self (remember, they were just acting). I yelled for him to holster his... weapon... and put his hands on the wall and I called for backup, realizing that things could get out of hand in the blink of an eye. Verbeck walked back to the car and hopped in. I put my pistol back in its holster and grabbed the driver’s license and walked back to my patrol car to get my ticket book.
While that was happening, a thousand things were running through my mind. Does the driver have a gun and is he going to use it while I’m distracted? How far away should I stand, knowing full well that I could be putting myself in harms way by backing too far into the street? Should I give them a ticket or a warning? Am I being too aggressive? Did a swear?
It was then that I realized how hard it is to perform something that at face-value seems so simple — a traffic stop. I was pretty aggressive and vocal. Basically, I wasn’t polite — not like some of the officers who have pulled me over in the past.To be able to deal with the situation without losing your cool is rough, and these cops do it well most of the time.
We all ran through different scenarios.Some classmates got off easy and the cops turned actors were cooperative.Others had to deal with a sneak attack with a submachine gun, a possible drug overdose, suspects on the run and one bizarre case in which the driver held a gun to his head, ready to kill himself because his parents found out about his gay lover.
Each one of us did the best we could given our limited training. It’s hard work staying calm and collected while someone may or may not have a weapon hidden within reach. The point is, officers never know what is going to happen during a traffic stop and there is no such thing as routine.
“It’s all about multi-tasking and adapting,” Crafton said.“You never know who you are stopping.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 29, 2008. Read the original PDF.