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Police Shooting: How To Avoid Them During Traffic Stops

By Antonio J. Newell
Published on: 21:05 PST, Jul 9, 2016

Police shootings seem to be at an all-time high in modern American. Make sure you follow these steps to ensure your traffic stop stays safe as possible.

In a personally concerned video from country music singer Coffey Anderson, he lays out possibly the most fool-proof plan for maintaining safe measures during a police traffic stop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpcxN9JsoN8

The Dallas police shooting — as well as the Alton Sterling and Philando Castile shootings — has sparked a fire within the land of the United States.

And it’s important for you to know how to minimize your risk during a police’s traffic stop.

In case you weren’t able to watch the above video, Coffey Anderson laid out the process plain as day.

According to Anderson, in a traffic stop, it’s most important for you to make the officer feel safer upon approach.

With all the tension from police shooting, as violators as well as victims, officers are on edge.

Anderson suggests that when a police officer signals for you to pull over, follow these instructions.

  1. Turn your right signal on and slowly pull over to the shoulder.
  2. If you can’t pull to the shoulder, slow your vehicle between 15 to 20 mile per hour, while keeping your signal on for the officer behind you.
  3. Once you’re able to pull over safely or exit the freeway shoulder, do so immediately.

Then, there’s the next step: police approach.

Coffey Anderson mentions that, upon approach, you don’t need to give police extra reasoning to reach for their weapons.

Before the police officer ever gets out of his car, you should do these following things, so you won’t have to take your hands out of the police officer’s view.

  1. Turn off your vehicle. While pulled over, there’s no reason to keep the vehicle running. Showing that you’re not about to drive away, this creates less suspicion for the police officer.
  2. Take your wallet out of your pocket, completely.
  3. Get your license, registration, and proof of insurance (or any other certifications you need to present). Place them on the dashboard of your vehicle, along with your wallet.

Now, there’s nothing you can reach toward that would set the police officer into a frenzy. All your credentials are in view.

However, the most important thing is that you don’t make any sudden, suspicious movements.

A great way to keep this from happening is to keep your hands completely visible at all times, even from the start.

According to Anderson, the best way is to place keep your hands is on the steering wheel with your fingers point outward, as not to have anything clinched.

Coffey Anderson notes that, when dealing with police officers and traffic stops, it’s best to keep everything you do “transparent.”

Don’t make him/her wonder about any action you’re taking.

Another important, crucial factor is compliance.

While there are several videos online that state your rights as citizens and what officers can and can’t do, as you’ve seen in recent shootings, whether you’re in the right or not, it’s best to comply with police officers’ orders.

As Coffey Anderson states in the video, it’s about making it home safely to your families.

If the officer is belligerent or combative, you can fight that battle after-the-fact.

While there with the officer, just take note of his/her badge number, name, and other information you can remember.

Once you’re safe, then you can file a report.

However, taking a lesson from recent events, there are some officers who will shoot first and ask questions later — no matter how far from protocol.

All in all, what do you think about Coffey Anderson’s advice about police traffic stops, and how to make it home safely? Sound advice, yes?

Feel free to share your comments below.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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