Good Question: What Are You Supposed To Do During A Traffic Stop?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Every day, police pull over thousands of people. While the vast majority of those interactions don't end in violence, people around the world now know last week's stop of Philando Castile did.
That had several of you emailing us wanting to know: What are you supposed to do during a traffic stop? Good Question.
"There isn't one specific protocol," said Joe Dutton, a retired Golden Valley police officer and use of force expert. "The one thing I would say is don't make a lot of furtive or active movements in your car when you know the officer is approaching you."
Law enforcement WCCO contacted today advised people to pull over to a safe spot, don't get out of the car and roll down the window. A person who is pulled over doesn't necessarily have to turn off the car, but should keep their hands in sight.
"Just keep your hands on the steering wheel," said Dutton. "That's what I would recommend."
Officers are trained in making traffic stops, but Dutton said much of the learning is done on the job because no stop is routine. As for whether a person should tell the officer they are reaching for their wallet, identification or insurance information, Dutton said most officers are used to seeing people go into their wallet in their back pocket.
"But if you have your ID in a purse or the glove box, I would inform the officer that's where those are so they can watch what you're doing more intently," he said.
According to Dutton, people who have a gun with a permit to carry are not obligated to tell the officer that information, but he recommended they do.
"When they get up to the car, just let them know and, the officer will take that in and will say sir or mam, please put your hands on the steering wheel for me," he said. "He may question them a little bit. He might ask the whereabouts of the gun, where is it located. He'll tell that person, more than likely, don't go for it, just tell me where it is."
On Thursday, country singer Coffey Anderson did a Facebook video on this topic. So far, it's been viewed 34 million times. In it, he advised people to turn down the radio, keep their IDs on the dash, hands on the steering wheel and tell the officer what you are doing.
"At the end of the day, the policeman wants to go home safely, we want to go home safely," he said. "Even if the cop is having a bad day, you have to go home, you gotta make it home, you're needed. This is a big deal."
In the comment section of his Facebook post, Anderson received a lot praise for being informative and helping to diffuse unnecessary tension. But, he also received a good bit of criticism when some people commented he was "blaming the victim" and police should be better trained.
