Under 21 Question

[CHL/LEO]

txinvestigator posted:

If the officer asks if I know why he stopped me, I will answer, with a smile, "I bet your gonna tell me".

You're too easy - only a current or retired cop would answer the question that way.

Now that being said, whenever I do stop someone it's for a legitimate violation. As you're well aware, with our Transportation Code there is no way a person can drive around town for more than 2 minutes without violating several sections of it - PC should never be a problem for a traffic stop in this state

Now when I do have someone stopped on traffic I like to talk them. I guess it's just my nature to be friendly and most people are all uptight about being stopped anyway so maybe it will put them at ease.

Also, if my gut says to look a little closer to see what I might find - "a fishing trip" as you refer to it, I will ask them a few questions. You'd be surprised (well, you wouldn't be but most people would be) at what people will tell you when you just ask them questions like, "Are there any drugs in the car, weapons, guns, knives? Do you have any warrants out for you arrests? Does this car belong to you?"

Unless one is a real sociopath (like Ted Bundy) it gets fairly easy to read people. Hence my comment to txinvestigator about his reply - the average citizen would never make a statement like that. I don't write very many tickets (we've got plenty of officers on our department where traffic enforcement is their primary responsibility) but I will stop people and let them know what they're doing that is in violation of the law so that maybe they will change their behavior. However. blow through a red light, speed through a school zone, or have babies in the vehicle with no car seat, and you're probably going to get a ticket from me.

Head txi's advice and be truthful with any LEO that asks you questions. Don't lie or play games - if you're caught (most of the time you will be) you probably won't like the outcome. CHL holders are as a group very much law abiding citizens and as such rarely come into contact with LE. The ones that I've met on traffic stops have always been easy to deal with.

[txinvestigator]

As I have said repeatedlly here, obey the traffic laws, don't act like a goober, and you won't have reason to be in contact with the police.

That's generally the case, but I have been stopped when I hadn't done anything wrong. The last time it happened, I had a temporary plate (I had just bought the car) and the officer wanted a better look at it.

It's also possible to get in a wreck that isn't your fault. In that case, if you are not injured and start retrieving things from the vehicle, they will watch you closely.

- Jim

Where was the plate?

I hadn't considered wrecks. Good point.

[txinvestigator]

txinvestigator posted:

If the officer asks if I know why he stopped me, I will answer, with a smile, "I bet your gonna tell me".

You're too easy - only a current or retired cop would answer the question that way.

That might have something to do with why I answer that way. LOL

Also, if my gut says to look a little closer to see what I might find - "a fishing trip" as you refer to it, I will ask them a few questions. You'd be surprised (well, you wouldn't be but most people would be) at what people will tell you when you just ask them questions like, "Are there any drugs in the car, weapons, guns, knives? Do you have any warrants out for you arrests? Does this car belong to you?"

As you noted. those questions are not standard, they are used when your instincts alert you. That's good police work, IMO. You can almost read it in their eyes, "how did he KNOW?".

I don't write very many tickets (we've got plenty of officers on our department where traffic enforcement is their primary responsibility) but I will stop people and let them know what they're doing that is in violation of the law so that maybe they will change their behavior. .

Good for PR too. And it lets you check for warrants, etc. One of my best pops was an Agg Rape (yes, it was a long time ago) of a child warrant made on a car that was only slightly speeding.

[seamusTX]

... I have been stopped when I hadn't done anything wrong. The last time it happened, I had a temporary plate (I had just bought the car) and the officer wanted a better look at it.

Where was the plate?

Where the license plate normally goes.

Perhaps I should add, it was in Arkansas with a Texas temporary plate, at night. I can understand why the Arkansas patrolman did not recognize it. The incident was uneventful.

- Jim

[txinvestigator]

... I have been stopped when I hadn't done anything wrong. The last time it happened, I had a temporary plate (I had just bought the car) and the officer wanted a better look at it.

Where was the plate?

Where the license plate normally goes.

Perhaps I should add, it was in Arkansas with a Texas temporary plate, at night. I can understand why the Arkansas patrolman did not recognize it. The incident was uneventful.

- Jim

I see. I asked because a lot of dealers place the temp tag in the rear win dow. It is required to be placed unobstructed and lit at night, just like yout regular tag.

[Liberty]

... I have been stopped when I hadn't done anything wrong. The last time it happened, I had a temporary plate (I had just bought the car) and the officer wanted a better look at it.

Where was the plate?

Where the license plate normally goes.

Perhaps I should add, it was in Arkansas with a Texas temporary plate, at night. I can understand why the Arkansas patrolman did not recognize it. The incident was uneventful.

- Jim

I see. I asked because a lot of dealers place the temp tag in the rear win dow. It is required to be placed unobstructed and lit at night, just like yout regular tag.

