With the popularity of new "toys" like the Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR), will this create a problem for licensed concealed-carry drivers?
How likely is it (probably somewhere between "very likely" and "it's a done deal") that the State of Illinois will encode driver's license records with concealed-carry information?
Personally, I don't have any problem with an officer having advance knowledge that I might have a concealed-carry license and might be armed at the time of a traffic stop. Cops must be assuming already that every driver and even passenger is armed. They must be vigilant for their own safety.
But with ALPR will there be some cops who go hunting? Would there be a way to program the ALPR to alert whenever a car registered to a concealed-carry licensee came within range?
Then an aggressive cop might wait for the car to weave a ½-inch in the traffic lane and pull over the driver. Maybe he'd find that the driver was armed but his CC License might not be in his immediate possession. The cop decides that the wallet in the suit jacket on the back seat is not in the driver's immediate possession, so he arrests the driver and impounds his vehicle.
The cop gets brownie points at the station for the bust. The driver gets the case thrown out of court after spending a few thousand dollars on lawyer's fees and towing and administrative tow fine.
And then he sues the police department and the officer, along with the supervisors.
Would law-enforcement agencies in Illinois stoop so low? My guess is that, if I can think of it, they have already thought of it.
You never know who is interested…
3 months ago
4 comments:
You are getting ridiculous now Gus. You do realize that the vast majority of cops support ccw don't you.
@Big Daddy, yes, thanks. I do realize that.
The Chicago PD Lieutenants' and Sergeants' Associations favor CCW. I believe many officers, deputies and troopers do, although the chiefs and directors might be afraid to do so, because their bosses (mayor, governor) will be down their throats, if they do.
Chiefs in many major cities (in other states) now admit they were wrong to fear CCW.
The practice of connecting your drivers license to your CCW license varies from state to state.
Some states encode that you have a CCW license on your drivers license. Others rely on their dispatcher or their in-car laptops to display your status when they bring up your record.
In some states, it's connected with your vehicle registration, so when they run your plates it comes up if you have a CCW license.
Other states don't care.
Here's the rub. If you think that a cop coming up to your window after a stop is not aware that you might have a gun with you in Illinois now, and has prepped himself for a violent confrontation, you haven't been paying attention.
On the other hand, if he is tipped off ahead of time that you are a vetted concealed carry licensee, he has a reasonable belief that you are not a felon intending to violently resist arrest.
Not that he's going to let his guard down.
Thanks, tommy. Good comment.
The alert cop has the better chance of going home in one piece at the end of his shift. All I expect is that he will interact with me politely, respectfully, professionally and legally.
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