How to Act When Pulled Over

"Hi! My name is Shaun Appler, investigator with the Wrightsville police department. On behalf of Expert Village, I'm here to talk to you today about what to do when you're being stopped by the police. Once the officer approaches you, remember one thing that's very important; be polite. Have a positive attitude. Now, as officers we understand that everybody reacts differently to stress. You're going to be upset because you're being stopped by the police. Chances are you're thinking about oh that's going to cost me a lot of money. There is a such thing about officer discretion. With officer discursion, and I'm not saying this is going to help you in every event because sometimes your violation may be too egregious and the officer is going site you. If you polite there's a better chance the officer will be able to work with you and possibly give you a warning, give you written warning, give you a verbal warning based on your attitude. If you accept the fact that you've been doing wrong and it's something that's borderline where the officer feels by him telling you what happen and you will correct it, it's a good chance you might get a warning. Now, it's not going to happen in every case. Don't think that just by being polite you're going to get a brake. Sometimes you will need to be sited. The other thing to remember is that by being polite and not giving the officer a hard time, you're also avoiding possibly other charges. In some states, actually a bunch of states, there are laws on the books about swearing or cussing on public highway. Yes, believe it or not they are there. You're also looking at disorderly conduct. You can be looking at resist obstruct and delay. If you don't hand the officer your license because you want to argue the charge, the road side is not the time to argue the charge. If I can just sum it up, when the officer walks up to the car just be polite."