You can quote me as you wish, MD...
Something to keep in mind regarding traffic issues... Depending on your state statutes, most areas consider a traffic stop to be a form of a 'detainment'. Particularly if you take posession of the person's ID, even if it's only for a few minutes. (This applies to more than just traffic stops as well, even the local PD has been coming under fire for it recently... Lately the trend is to have them hold the ID out for you to read/copy from, so it's never actually IN your posession... But I digress)
So in short, in order to keep yourself out of trouble, traffic stops should ONLY be done by Officers who have received proper training on how to perform them, and ONLY when you firmly believe that you can justify detaining the person. In other words, if your posted speed limit is 5, and you have someone going through an empty lot doing 25 mph at 3am... Good luck justifying a detainment. On the other hand, if it's 5pm and you have some jerk doing 30 through a pedestrian-rich area, that can be construed as careless/wreckless driving. (In most states, anyway)
As with EVERYTHING in this job: C.Y.A.
Something to keep in mind regarding traffic issues... Depending on your state statutes, most areas consider a traffic stop to be a form of a 'detainment'. Particularly if you take posession of the person's ID, even if it's only for a few minutes. (This applies to more than just traffic stops as well, even the local PD has been coming under fire for it recently... Lately the trend is to have them hold the ID out for you to read/copy from, so it's never actually IN your posession... But I digress)
So in short, in order to keep yourself out of trouble, traffic stops should ONLY be done by Officers who have received proper training on how to perform them, and ONLY when you firmly believe that you can justify detaining the person. In other words, if your posted speed limit is 5, and you have someone going through an empty lot doing 25 mph at 3am... Good luck justifying a detainment. On the other hand, if it's 5pm and you have some jerk doing 30 through a pedestrian-rich area, that can be construed as careless/wreckless driving. (In most states, anyway)
As with EVERYTHING in this job: C.Y.A.

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