Positive interaction with Salisbury Twp LEO

[PennsyPlinker]

This could be a long(er) story, but I will start in the middle. For reasons long and not important to the story, my parents were in the Lehigh Valley last night with both of their cars. On their way home, my mother suffered a flat tire in her Saab. She parked in the Lehigh Valley Hospital lot, got permission from security to leave it there, and continued home with my father. They returned this morning to get the tire changed and take the car home.

I met them there just to help out however I could, OCing of course. I failed in changing the tire. The tire jack was a worthless piece of metal, with a twisted wire for the crank, and all my considerable strength could not make it go. So we called AAA. It took them about 30 minutes to arrive. They came, and with a professional floor jack, had the car up and the tire changed within minutes.

While we were waiting, I observed two Salisbury Twp police cars enter the parking lot. They continued on past me, and did not return. But all of a sudden, as we were finishing up the paperwork for AAA, they did. One officer approached me on foot, while the other stayed in his car.

"What's up here folks?"

"We're just finishing up changing a tire officer", I replied.

"So how are you doing today, everything okay?"

"Well, it is now that the tire is changed." I knew where he was going, but I was going to let him get there at his own speed. Then it came.

"Do you have any ID?"

I was sorely tempted to say, "Bout whut?" but my mother would have struck me dead on the spot, so I resisted.

"Yes sir, I do."

"May I see it please?"

"No."

At that point he just locked eyes with me and we looked at one another for a few seconds. I should point out that I was standing at parking lot level, and he was standing on the curb, so he had about six extra inches of concrete under his feet, and we were at eye level.

After about 10 seconds of silence, I said, "I don't have to give you any ID as I am on foot. But I will gladly identify myself verbally if you would like."

He got a big smile on his face and said that would be fine. So I gave him my name and address, which is fairly stuffed with long Germanic words for both. He asked me to repeat my name and then spell it for him, which I did with no protest. I then said, "Someone called about a man with a gun, didn't they?"

"Yes, someone did, and you know, we have to check it out."

"I saw you go by about 15 minutes ago, and thought you might have been looking for me, but when you didn't come back, I thought maybe there was something else going on."

"Yeah, we had some business around front too. We can only get so much done at one time! But you know what it's like around this area here."

"Yes sir I do, which is exactly why I am standing guard over my parents until they are safely on their way again. It would really be nice if the 911 operators were trained to ask if the man with a gun was waving it around, shooting it into the air, or just standing around talking or eating his lunch."

We exchanged a few more pleasantries, and he offered me his hand, telling me to have a good day. As he started back to his vehicle, my father asked my mother and I if we wanted to go to Perkins for lunch. I quickly called the officer back, and informed him that I had just been invited to Perkins, so that if he got a call about a man with a gun there, it would probably be me. Then I said, "But maybe we should go to one outside your jurisdiction, so you won't have to be bothered with me again!"

He started laughing and said, "Yeah, that would be great!" He told us the one on Lehigh was in their area, but the one on Cedar Crest wasn't. "Go to that one!", he said. By this time both of us were laughing pretty hard, like old buddies. The guy in the car behind him was looking at us like there was something wrong with both of us.

The whole time, my parents were standing there with wide, round eyes, not uttering a peep. I am pretty sure they thought I was going to jail. I told them at lunch that I carried PA Patriot's fliers, and a copy of the MPOTEC training manual that pertained to firearms. Overall, I thought it was a very positive encounter. The officer knew the law, did not press me or hassle me, and we had a pleasant exchange on top of it all. The whole thing took less time than it has to type it up, and I am a pretty fast typer.

[Retired One]

This could be a long(er) story, but I will start in the middle. For reasons long and not important to the story, my parents were in the Lehigh Valley last night with both of their cars. On their way home, my mother suffered a flat tire in her Saab. She parked in the Lehigh Valley Hospital lot, got permission from security to leave it there, and continued home with my father. They returned this morning to get the tire changed and take the car home.

I met them there just to help out however I could, OCing of course. I failed in changing the tire. The tire jack was a worthless piece of metal, with a twisted wire for the crank, and all my considerable strength could not make it go. So we called AAA. It took them about 30 minutes to arrive. They came, and with a professional floor jack, had the car up and the tire changed within minutes.

While we were waiting, I observed two Salisbury Twp police cars enter the parking lot. They continued on past me, and did not return. But all of a sudden, as we were finishing up the paperwork for AAA, they did. One officer approached me on foot, while the other stayed in his car.

