Traffic stops
Editor’s note: For the next seven weeks, Editor in Chief Kevin Herrera will be writing a first-person account of what it’s like to be enrolled in the Santa Monica Police Department’s Citizen Police Academy, which is intended to foster better communication between Santa Monicans and police officers, while giving residents a better understanding of what it takes to preserve the peace.
CIVIC CENTER My heart was beating a lot faster than it was just a few seconds prior. My palms were sweaty, preventing me from getting a good grip on my gun. I shifted from one side to the other as I tried to psych myself up Wednesday night for my very first traffic stop.
Outside the Public Safety Facility there I stood with my Citizens Police Academy classmates along with a camera crew and Santa Monica police officers Brent Crafton and Derek Morton, who gave us the low-down on traffic stops — and made us laugh in the process by showing the Chris Rock clip on how to not get your butt kicked while getting pulled over by the police.
The officers also made me a little jumpy by showing real footage of officers getting assaulted and shot by suspects during what looked initially to be mundane traffic stops. They showed us the footage to demonstrate how quickly something can go wrong. So when it was my time to pull somebody over, I was a little nervous. Not only did I want to look like I knew what I was doing in front of the cameras, I didn’t want to get shot either.
I took a deep breath, calmed my nerves and walked toward the SUV parked a few feet in front of me. The beam from my flashlight went through the rear window to reveal two guys laughing, singing and having a good time with their music blasting. I knocked on the window, making sure to keep my body close to the car and far enough behind the driver so it wouldn’t be easier for him to reach around and fire — that is if he had a gun. The driver rolled the window down, just barely. I knocked again.
“Sir, can you roll the window down further, please.” I could tell this wasn’t going to be easy. The two occupants, officers-turned-actors Rick Verbeck and Erik Milosevich, looked like they had just come from the club and were a little mouthy.
“Hey man, what’s the problem?” Milosevich said. “We’re just having a good time, officer. We’re just trying to have a good time, man.”
The reason I stopped them was they ran a red light. They didn’t believe me so they asked me what the real reason was.
“Because you’re two white guys driving around Santa Monica,”I said, hoping to get a laugh. Instead, I got some lip.
Verbeck hopped out of the car, causing me to freak and pull my cap pistol. I pointed it at him with my finger on the trigger, ready and waiting for him to make his move. He did, stumbling over to the wall where he planned to relieve him-
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 29, 2008. Read the original PDF.