My Interaction While Open Carrying With Chesterfield PD During A Night Walk This Week
By Philip Van Cleave
Covington VA –-(Ammoland.com)- On Thursday night I was out for a lengthy midnight walk. It was a nice, quiet night and I was open carrying.
While passing through a neighborhood I saw an automobile in front of me, which appeared to be waiting to turn left from a side street. Rather than walk in front of the car, I stopped walking so the car would proceed with the turn and I could continue my walk. No big deal, it happens from time to time.
The car did make the left turn (which put it heading toward me), BUT it was doing an overly tight turn, so I stepped up on the curb to make sure I was out of the car’s way. That was unusual behavior, so I was watching the car carefully.
The vehicle stopped and the driver rolled down his window and said something that I didn’t catch. I figured that perhaps the person was lost and asking for directions. I cautiously stepped toward the car to see if that’s what the driver wanted.
The next thing I know the door of the car is opening and the person is getting out of the vehicle! Remember, this is very late at night. Very unusual behavior to say the least. **I was now on full alert.** Who was this, what did they want, did they mean me any harm? I didn’t have an answer to any of those questions.
As the person was getting out of the vehicle, I briefly got a flash of a uniform. Ah, it is a police officer! I breathed a sigh of relief. (Of course a uniform is NOT a guarantee the person is an actual officer. If you are suspicious, ask to see their commission.)
However, now comes the next question – what could he possibly want with me?
He walked up to me and said there had been some vandalism and thefts in the area and he asked if I had seen anybody during my walk.
I said, “not a soul.”
He said that it was kind of late for someone to be walking. I said, “not for me.”
He asked where I lived and I gave him the name of the neighborhood.
He asked if I had any identification.
I said, “I’m simply out for a walk and I have no legal obligation to provide any ID.”
He said that he wanted to show he was at least doing due diligence by getting the names of anybody in the area of the vandalism.
His demeanor was professional and he was not trying to be intimidating in any way, so I said, “As a courtesy, I will let you see my ID.”
He thanked me and took my ID, jotted down my name and handed back my ID about 5 second later.
I told him I hoped he caught the vandals and that I would keep an eye out during my walks. I then went on my way.
Some thoughts on this encounter:
- On the plus side: The officer was professional, non-intimidating, and didn’t say a word about my openly carried gun. He did not disarm me nor did he run my ID for warrants. The whole interaction took no more than 2 minutes.
- On the neutral side, he asked for my ID. He’s free to do that, but couldn’t demand it, which he didn’t. I voluntarily provided the ID. In retrospect if I have another such interaction, I’m going to give the officer one of my VCDL business cards instead.
- On the negative side, he should have briefly flashed his blue lights on that unmarked car before driving towards me so that I would reasonably know that he was a police officer. That way I would have not been so apprehensive when he drove up next to me and started getting out of his vehicle.
Police often say that they have to be careful because they never know who they are interacting with during a traffic stop. That is true. However, when an officer is in an unmarked vehicle and drives up to a citizen, the shoe is on the other foot. The citizen has no idea who is in that car and doesn’t know if the driver means them harm.
The officer should be careful not to alarm a citizen unnecessarily by indicating in some manner his status as a police officer before doing anything that would under other circumstances be viewed as unusual or threatening behavior.
About:
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right. Visit: www.vcdl.org