I mentioned a couple days ago that I my car got wrecked. I just picked up its replacement yesterday. They mounted the paper plate where the real plate goes. One day and its already melting. I hope I don''t get a ticket for that.

[AV8R]

"Do you have any weapons in the car?" "Why, yes, sir, we have plenty. But thanks for asking."

[Skiprr]

However, blow through a red light, speed through a school zone, or have babies in the vehicle with no car seat, and you're probably going to get a ticket from me.

Thanks! As a fellow driver, I can't see if there are unsecured children in another car, but I can sure be baffled by people shootin' past me in active school zones and gunnin' through those just-barely-red lights.

Speaking of license plates, a friend of mine with the Jersey Village PD reminded me last month that as of February, officers were now allowed to stop vehicles that had portions of their license plates covered up by license plate frames or holders. The law has been on the books for a couple of years that the plates have to be unobstructed, but he said tickets were only being written if the vehicle was stopped for another infraction. But the JVPD, anyway, are now stopping vehicles for that plate-obscured infraction alone.

I don't know if that's the case elsewhere in Texas, but being a law-abiding citizen I removed my (very thin, BTW) license plate frame and replaced it with just four galvanized washers to secure the plate.

[seamusTX]

Speaking of license plates, a friend of mine with the Jersey Village PD reminded me last month that as of February, officers were now allowed to stop vehicles that had portions of their license plates covered up by license plate frames or holders.

I remember when that law went into effect, Houston police were giving tickets for it.

The enthusiasm seemed to die out. I see plates all the time that are so obscured that you can't tell which state they are from.

- Jim

[pbandjelly]

In the area that I live, it was broadcast on local news that As long as you could read Texas on the top of the license plate, you were sufficiently within the boundaries of the law.

As we were informed, you could have a plate holder that obstructed the letters less than half-way through, but not obscuring which state the license was issued from.

Recently, I had a license plate holder that contained a short, witty phrase both above and below the actual plate area. It merely occluded a fraction of the TEXAS lettering, and was thus deemed appropriate by our local Police Officers.

[austin]

A machete or short Samurai sword in its scabbard stuck between the seats is a very effective weapon for carrying in your car or truck.

You can also travel with your dog.

A samurai long sword in its scabbard stuck between your mattresses is very effective in most home encounters.

I know of a woman in NY who has a sword - its her way around the gun bans. One day a plumber came into her place while she was sleeping and he ran when a naked woman came screaming at him with a sword.

There are a number of case studies where women and men were able to get to their home cutlery sets and make it a very bad day for would be robbbers and rapists.

[jimlongley]

Swords are also illegal in NY.

[txinvestigator]

A machete or short Samurai sword in its scabbard stuck between the seats is a very effective weapon for carrying in your car or truck.

Both are illegal to carry.

You can also travel with your dog.

A samurai long sword in its scabbard stuck between your mattresses is very effective in most home encounters.

Not against an intruder armed with a gun

[srothstein]

In the area that I live, it was broadcast on local news that As long as you could read Texas on the top of the license plate, you were sufficiently within the boundaries of the law.

There was a Court of Criminal Appeals decision on this a few weeks ago. Most cops took the law to mean that as long as I could read the letters and the state, you were OK. Apparently, one did not and the DWI was fought.

The CCA ruled that the law says "any design element" and means exactly what it says. If you have one of the plates with the space scene, and so much as one star is obscured, you are violating the law.

What was very interesting and made the Austin papers is that that state itself is not obeying the law. If you get a toll tag from TXDOT and cannot mount it in the windshield, they will sell you one that goes on the top of the plate. It blocks enough of the plate to be illegal. The legislature makes something illegal and then the same state agency responsible for the plates also breaks the law on plates.

As an aside on this law, you should note that it also mentions anything that changes the tint or the reflectivity of the plate. Those light blue license covers are also illegal.

[CHL/LEO]

A machete or short Samurai sword in its scabbard stuck between the seats is a very effective weapon for carrying in your car or truck.

I can pretty well assure you that if you are stopped in my city, and an officer finds you with either of these illegal weapons, they will be confiscated. Most officers that I know (in my department and others) would probably arrest you, have your vehicle towed, and take you to jail.

Again, my experience is that you would have a far better chance of not going to jail if you had been carrying a gun in your car, even if you didn't have a CHL. With our CHL laws. gun culture, and the ability to "travel" with a handgun in the state, it lends enough acceptance and gray area that lots of officers will cut someone some slack regarding having a gun in their car even if they didn't have a CHL or they were doing so illegally.

No such culture or laws exist pertaining to knives. In fact a lot of negative feelings surround knives. My advice would be not to carry an illegal knife or recommend anyone else to do the same unless you or they are willing to face the consequences.