74 in a 65 was pretty much how fast I was going. I have larger than stock tires and from time to time I forget they increase my speed by about 4-5 mph. All in all it was an okay stop I was just curious why he didnt ask where my weapon was located. He might have been a rookie cuz when he returned to his vehicle to do his thing he was working with someone else in the vechicle. I did learn my lesson I'm just pretty bumed it cost me $140.00. I never really speed EVER I have a radar detector more for know cops are around than for speed. I have several DPS officer friends that I regularly hang out with here and I think they will get a kick out of my story.

[texasag93]

Next time just turn the radar off rather than tapping your breaks.

He may have thought you were able to shave a few miles per hour off.

Just a thought.

texasag

[bryang]

Looks like a good stop...outside of the ticket. Sorry about that.

-geo

[KBCraig]

This was a pretty good stop minus the ticket but what I thought was weird is he never asked where my weapon was...

That shouldn't be "weird", it should be standard procedure.

The only time in my life that I used a radar detector, was the first time I got a speeding ticket (at the age of 28). Go figure. I've been stopped three times for speed since then (17 years), and got tickets two of those three times. I was guilty only one of those times, but the other instance wasn't worth driving halfway across Arkansas to fight. (If you're curious, I had pulled into a parking lot more than a mile from the location of the alleged violation, parked, shut off my car, popped the trunk, and was handing my sons' luggage to their stepfather when the officer pulled in behind me with his blues on. This is a municipality of less than 200 people, with a full time police force of 8 officers. Their city limits just happen to straddle an interstate exit where the limit drops from 70 to 45 more quickly than most people can brake.)

[Wildscar]

I was hoping that since I pulled over ASAP and didnt keeping going plus my CHL was going to get me out of it but

CHL does not = Get out of jail free card.

[NcongruNt]

This was a pretty good stop minus the ticket but what I thought was weird is he never asked where my weapon was...

That shouldn't be "weird", it should be standard procedure.

In my three interactions with police where I have had to present ID, I have never been asked where my pistol was. Unless the officer has cause to disarm a CHLer, I don't really think it needs to be brought up, though I don't have any specific opposition to an officer asking.

Granted, two of these were instances where I called them out, one regarding a fight in the courtyard of my apartment complex and one regarding a suspicious person propositioning me for sex acts in the middle of the night in the parking lot of my workplace. Both of those instances were with Austin Police, and they never asked the location of my firearm. They did have an odd way of asking if I was carrying: "you don't have your gun on you, do you?", to which I responded that I did, and was asked not to reach for it and keep my hands visible. Both of these times were several months apart, in completely different parts of town, which makes me wonder if this is a standard way APD asks if a CHLer is armed.

The other time I was pulled over on my way to work by DPS near the Capitol building, shortly after the timing of the lights had been changed on that particular street. You used to be able to hit all green for more than a dozen blocks once you hit one, then one day the timing of the lights was changed so that in the middle, you were about 4 seconds short of making it through a single light. After several days of this, I tried accelerating more quickly off of a light 2 lights up to try and make the changed light, and ended up going about 8mph over (43 in a 35 for a very short period of time) due to the momentum of my acceleration. Anyone who has ridden in a car with me knows that I never speed and keep a continuous eye on the speedometer, so this was a very rare (and unintentional) event, but DPS is nearly always there monitoring traffic, so I got pulled over. I presented my DL, CHL, and insurance which she took, and asked me "do you have your gun with you?", to which I responded that I did. Nothing was said about my pistol beyond that. I was asked the standard questions of where I was coming from and going, which I answered. She informed me that she pulled me over for going 50 in a 35, to which I gave her a bewildered look and refuted that figure in the most non-confrontational manner possible. She took my info back to the car and had her partner stand at the front of my car while she ran me through the computer (and throughout the entire stop). She returned and amended her story that she had to go 50 to catch up to me, which is where the 50mph figure had come from. My guess is that she never got a solid clock on me, as I slowed down immediately as soon as I realized I was speeding. All throughout, APD cars (I recall 5 or 6 doing this) stopped and offered backup assistance, but were waved on. Considering that the vehicle I was driving at the time did not have the most "upstanding citizen" appearance and that the stop happened at night, It was an overwhelmingly positive experience and was handled in a very professional and controlled manner, which is true of all of my interactions with DPS to date. I believe it likely that the CHL offered a testament to my character that would not have otherwise been perceived in a similar situation, given my appearance and that of my vehicle at the time. At the end of the stop, I was given a warning, asked to slow down, and thanked for my courtesy.