I wanted to post my experiences here in AZ over the years with Law Enforcement.
I have been OCing for about 7 years now and have had a variety of encounters with the police. Most of which were positive to neutral.
My first encounter was back about 11 years ago when I still concealed carried. I was driving home from dinner out after a long day of painting in the house. I left the restaurant and pulled out onto Broadway in Tucson, which is lit up at night with street lights along the route to my home. I could see fine, was extremely tired from being on my feet painting all day, and never thought to turn on my headlights, resulting in being pulled over by a motorcycle cop.
Both my wife and I carried concealed at that time. Did the usual with the cop, hands on the steering wheel and dash, informed him that we both had weapons in our fanny packs on the floor between our legs, and then handed him my driver's license, registration, and CCW permit. He was more concerned that I had been drinking and driving, which I was not. Gave me a quick check at the back of the vehicle and let me on my way. He was actually rather friendly and understanding.
Fast forward to December of 2008. I was riding with my land lady at the time and she was pulled over by the Phoenix police. They were looking for her son and thought I was him. 2 Phoenix police officers pulled us over. I was in the passenger seat and did the usual. Hands on the dash, had my license and CCW permit out, and informed the officer that I had an H&K pistol on my right hip. Then 2 more officers pulled up. The first 2 officers went back and talked with the 2nd 2 officers that showed up. One of the new officers walked up and informed me that he was going to disarm me. Thank god I was carrying a semi-auto with a thumb safety. He had a little trouble pulling it out of my Fobus holster. Like that is really all that difficult. He then walks to the back of the car and leaning over about 2 feet from the ground on the side of the road, I see him in the rear view mirror trying to remove the magazine and unload the firearm. All I can think is this idiot is going to discharge my weapon, the bullet is going to ricochet off the rock hard ground and wound or kill him, and it will somehow be my fault.
He finally got it unloaded, without shooting the ground or himself, and after all was said and done, he unloads the magazine and puts all the ammunition in a plastic bag and has my land lady pop the trunk and proceeds to put my empty gun, empty magazine, and the bag of ammo in the trunk. We pulled away from the traffic stop and she pulled into a gas station. I removed my gun from the trunk, immediately loaded it from a magazine from my left side, as I carried 2 extras in those days, holstered my weapon, and as we drove down the road, reloaded the empty that the officer left me with. Needless to say, this cop was a dumb A$$.
I was leaving my apartment complex in Tempe and got distracted with my satellite radio and went right passed a stopped bus. Yep, there was a cop sitting there and immediately pulled me over. Did the usual, hands on the steering wheel, informed him that I had a weapon in my fanny pack, and handed him my driver's license, registration, and CCW permit. At that time I still carried concealed in a fanny pack. He just took my fanny and put it on top of his car until the stop was over. He then handed me back my fanny pack and I was on my way, feeling stupid of course for not paying attention.
Fast forward to 3 years ago in December of 2010, was on the I-10 around Tucson and got pulled over for speeding. This was a Pima Community College cop and not a DPS officer. He was mad at me because I passed him on Valencia before we got on the I-10. Did the usual, hands on the steering wheel, informed him that I had a weapon on my right hip, and handed him my driver's license, registration, and CCW permit. Despite the fact that he was an A$$ to me, he never took my weapon or even said anything about it. He wrote me a ticket and wanted to lecture me, but never bothered me about my weapon.
Just a couple of years ago I stopped in on a Thursday around lunch time to "Dick's Meats" up off of Orange Grove and Oracle in Tucson. Now it's important to note that by this time I had sold my H&K USP Compact I carried on my right hip and have gone to a double gun shoulder rig with 2 S&W M&Ps with 4 extra magazines. So to say I'm an obvious open carrier is an understatement. I'm in your face with it.
Back to the story, I placed my order at the counter and then went and used the washroom at the back of the store. Upon exiting I walked to the front of the store and encountered a Tucson police officer having lunch. He was filling his soda. We made eye contact, I said "Good afternoon", he returned in kind. I stood in line at the counter, purchased my freshly made sandwich and left with no incident.
Sever months ago I stopped after work at a local Gyro shop to pick up an order to go. While they are open late most of their business is at the lunch hour so after work it is pretty empty. Upon pulling in the parking lot, I pulled up next to 2 Tempe police motorcycles. As I walked into the shop, I made eye contact with the 2 officers who appeared to have just finished up their meals. One was standing next to the booth and the other was seated on the end of the other bench. As we made eye contact I nodded a friendly hello and walked up to the counter and placed my order. I'm sure they looked me up and down, and they never said anything else to me.
My current place of employment is in a large building with just one other tenant next to us who employees several hundred people. They have a practice of letting higher paying employees go and hiring lower paying people. As expected some of those they let go are disgruntled. To that end this company hires off duty officers to walk there perimeter for security. Just last week they had a DPS officer at their location. And as I usually do after work, I walk out to my car and then proceed to put on my double gun rig. As I said in a previous post, I'm "In Your Face" obvious when I OC. From a distance the DPS officer saw me as I park closer to the building entrance.
The next day I happen to be walking in at lunch and the officer struck up a conversation with me saying he noticed me the day before. I acknowledged that I saw him looking at me. He introduced himself and asked for my name. I gave him my first name. I did not see the need to be evasive as he could walk out to my vehicle and run my plates and get my identity if he wanted to. He asked how often I carry open and I said "Always". I did not converse with him much more than that. He seemed nice, however, I don't talk to cops as their job is to "Fine and Arrest" not to "Serve and Protect" as many a police motto says.
