Small & Alone

When making traffic stops alone there are several tactics to
enhance your safety. If it is night or
low light conditions, use all your lights, both side spotlights, the roof
lights and your headlights on bright. It
creates a wall of light that makes it hard for the suspect to see how many
officers there are in the unit. Consider
your unit exit and vehicle approach. You
can open your door quietly, close it gently and walk around behind the police
car.

Then approach the suspect vehicle
on the passenger side. By being quiet
you don’t reveal your location giving a degree of uncertainty to the
suspect. Walking around the back of the
patrol car keeps you from being crushed between the two cars if yours is struck
by another driver. A passenger side
approach may confuse the occupants and permit you to observe them without their
knowledge; they will generally expect you to be on the driver’s side.

Don’t turn your flashlight on until you are
right up on the vehicle, you may see more without it than with it turned
on. Keep the violator unsure about where
you are, how many there are and what you are doing. It gives you a tactical advantage, that’s
what the SGT Says.