"What's up here folks?"

"We're just finishing up changing a tire officer", I replied.

"So how are you doing today, everything okay?"

"Well, it is now that the tire is changed." I knew where he was going, but I was going to let him get there at his own speed. Then it came.

"Do you have any ID?"

I was sorely tempted to say, "Bout whut?" but my mother would have struck me dead on the spot, so I resisted.

"Yes sir, I do."

"May I see it please?"

"No."

At that point he just locked eyes with me and we looked at one another for a few seconds. I should point out that I was standing at parking lot level, and he was standing on the curb, so he had about six extra inches of concrete under his feet, and we were at eye level.

After about 10 seconds of silence, I said, "I don't have to give you any ID as I am on foot. But I will gladly identify myself verbally if you would like."

He got a big smile on his face and said that would be fine. So I gave him my name and address, which is fairly stuffed with long Germanic words for both. He asked me to repeat my name and then spell it for him, which I did with no protest. I then said, "Someone called about a man with a gun, didn't they?"

"Yes, someone did, and you know, we have to check it out."

"I saw you go by about 15 minutes ago, and thought you might have been looking for me, but when you didn't come back, I thought maybe there was something else going on."

"Yeah, we had some business around front too. We can only get so much done at one time! But you know what it's like around this area here."

"Yes sir I do, which is exactly why I am standing guard over my parents until they are safely on their way again. It would really be nice if the 911 operators were trained to ask if the man with a gun was waving it around, shooting it into the air, or just standing around talking or eating his lunch."

We exchanged a few more pleasantries, and he offered me his hand, telling me to have a good day. As he started back to his vehicle, my father asked my mother and I if we wanted to go to Perkins for lunch. I quickly called the officer back, and informed him that I had just been invited to Perkins, so that if he got a call about a man with a gun there, it would probably be me. Then I said, "But maybe we should go to one outside your jurisdiction, so you won't have to be bothered with me again!"

He started laughing and said, "Yeah, that would be great!" He told us the one on Lehigh was in their area, but the one on Cedar Crest wasn't. "Go to that one!", he said. By this time both of us were laughing pretty hard, like old buddies. The guy in the car behind him was looking at us like there was something wrong with both of us.

The whole time, my parents were standing there with wide, round eyes, not uttering a peep. I am pretty sure they thought I was going to jail. I told them at lunch that I carried PA Patriot's fliers, and a copy of the MPOTEC training manual that pertained to firearms. Overall, I thought it was a very positive encounter. The officer knew the law, did not press me or hassle me, and we had a pleasant exchange on top of it all. The whole thing took less time than it has to type it up, and I am a pretty fast typer.

Way to go Bill, at least now I know that LEO's in my town seem to know the law and I can be more daring around here. +1 coming your way.

[ReconLdr]

This could be a long(er) story, but I will start in the middle. For reasons long and not important to the story, my parents were in the Lehigh Valley last night with both of their cars. On their way home, my mother suffered a flat tire in her Saab. She parked in the Lehigh Valley Hospital lot, got permission from security to leave it there, and continued home with my father. They returned this morning to get the tire changed and take the car home.

I met them there just to help out however I could, OCing of course. I failed in changing the tire. The tire jack was a worthless piece of metal, with a twisted wire for the crank, and all my considerable strength could not make it go. So we called AAA. It took them about 30 minutes to arrive. They came, and with a professional floor jack, had the car up and the tire changed within minutes.

While we were waiting, I observed two Salisbury Twp police cars enter the parking lot. They continued on past me, and did not return. But all of a sudden, as we were finishing up the paperwork for AAA, they did. One officer approached me on foot, while the other stayed in his car.

"What's up here folks?"

"We're just finishing up changing a tire officer", I replied.

"So how are you doing today, everything okay?"

"Well, it is now that the tire is changed." I knew where he was going, but I was going to let him get there at his own speed. Then it came.

"Do you have any ID?"

I was sorely tempted to say, "Bout whut?" but my mother would have struck me dead on the spot, so I resisted.

"Yes sir, I do."

"May I see it please?"

"No."

At that point he just locked eyes with me and we looked at one another for a few seconds. I should point out that I was standing at parking lot level, and he was standing on the curb, so he had about six extra inches of concrete under his feet, and we were at eye level.

After about 10 seconds of silence, I said, "I don't have to give you any ID as I am on foot. But I will gladly identify myself verbally if you would like."

