Good morning!
What a traffic stop feels like for the officer
I want to talk about something a little heavier this week, because it's been on my mind.
A Kentucky state trooper was killed this week on a traffic stop. And it got me thinking about what those moments are really like — not for us, but for them.
Everybody gets pulled over sooner or later. A tail light, a plate, something. And if you carry in your vehicle like I do, here's how I handle it, and why.
Put yourself in that officer's boots for a second. He's walking up on a vehicle he knows nothing about. Tinted windows, maybe. He or she has no idea what's on the other side of that glass. That's the most dangerous walk in the job, every single time, and most of us never think about it.
So here's what I do. I turn the vehicle off. I roll my window all the way down. I put my hands up on the wheel where they can see them, keys up on the dash. And when they walk up and ask if I know why they stopped me, before anything else, I tell them plainly — I have weapons in the car.
Do you legally have to? Depends on the state, and honestly I don't always know which is which. I don't do it because I have to. I do it out of courtesy, and I'll go above and beyond every time.
And I've never — not once, in any state — had an officer not say "thank you for letting me know." It puts them at ease. And when they're at ease, I'm at ease, because let me tell you, if that officer's tense, I'm tense. It can be a nervous moment for everybody, and that one sentence takes the air right out of it.
Now hear me clearly. I am not telling you to leave your weapon at home. I keep multiple weapons in my vehicle, and I'll keep right on doing it. I'm telling you how to carry and make it home, and how to let a man or woman doing a hard job make it home too.
Be safe out there. Both sides of the window.
BOOTS ON THE GROUND
This week we honor Kentucky State Police Trooper Hayden Phillips, killed in the line of duty on Monday.
He put on the uniform and walked up to a stranger's window so the rest of us could drive home safe. That's a kind of courage most people never have to find.
To his family, to his brothers and sisters in blue, and to every officer who makes that walk tonight not knowing what's waiting — we see you. We thank you. And we won't forget Trooper Phillips.
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NEXT WEEK
The rut's getting closer. More from the woods and the water, and we keep the Carry Report rolling.
Out there this weekend, hunting or fishing? Hit reply and tell me how it went. I read every one.
See you Friday.
— Dwayne