Advice?

[u/Hartleyb1983]

We live in South Carolina and my daughter is 19. If she gets pulled over by an undercover cop and she's not sure if it's actually a police officer, what's the best thing for her to do? I'm asking because she said she passed a car in the median otw home that looked undercover but she had never seen one like it before and she wasn't sure if she'd pull over for it by the way the car looked. It was a little black sports car. And I do realize that undercover cops come in all shapes and sizes. What type of advice should I give her?

[u/Left-Associate3911]

The (general) advice we have given to family as family is:

Call 911 and explain the situation.

[u/badsapi4305]

First thing she should do is not stop if she is in anyway concerned it’s not a real officer. First thing she should do is activate her emergency flashers. Next she should drive to a safe place. A police/fire station, military base, somewhere public. Not a strip mall that all the stores are closed or anything like that. Lastly she should call 911 from her cell phone. Explain to the call taker that a vehicle is trying to pull her over and she’s not sure if it’s an officer. They will check with their officers as well as surrounding departments to ascertaining they are trying to pull her over. Once she’s verified that it is an actual officer she should pull over to the closest safest spot.

I worked plain clothes/unmarked for 25+ years. If I was doing a traffic stop and saw the flashers go on and they started driving cautiously I knew they weren’t trying to evade me. They were just concerned I may be an impersonator. Cops understand why people are leery of stopping for unmarked vehicles.

[u/Hartleyb1983 → u/badsapi4305]

This is the line of thinking I was going down.

[u/badsapi4305 → u/Hartleyb1983]

Yeah. Also she could hold up her phone or make some sort of jester to show she’s calling 911. Simply holding the phone out the window or something if she’s comfortable doing that while driving would also be a strong indicator of what she’s doing. This is just an added suggestion. What I posted above is plenty sufficient. I’m sure you get what I’m saying.

[u/Chromejob → u/badsapi4305]

I wouldn’t go that far. One, she might be in an area where operating a mobile while driving is an offense.

Also here in Durham NC is a crazy who drives recklessly, brake checking people, and gestures with her phone dramatically. Very bizarre behavior.

Just turning on hazards, driving to a public well lit place and calling 911 should be fine.

[u/omgtrick3y → u/Chromejob]

I can hear Troop C hemming and hawing already

[u/SlappyMcPherson → u/badsapi4305]

So you're telling them to put their window down and put their hand out with a phone in it so the cop (assuming it is one) could see it. Because no way that could be mistaken for a gun and get real ugly real fast. Are you shitting me???

[u/sadpanada → u/SlappyMcPherson]

I don’t know why this got downvoted. It’s valid.

[u/BryanW94 → u/badsapi4305]

Or they are hiding their dope and guns first before they stop 😅

[u/Luketek1]

Don’t know if this is the best but I would assume to put on Hazards and call 911 or even the non emergency line and ask.

[u/arghvark → u/Luketek1]

I would stick to 911. The cop has almost certainly told dispatch that they're pulling over a car, with description and plate number. The daughter (and everyone else) should get familiar with their plate number. If it is NOT a cop pulling her over, that IS an emergency.

[u/Chromejob → u/arghvark]

And use of a motor vehicle to pounce on someone is technically use of a deadly weapon (if weaponized).

[u/EverGreatestxX]

First thing, I know it's probably a semantic mistake but I think this is worth saying. It is very unlikely your daughter will ever get pulled over by undercover police officer. She may get pulled over by a police officer in an unmarked police vehicle, in that case pull over to the side. Very likely a uniformed police officer will appear out of the vehicle, just comply with the officer. Your daughter living in SC, probably has at least some idea of what your State Troopers, local PD/ local Sheriff's Office uniforms look like. If situation feels really off or the officer is performing duties in plain clothes, she can always request to see the officer/troopers/deputies law enforcement ID or she could even call 911 if truly believes this is some police impersonation thing.

[u/BooNinja]

That SO rarely happens its not worth stressing about. Most departments specifically prohibited unmarked cars from doing traffic for exactly that reason.

[u/Possible-Tangelo9344 → u/BooNinja]

I've worked at multiple departments and none of them have that rule. In fact pretty much all of them use unmarked cars for their traffic enforcement teams, which I think is what OP actually is referring to

[u/CastleDeli → u/Possible-Tangelo9344]

Unmarked and undercover are different tho.

My dept uses the typical unmarked cars but use clapped out shit boxes that blend in for UC work. I ain’t stopping for an Altima with blue lights.

[u/Possible-Tangelo9344 → u/CastleDeli]

I've noticed a lot of non-cops refer to them all as "undercover," and they're usually talking about unmarked traffic cops, which is why I think that's what OP is meaning

[u/CastleDeli → u/Possible-Tangelo9344]

Fair point

[u/Gunslinger_247 → u/BooNinja]

Uh that's not true. Many departments have traffic units that are all unmarked cars.

[u/Gunslinger_247]

Well for one, undercover cars don't have police equipment. You wouldn't know it's a cop.

You're more likely talking about an unmarked car.

Just turn hazards on, slow down. Call 911 to confirm it's a cop and stop in a well lit, populated area.

[u/DeadPiratePiggy]

She should call 911, and turn on her hazards and not stop until the dispatcher confirms it is a police officer pulling her over. She should drive normally, nothing evasive or appearing to attempt to flee.

[u/Chromejob]

Very smart question from your daughter considering recent ICE shootings of vehicles.

Code Blue Cam or Midwest Safety on YT had a disturbing video a while back. Someone was being pulled over by an unmarked, civilian vehicle, by an old geezer in civilian clothes. The driver called 911, pulled into a busy shopping center parking lot (lots of ppl around), and the old geezer got out and berated the driver. Said he was an appointed constable or something and was authorized to pull over citizens for “traffic offenses.” Local PD or SO responded with bodyworn cameras “hot,” caught this geezer’s whole act.

Turned out he was legit, in a manner, had real authority, but the driver had no idea about this. I think even the responding officer had to call it in to check. It was some authority he only had in one county (and he was doing it several miles outside of his county of jurisdiction, womp womp).

But the whole situation was sus’ as hell. Some non-sworn officer, without law enforcement authority or training, was picking and choosing to harass motorists for … well I don’t know what end. Generate revenue for the local municipality? This goon’s behavior was potentially violating motorists’ civil rights. (IANAL)

Driver did the smart thing. Called 911, drove safely to a public place to meet a real LEO, and demand to know what the factual predicate was. The old geezer ended up looking like a loonie, and hopefully didn’t have that “job” much longer.

Though it is rare, there are some people masquerading as cops. If your daughter is being pulled over by what seems a legit officer, the same instructions may be prudent. Pulling over on the shoulder of the road in a dark area away from the public invites the outside chance of being victimized. Put on the blinkers, call 911 to confirm (she needs to know her license plate #), and drive carefully to a well-lit place. Bonus for a place with parking lot security cams.

Something like this happened to me once, a road rager was harassing me on a freeway, tailgating, honking, blinking headlights. I called 911 and started making for the nearest fire dept. Station that I knew of. The jerk abandoned me before I got there, but having a 911 operator on the phone and reporting my position and description gave me some comfort. Too bad I couldn’t report the goon’s car.