LabRat wrote:PhilBob wrote:From what our instructors in my LTC class told us, the most dangerous part of their job is the traffic stop!
I would agree. Traffic stops cause an officer (likely alone) to encounter a completely unknown person, whose intent is also unknown, to determine if a summons will be issued. Those factors make traffic stops highly dangerous in my opinion. No telling who'll you come up against. That said, it takes skill to manage the encounter, not immediately putting on a show of brute force. There are those who do it well and those who don't.
Domestic violence is another situation with highly dangerous implications. In this case, emotions run in over-drive.
When that happens, Katy-bar-the-door, things could go side-ways in a second.
It's a position for specific folks with talents and training to handle, that's for sure.
I don't think being a police officer is a only a job, it better be more of a calling.
Good observation.
LabRat
I always told people that being a police officer was 7 hours and 59 minutes of boredom and one minute of sheer terror. Sometimes those minutes strung together over longer periods of time.
You are correct, every situation an officer walks into is unknown, that's why there was never a term in police work for a routine traffic stop. That is a media creation. If traffic stops become routine, officers don't usually survive very long. And you might deal with some of the same people over and over,but you never know what their day was like before you stopped them, that may have been the straw that broke the camel's back for them.
Prayers for a safe return home for all of the LEO out there.
