Police officer trivia question

[Oh Haha]

Why do most PO's touch the back of a stopped vehicle when first approaching it?


I say it's to see if the trunk is open but my wife asks "what about pickups and SUV's without trunks?

Any of our Pelican officers like to share the secret?

Thanks,

[Rick Lee]

It's to provide fingerprints/DNA evidence in case the cop gets killed and they later need to tie the stopped car to the scene before the cop has called in the driver's or car's info.

[Oh Haha]

Rick--Seriously?

That's cool. I mean in a sneaky way to catch a cop killer.

[Rick Lee]

Yes, that's true. Though I can't recall ever seeing a cop do that to my car when I've been pulled over.

[VaSteve]

Cool, I always wondered that myself.

[TimT]

I have been pulled over for traffic infractions a few times in my 31 year driving career...

Don't recall the officer(s) ever touching the trunk... I know this because those few time I have been pulled over.. I watch the officer approach my car with an eagle eye.. The officers around here actually stand away from your car.. they have to lean a bit to take your papers usually...unless on a bad stretch of road.

The reason I attached a plural to officer, is that in NYC the police work in pairs...one comes up the passenger side... and the other obviously approaches the drivers side..

While the officer who is engaging you in conversation regarding why you were pulled over.... License , Registration, Proof of Insurance.. The officer on the passenger side is perusing the inside of your vehicle.. watching your hands etc..

Once got pulled over by a NYS Trooper... he didn't touch the trunk either...

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by TimT

Don't recall the officer(s) ever touching the trunk... I know this because those few time I have been pulled over.. I watch the officer approach my car with an eagle eye..

Doesn't have to be the trunk, but that is a common spot. Could be that you just didn't notice the officer putting a full print index on the top/door as they leaned in. Granted I'ms sure not all do it (or just not all of the time), especially in "non-threatening" situations. If you are pulled over at night in some POS homie-mobile with blacked out windows, you can be sure there is evidence of that officer somewhere on the vehicle. Unless of course your plates come back with felony warrants, then he won't even get that close.

[Jeff Higgins]

Good one, guys. Let's broadcast this little bit of trivia all over the internet so every POS thug out there knows to wipe down his car after he decides to cap a cop.

Some secrets are better if they remain secrets.

The moderators should delete this thread.

[vash]

i'll ask. sounds farfetched.

[porsche4life]

Tis true. At least for the OHP.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Oh Haha

Why do most PO's touch the back of a stopped vehicle when first approaching it?


I say it's to see if the trunk is open but my wife asks "what about pickups and SUV's without trunks?

Any of our Pelican officers like to share the secret?

Thanks,

I suspect it has something to do with grounding themselves in case they get the opportunity to taze their victim.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

I suspect it has something to do with grounding themselves in case they get the opportunity to taze their victim.

FYI. Not all cops are lowlife scum.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

FYI. Not all cops are lowlife scum.

I'm sure there are 1 or 2 good ones in every precinct.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Good one, guys. Let's broadcast this little bit of trivia all over the internet so every POS thug out there knows to wipe down his car after he decides to cap a cop.

Some secrets are better if they remain secrets.

The moderators should delete this thread.

This info is already all over the Internet. And what could a perp do to counter this? Wipe his car down after he's fled the scene? He's probably got better things to do and is probably already on the cop's dash cam. I'd be interested to know how many cop killings this technique has ever solved that would not have been solved by any other means.

[slodave]

A couple from this forum:
http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83993

Its not really a secret. Most officers do it to make sure the springs and shocks in your car are up to manufacturers standards. One time I pressed down so hard I broke the chassis in half....

You probably don't notice (because experiences P/O's can do it very quickly), but they write "Wash Me" with their finger on it..

In case they're intoxicated, it kinda steadies them for a moment.

Two words: Cow attacks.

Cow attacks are responsible for over 1 LE death each 100 years. Putting your finger against the car for some reason causes any rabid cattle in the bushes to run in fear.

It's simply officer safety. Until the federal government finally bans private ownership of cows people will still be getting needlessly killed.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Funny when they forget to remove their gloves...

[Oh Haha]

Sorry about the question.

I didn't think about the consequences of a tactic being outed.

I should have PM'd an officer instead.

I just figured it had been discussed somewhere and wouldn't be a big deal.

[Z-man]

The fingerprint/DNA thing seems a bit far fetched for me. But what do I know??

I would think they do it to see if the car is still running - you can feel the vibrations of the motor.

-Z-man.

[avi8torny]

You guys are tough....it's a tactile check to make sure that no one can pop out of the trunk and surprise you. To be honest, walking up to a car with smoked glass is more nerve racking.

[David]

^^^ +1 and yes it does happen. There was a story just few years ago about a cop killed this way so I don't view it as paranoid any more.