Car Stop Strategies

Alternate strategies for traffic stops

According to the latest FBI UCR (Uniform Crime Report), Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2004, over the last ten years, 96 officers were killed by suspects during traffic stop situations. Add to this 404 officers killed during that time in car accidents and 120 killed when they were struck by vehicles, and the risk to an officer whether posed by an armed suspect or other vehicles while conducting a traffic stop is substantial.

Just last night while channel surfing, I saw a program which featured the dangers posed to officers during traffic stops by other vehicles on the streets and highways. In two incidents caught on tape, a fellow officer from Ohio was rear ended while investigating an accident. As he got out of his patrol car another vehicle hit him, resulting in injury. After he had recovered from those injuries, he was seriously injured again in a similar incident.

Until recently, one large Midwestern agency, regardless of the risk, refused to let their officers do any stop by other than a driver’s side approach. Despite assaults on their officers by gang bangers and all manner of street scum, they offered their officers no other option than to walk up to each and every car in the same manner. Fortunately, this has changed. Unfortunately, it took two officers being shot until training was implemented and policy changed.

Why then are officers so blasé about this important activity, despite the risk? And why are officers so hell bent to approach a suspect vehicle despite warning signs of potential problems? Those are the questions and we’ll try to provide answers and some alternate traffic stop strategies in this column.

Plan your stop

Whether the vehicle you plan on stopping is for traffic violations, an investigative stop or for some criminal violation, plan your stop. If you work a two man car, work this out in advance so that both of you are on the same sheet of music. Plan where to stop based on tactical and strategic advantage for you. Follow the vehicle until the environmental conditions are in your favor. These include traffic conditions, location (threats from other suspects), lighting, available cover, information on the vehicle and its occupants, and availability of backup, depending on the nature of the stop. Don’t initiate your overheads if you’re not ready for the vehicle to stop.

If you are not happy with the position or location, tell the driver to move.

A driver may stop in a location that offers too much threat to you, whether from traffic or secondary suspects. If you’re not happy, use your PA system to ask the driver to move, i.e. “please pull around the corner,” or “pull into the parking lot.”

Pre-stop activities

Always call your stops in before approaching the driver, always. A good stop protocol is location, plate, description, number of occupants, and the reason for the stop. If all you are able to get out prior to a gunfight erupting is your location, at least your backup has an idea of where to go. Many officers perceive traffic stops as too minor an event to generate radio activity (“it’s a pain to call out,” or “I don’t want to tie up the air with a simple traffic stop”) don’t call out until they need backup, or a tow, or they have an arrest. Put in simple terms, this is sheer folly. Those expensive radios only work if you use them and communicate with other officers and dispatch.

Pause to monitor the actions of the driver and occupants. Are they apparently hiding something under the seat or elsewhere in the car? Are they checking the rearview mirror and looking around the area? Are the vehicle’s occupants turning and checking you out? Is there excessive movement by the occupants? My partner and I once backed up another car on a traffic stop. After the driver was arrested for driving under suspension, we asked the officer if he was going to charge him with the cocaine possession. He asked, “What cocaine?” We pointed to the street and said, “the crack he threw out the window when you pulled him over.” Although evidence is secondary to assault and weapons possession, it is indicative of the potential for resistance.

Position your car off-set and back a distance.

There was a tactic introduced several years ago based on the threat of suspects backing into patrol cars to disable them. This tactic suggested you minimize the distance between vehicles to reduce the speed a suspect could back-up before impact. The problem with this tactic is that it closes the distance between you and any armed occupant and any rear end collision to your car will drive you directly into the stopped vehicle, increasing the potential for injury to you. My suggestion is to stay at least 20 feet back and offset to the left or right. If conducting a felony stop, increase this distance depending on the potential for armed confrontation. Distance equals time for you to respond and lessens the suspect’s ability to get accurate fire on you in the event of a gunfight.

Some agencies recommend an angled stop to place the engine between you and potential gunfire. This does expose you to more risk from other vehicles as they could impact directly into the door area (where you are sitting) and reduces the effectiveness of the emergency lighting on your car. Angled stops should not be done at night because your headlights will not illuminate the suspect vehicle.

The Call Back Technique

Why do officers feel that they must approach the vehicle despite the circumstances? Calling the driver back to your car is always an option. In this tactic you exit your car and tell the driver to turn off his ignition and bring his driver’s license and proof of insurance back to you. You stand either behind your open driver’s door or passenger door (depending on traffic). If you move to the passenger side, you walk behind your car into this position. The driver is told to stop at the front tire and hand the documents to you. Like any good copper, you never reach with your gun hand and maintain your balance as you grab the documents. The open door acts as an impediment to any physical attack. If the suspect charges the door, step back and respond. They are then asked to return to their vehicle. If you still feel a threat, call them back to issue the citation. If you no longer perceive a threat make a driver’s or passenger’s side approach to issue the citation. When would you use this tactic? When you are dealing with a vehicle containing multiple occupants or the hairs on the back of your neck (police 6th sense) are telling you something’s up. If the stop turns into an investigative stop based on intelligence developed during your interaction with the driver, field interviews can be conducted on the sidewalk or berm, not in between the vehicles.

The Passenger Side Approach

The concept of this stop, like the call back, is that the driver always expects the officer to approach the driver’s side. If they are preparing an attack it is usually geared toward this approach. In this stop procedure the officer walks around the back of their patrol car and approaches the passenger side of the stopped vehicle. The officer has a better view of the suspect’s hands and can see any visible weapons in the driver’s compartment a little better than the driver’s approach. The driver must lean over and hand you the documents which puts them a little off balance. Furthermore the passenger side approach lessens the risk to officers being struck by other vehicles.

Contact and Cover

This tactic is sound and has been used throughout the country. If two or more officers are present the contact officer conducts the business of the call (does all field interviews, issues all citations, pats all suspects down, and conducts all radio traffic). The cover officer protects the contact officer by constant observation of the suspect(s) and the environment. By designating an officer as cover we place officer safety at the forefront of any stop or call versus as an afterthought. The contact and cover concept developed by the San Diego Police Department (after a suspicious suspect call resulted in two of their officers being shot and killed) saves lives and should be standard practice in every agency.

Don’t be a one trick pony. By having these alternate strategies in your repertoire, you have options. By only using one traffic stop approach, you set a pattern by repeatedly engaging in the same actions and you are setting yourself up. You’ve limited the options a suspect has to plan for and made it easier for them to assault you. Sadly, some officers don’t use these alternates even after being exposed to them in training. They revert to a standard driver’s side approach regardless of the risk because it is easier. Remember, good tactics only work if they are implemented. Check out fellow Buckeye police officer Bob Magnuson’s S.T.O.P.S. program for some excellent tactics.

Make it hard for a suspect to assault you. Reduce your risk to being struck by another vehicle. Go home safely at the end of every shift by mastering your craft and the sound tactical options available for conducting safe traffic stops.