In conclusion, over the years, my encounters with the police have been either positive or neutral.
I have been OCing for about 7 years now and have had a variety of encounters with the police. Most of which were positive to neutral.
My first encounter was back about 11 years ago when I still concealed carried. I was driving home from dinner out after a long day of painting in the house. I left the restaurant and pulled out onto Broadway in Tucson, which is lit up at night with street lights along the route to my home. I could see fine, was extremely tired from being on my feet painting all day, and never thought to turn on my headlights, resulting in being pulled over by a motorcycle cop.
Both my wife and I carried concealed at that time. Did the usual with the cop, hands on the steering wheel and dash, informed him that we both had weapons in our fanny packs on the floor between our legs, and then handed him my driver's license, registration, and CCW permit. He was more concerned that I had been drinking and driving, which I was not. Gave me a quick check at the back of the vehicle and let me on my way. He was actually rather friendly and understanding.
Fast forward to December of 2008. I was riding with my land lady at the time and she was pulled over by the Phoenix police. They were looking for her son and thought I was him. 2 Phoenix police officers pulled us over. I was in the passenger seat and did the usual. Hands on the dash, had my license and CCW permit out, and informed the officer that I had an H&K pistol on my right hip. Then 2 more officers pulled up. The first 2 officers went back and talked with the 2nd 2 officers that showed up. One of the new officers walked up and informed me that he was going to disarm me. Thank god I was carrying a semi-auto with a thumb safety. He had a little trouble pulling it out of my Fobus holster. Like that is really all that difficult. He then walks to the back of the car and leaning over about 2 feet from the ground on the side of the road, I see him in the rear view mirror trying to remove the magazine and unload the firearm. All I can think is this idiot is going to discharge my weapon, the bullet is going to ricochet off the rock hard ground and wound or kill him, and it will somehow be my fault.
He finally got it unloaded, without shooting the ground or himself, and after all was said and done, he unloads the magazine and puts all the ammunition in a plastic bag and has my land lady pop the trunk and proceeds to put my empty gun, empty magazine, and the bag of ammo in the trunk. We pulled away from the traffic stop and she pulled into a gas station. I removed my gun from the trunk, immediately loaded it from a magazine from my left side, as I carried 2 extras in those days, holstered my weapon, and as we drove down the road, reloaded the empty that the officer left me with. Needless to say, this cop was a dumb A$$.
I was leaving my apartment complex in Tempe and got distracted with my satellite radio and went right passed a stopped bus. Yep, there was a cop sitting there and immediately pulled me over. Did the usual, hands on the steering wheel, informed him that I had a weapon in my fanny pack, and handed him my driver's license, registration, and CCW permit. At that time I still carried concealed in a fanny pack. He just took my fanny and put it on top of his car until the stop was over. He then handed me back my fanny pack and I was on my way, feeling stupid of course for not paying attention.
Fast forward to 3 years ago in December of 2010, was on the I-10 around Tucson and got pulled over for speeding. This was a Pima Community College cop and not a DPS officer. He was mad at me because I passed him on Valencia before we got on the I-10. Did the usual, hands on the steering wheel, informed him that I had a weapon on my right hip, and handed him my driver's license, registration, and CCW permit. Despite the fact that he was an A$$ to me, he never took my weapon or even said anything about it. He wrote me a ticket and wanted to lecture me, but never bothered me about my weapon.
Just a couple of years ago I stopped in on a Thursday around lunch time to "Dick's Meats" up off of Orange Grove and Oracle in Tucson. Now it's important to note that by this time I had sold my H&K USP Compact I carried on my right hip and have gone to a double gun shoulder rig with 2 S&W M&Ps with 4 extra magazines. So to say I'm an obvious open carrier is an understatement. I'm in your face with it.
Back to the story, I placed my order at the counter and then went and used the washroom at the back of the store. Upon exiting I walked to the front of the store and encountered a Tucson police officer having lunch. He was filling his soda. We made eye contact, I said "Good afternoon", he returned in kind. I stood in line at the counter, purchased my freshly made sandwich and left with no incident.
Sever months ago I stopped after work at a local Gyro shop to pick up an order to go. While they are open late most of their business is at the lunch hour so after work it is pretty empty. Upon pulling in the parking lot, I pulled up next to 2 Tempe police motorcycles. As I walked into the shop, I made eye contact with the 2 officers who appeared to have just finished up their meals. One was standing next to the booth and the other was seated on the end of the other bench. As we made eye contact I nodded a friendly hello and walked up to the counter and placed my order. I'm sure they looked me up and down, and they never said anything else to me.
My current place of employment is in a large building with just one other tenant next to us who employees several hundred people. They have a practice of letting higher paying employees go and hiring lower paying people. As expected some of those they let go are disgruntled. To that end this company hires off duty officers to walk there perimeter for security. Just last week they had a DPS officer at their location. And as I usually do after work, I walk out to my car and then proceed to put on my double gun rig. As I said in a previous post, I'm "In Your Face" obvious when I OC. From a distance the DPS officer saw me as I park closer to the building entrance.
The next day I happen to be walking in at lunch and the officer struck up a conversation with me saying he noticed me the day before. I acknowledged that I saw him looking at me. He introduced himself and asked for my name. I gave him my first name. I did not see the need to be evasive as he could walk out to my vehicle and run my plates and get my identity if he wanted to. He asked how often I carry open and I said "Always". I did not converse with him much more than that. He seemed nice, however, I don't talk to cops as their job is to "Fine and Arrest" not to "Serve and Protect" as many a police motto says.
In conclusion, over the years, my encounters with the police have been either positive or neutral.
