The beam of my spotlight outlined her silver, curly hair as she sat behind the wheel of an aging Chevy Blazer. She had one hand on the steering wheel, the other on the column shifter. Her eyes were sincere as she spoke but I couldn’t believe a word of it. Her ramblings were disconnected and far fetched. Looking back, I can’t even remember why I pulled her over, but I’ll never forget the chain of events that followed.
It was one o’clock in the morning and the unlit country road was dark as crud. The road was one of those well-traveled back roads that only the locals seemed to know. It was busy during the day but at that time of night it was deader than a Chick-fil-A on Sunday.
Patience Is A Virtue
I found myself standing on the shoulder of that road next to an SUV driven by an old, confused woman. I stood and listened patiently as she wove a tangled story about her husband, the White House, the CIA, and a vast government conspiracy. All I wanted to do was check her license and send her on her way, but the more she carried on the more I realized that probably was no longer an option. I waited patiently out of respect for a woman who was old enough to be my grandmother.
I may have been too patient.
Indecision And Disbelief
In mid sentence she casually started the Chevy back up like we were two old friends lost in the latest gossip and she just realized she was running late for something and that was her way of telling me she couldn’t stay and chat any longer. Almost apologetically she maintained eye contact as she shifted into drive, then looked forward, hit the gas, and then left me in the dust. In the three seconds it took her to start her car and take off, thoughts of reaching in and trying to stop her entered my head, but they quickly collided with the disbelief that this old lady just ditched me like a bad blind date.
The pursuit that followed was a strange one. Because the traffic stop had been near the town line, within a few hundred yards we crossed into the neighboring town and there was no sign of stopping. Two cruisers from that town joined in the pursuit and employed some interesting tactics which may have fallen under the category of, As seen on TV.
Eventually, Stop Sticks were successfully deployed and grandma had four flat tires. But don’t worry, she kept going. In a sort of ironic twist she drove straight into the parking lot of the police department with four smoldering rims and a long trail of black rubber confetti behind her. She parked sideways across the parking spaces and, with her window still down, asked to speak to the chief. One of the other guys commented that he thought that could be arranged.
Long Arm Of The Law
Of the vehicle pursuits and foot pursuits that I have been involved in, some I saw coming. I got one of those feelings or was able to read body language and was ready to react. This one, not so much. I don’t know if when you sense it you’re a good cop and when you don’t you’re a bad one. Things happen. Signals get missed or misinterpreted. I suppose that’s what makes us human. But when you get caught looking, you just have to do what you can with what you have.
But one thing, one trend, I have seen over the course of my 19 year career is cops reaching into cars to try and stop the bad guy — or bad grandma — from driving away. I’ve seen cops grabbing at steering wheels, gear shifters, ignition keys, motorcycle handlebars, even at ATVs. And I’m sure you have too, there’s no shortage of videos on the internet. One common theme I’ve noticed among all the videos I’ve seen is that it doesn’t go well for the officer.
A Rhetorical Question
In a completely made up, gross estimation I’d say that 93.7% of the time an officer reaches into a car to try to stop that person from driving away, it has a cumulative effect of zero, and/or the officer gets dragged. Which, after all that detailed analysis, leads me to the conclusion that reaching inside of a car to try and stop it from driving away is a bad tactic and we need to stop doing it. As in yesterday. Just stop. When we do things like that we not only look dumb, but we throw officer safety out the window and risk getting ourselves killed. And for what?
Tactical Faux Pas
So why do we keep doing it? Why does it keep happening? I don’t know the answer, but my guess is that in most cases something instinctual inside us just reacts, and no thinking is actually involved. Or, we keep seeing other cops do it, fail, and think we’re the exception. Or, maybe we just lack the training. Whatever the reason it’s time to put this tactical faux pas to rest for good.
Here’s some of the logic behind my opinion.
The Juice Isn’t Worth The Squeeze
The truth is that most pursuits aren’t worth it. We hate to admit it because, let’s be honest, pursuits are fun. But statistically they are very dangerous for us and the poor slobs driving around minding their own business. Unless that driver is actively kidnapping or murdering children or just killed a cop, it’s probably not worth pursuing. Plus, in most cases, with some elbow grease, you can identify the driver through a little something called “an investigation.” You can get them later, on your terms, not theirs. They have nothing to lose. You on the other hand most definitely do. So, if it’s not worth pursuing, for the same reasons, it’s not worth reaching in and putting ourselves at risk.
Cars Weigh 3,000 Pounds, Have An Engine, And Something Called Torque
Congratulations! You never skip leg day and have posted 73 selfie videos on social media of you in a flat brimmed hat and a sleeveless shirt at Planet Fitness doing leg presses. Unfortunately there are two people who think you’re cool: you and your mom. And though you have the quads of a Greek god *spoiler alert* you’re still not going to be able to stop a Fiat from driving away. And when that Fiat takes you with it there are laws of physics and some math involved that when some smart person figures it all out, it doesn’t look good for your skull.
Traffic Stops Should Make Us Nervous
Remember learning how to conduct a traffic stop in the Academy? Remember all those tragic videos you had to watch? Remember all the nuances about where to position your cruiser, how to use your spot light, the proper way to approach a car, how to clear it, that you have to watch their hands, and a million other little details? How does hurling your upper body into an open driver’s window to grab the gear shifter or the car keys line up with any of that training? It doesn’t. It lines up zero times. You put yourself not just in a position to get dragged, but in a position to get yourself shot or stabbed. Traffic stops should make us nervous, because people try to kill us. The idea of diving into a car should be high on our list of bad ideas.
It Almost Never Works
Like I said before, anecdotally speaking, 93.7% of the time an officer reaches into a car to try to stop that person from driving away, it has a cumulative effect of zero. You can do your own research but I’m pretty confident you’ll come to the same conclusion. Even if I was half wrong, and reaching into a car to stop it from driving away worked 50% of the time, and the other 50% you’d get dragged or shot or stabbed, would you take those odds? I hope not. If you would, you might have a gambling problem.
The Long Game
The reason I began with the story about the confused old lady who drove away from me was simply this. First, that I was too slow or too indecisive to reach into her car to try and stop her, but the fact that it played out the way it did was for my own good. And second, that if I had reached in when she pulled away and had I gotten hurt, it would not have been worth it. It would have been a bad trade. She was just a crazy old lady who drove herself to the police station anyway.
If you’ve ever been that guy who’s reached into a car, please know that my goal is not to belittle you, I just want you to critique yourself objectively, learn, and make a better decision next time. It sucks to feel like you’re letting someone go, but remember that you and I need to play the long game, to work smarter not harder, to live to fight another day.
Thinking about these kinds of things and visualizing them ahead of time will give you an edge in the moment, there’s no doubt about it, because you’ve been there before and you will know what to do.
__________________________
- What’s your personal policy on reaching into vehicles? Why?
- Have you ever done it?
- How did it go?
- What other tactics could you employ to achieve the same net results?
__________________________
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