Sunday, June 22, 2014

Do deputies feel threatened by CC licensees?

How will McHenry County sheriff's Department deputies handle the public, as the number of concealed carry licenses issued in Illinois starts to increase?

When they make a traffic stop, will they know from the computer response that a driver might be carrying (legally)?

While the deputy might "assume" that the driver is carrying, if there is a computer code that pops up, the best he can know is that the Owner of the vehicle is the licensed carrier. What he can't tell as he stops the vehicle is whether the Owner is the driver.

At the Sheriff's Department there are what are known as General Orders. These are the "Rules of the Road" for deputies in the conduct of their duties.

So, let's say that a deputy stops a driver and asks for the driver's license. Will the deputy ask every driver if he has a concealed carry license and if he is armed?

Will a prudent and law-abiding driver with a concealed carry license offer his CC license and inform the officer that he lawfully has a concealed weapon?

Will that instantly cause a deputy to feel in danger? Read this General Order.

Through MCSO General Order #2.0.00-IV-A the Department gives the deputy a right to frisk a person, under specific circumstances.

Does this cause you, the law-abiding citizen, a degree of concern and worry?

"A. General Provisions.

"1. Pursuant to Illinois Compiled Statutes, 725 ILCS 5/108-1.01, a deputy may frisk an individual for weapons, if the deputy has stopped a person for temporary questioning and reasonably suspects that the deputy or another is in danger of attack. (CALEA 1.2.4.b)
  1. The authority to search for and seize weapons is for the limited purpose of allowing a deputy to protect him or her and others from attack.
  2. If the deputy discovers a weapon, he or she may take it until the completion of the questioning, at which time he or she shall take the appropriate lawful action, which may include, but not be limited to either returning the weapon, if lawfully possessed, or arresting the person so questioned.
  3. The authority is clearly not for the purpose of searching for and seizing evidence, although during the course of a frisk, evidence may, on occasion be discovered and become the basis for an arrest.
  4. The deputy must be able to articulate some reason for suspecting that he or she or another is in danger. This may include reliance upon the training, education, and experience of the deputy, in addition to the situation encountered."

4 comments:

Big Daddy said...

Gus, for over thirty years, every time I've stopped someone I have assumed they have a gun. To do otherwise would be detrimental to my health. But so what? That doesn't mean I yank them out of the car and throw them on the ground. It doesn't mean I go into panic mode. It simply means that I'm prepared for whatever happens.

Gus said...

Big Daddy, thanks for being one of the good guys and not a bully. We've both known bullies in uniform.

Big Daddy said...

Gus I worked Cabrini for years. There was this little white guy that was an insurance salesman. He walked the insides of those buildings just like I did. We all knew he carried a gun. He would have been a fool not too. But so what? People have the natural and God given right to self protection and we were not about to violate those rights.

Gus said...

I was an insurance salesman in Chicago from 1965-70 and regularly went to I.I.T. Never thought twice about catching the 'L' and going there. That's not Cabrini, for sure.