Coral Gables Police Chief Edward J. Hudak, Jr. said his officer did nothing wrong.
“He saw the concealed firearms license, which led him to a heightened sense to know the driver was armed,” Hudak said. “Could there have been a more polite way to handle it? I would be more than happy to refer this to IA, and they would do an investigation from top to bottom before it comes to my level.”
The police chief said his officer was well within his rights and department policy.
“The way you have described it to me is that the officer by seeing the card, he would have the right to ask if there’s a weapon in the car,” Hudak said. “The other side of the coin is, if he leaves him in the car with a gun, is that ultimately optimum safety for the police officer? I believe the officer-survival skill is that he asks for the gun. The card is reasonable suspicion that a person inside the car may be armed, at which point the officer stays alive by the way he handled it. Based on the way you presented it to me, based on the officer seeing it in the wallet. It’s not a bad search.”
Wow that's taking it super far! I'd be more than a "little upset" if I were that guy!
Although disarming is "understandable", although unnecessary, the rest of what the officer did is completely uncalled for.
As long as the weapon was in the officers possession, there was absolutely no reason to do anything else to the weapon.
I fail to see how disarming was even "understandable". What reasonable suspicion did the officer have that the driver was dangerous?
Good thing he didn't mention his backup.
This is one the reason why I'm not so anti-permits. If constitutional carry was adopted nationwide, I think one would have a very difficult time justifying why an officer shouldn't disarm them during contact.
What?
This is one the reason why I'm not so anti-permits. If constitutional carry was adopted nationwide, I think one would have a very difficult time justifying why an officer shouldn't disarm them during contact.