He got a big smile on his face and said that would be fine. So I gave him my name and address, which is fairly stuffed with long Germanic words for both. He asked me to repeat my name and then spell it for him, which I did with no protest. I then said, "Someone called about a man with a gun, didn't they?"

"Yes, someone did, and you know, we have to check it out."

"I saw you go by about 15 minutes ago, and thought you might have been looking for me, but when you didn't come back, I thought maybe there was something else going on."

"Yeah, we had some business around front too. We can only get so much done at one time! But you know what it's like around this area here."

"Yes sir I do, which is exactly why I am standing guard over my parents until they are safely on their way again. It would really be nice if the 911 operators were trained to ask if the man with a gun was waving it around, shooting it into the air, or just standing around talking or eating his lunch."

We exchanged a few more pleasantries, and he offered me his hand, telling me to have a good day. As he started back to his vehicle, my father asked my mother and I if we wanted to go to Perkins for lunch. I quickly called the officer back, and informed him that I had just been invited to Perkins, so that if he got a call about a man with a gun there, it would probably be me. Then I said, "But maybe we should go to one outside your jurisdiction, so you won't have to be bothered with me again!"

He started laughing and said, "Yeah, that would be great!" He told us the one on Lehigh was in their area, but the one on Cedar Crest wasn't. "Go to that one!", he said. By this time both of us were laughing pretty hard, like old buddies. The guy in the car behind him was looking at us like there was something wrong with both of us.

The whole time, my parents were standing there with wide, round eyes, not uttering a peep. I am pretty sure they thought I was going to jail. I told them at lunch that I carried PA Patriot's fliers, and a copy of the MPOTEC training manual that pertained to firearms. Overall, I thought it was a very positive encounter. The officer knew the law, did not press me or hassle me, and we had a pleasant exchange on top of it all. The whole thing took less time than it has to type it up, and I am a pretty fast typer.

This is good to know. I have a house in Salisbury and as soon as my Mobilization ends I will be spending a lot more time there.

[Plinker]

This could be a long(er) story, but I will start in the middle...

Glad you left the lunch part in. After all, what's a Pennsyplinker story without lunch? Great story.

Plinker

[FormerUser123]

Overall, I thought it was a very positive encounter. The officer knew the law, did not press me or hassle me, and we had a pleasant exchange on top of it all. The whole thing took less time than it has to type it up, and I am a pretty fast typer.

This was a great encounter, and I can't help but think that the more we have encounters like this, the less oppressive LEOs will seem. This might have been that LEOs first MWAG call, and I'm sure he left thinking "Wow, those open carry guys sure are friendly."

Bravo for a great encounter, it really does take two to make a good experience happen. Rep sent

[velkly]

"May I see it please?"

"No."

At that point he just locked eyes with me and we looked at one another for a few seconds.

Pure awesome. I was waiting for some authoritarian response to ensue.

Great post!

[mikey]

....................

[ungawa]

Pennsy,

That is a great story. I am actually glad it happened rather than you were left alone LOL.

I've had cops see my gun for darn sure but never had contact over an OC situation. Hope lunch was good. I don't go to Perkins more than once a year but they got good grub. I might just go for breakfast tomorrow now that I just finished a project. Thanks for the reminder!

[PennsyPlinker]

You know you didn't have to give him any type of ID, verbal or otherwise, but I'm sure you did what you did because you didn't want to alarm your parents, and I fully respect that.

Thanks for sharing your story and for being such a good "kid", to your parents.

Well I don't claim to know all the law, or know it as well as some here, but I was under the impression that if an LEO asked for ID, we had to at least verbally ID ourselves. Even so, as you say, polite is better than surly, and you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. One can be friendly without giving up rights. This is my second encounter where I verbally identified myself to a police officer and he was satisfied with that. I do not count the Philly cop, who I gave my ID, him seeing me come right out of my truck, and an LTCF being required for carry in Philly. Besides, he was surly, even though he knew better than to arrest me.

I should also mention that there was no problem at all in Perkins, not even any comments.

[PennsyPlinker]

Pennsy,

That is a great story. I am actually glad it happened rather than you were left alone LOL.

I've had cops see my gun for darn sure but never had contact over an OC situation. Hope lunch was good. I don't go to Perkins more than once a year but they got good grub. I might just go for breakfast tomorrow now that I just finished a project. Thanks for the reminder!

I actually enjoy having positive encounters with the cops. It must be the teacher in me or something, but I really get a positive feeling out of meeting someone and finding out they really do know their stuff. Maybe it is just a result of having to deal with so many morons in every other walk of life.