"Thank you for the ticket, Ranger."

[MORA Ranger]

Can you put a six pack of beer in the river to cool? I need to know. I am going camping this weekend. ;)

In my park you can't, we have too many problems with bears. But we have signs everywhere about proper food storage. Check with a ranger and look for signs at the campground bulletin board or kiosk to find out if you can.

TXinvestigator- I'm interested in your 7 steps for violator contacts. Could you tell me what they are?

[ACS Explorer]

Dayna36, why not try using a cooler with ice? That just might keep your beers cool. It's worth a shot :-)

[txinvestigator1]

In my park you can't, we have too many problems with bears. But we have signs everywhere about proper food storage. Check with a ranger and look for signs at the campground bulletin board or kiosk to find out if you can.

TXinvestigator- I'm interested in your 7 steps for violator contacts. Could you tell me what they are?

I would be glad to. We are about to leave for my daughters 3rd grade orientation, so I'll write it up and the theory behind it this afternoon.

[121Traffic]

TX, I think I have seen you post them before...I will do a search and see if I can save you some time.

[121Traffic]

The Texas Department of Public Safety has a standard 8 step violator contact that is designed to minimize the negative public relations and maintain an adult-adult relationship between the LEO and violator.

Adults do not react well when forced into the child role in an adult-child relationship. When a LEO conducts a traffic stop and acts overly authoritive it causes this relationship.

I was a Police Officer for ten years. I was taught, like most municipal officers, that a LEO must always be in control of any incident. Anytime I was dealing with the public I must be in control. If I asked for a violator's DL, then by-golly I was the boss and they were just going to hand it over with no need for me to offer an explanation.

I often stopped someone and demanded to have the DL and insurance handed over, and when they asked why they were stopped I would tell them AFTER I my orders were complied with. After all, I was in charge.

I rode with a DPS trooper when the new Mustangs came out in the '80's. DPS studied the public reaction and perception of LEO and the effect of traffic stops. For most people, a traffic stop is the ONLY interaction they will have with LE. It is important to realize that these people are, for the most part, adult violators and there is no need to treat them like children or be officious.

The DPS contact goes like this;

1. Greeting. Good morning, good afternoon, etc.

2. Identify yourself. "I am officer Friendly with the Your Town Police Department" In most areas of Texas there are several LE agencies. The ID insures the violator knows who you are and who you represent. it also is the beginning of a process of treating the person as an adult.

3. Advise the person why they were stopped without making it a "you vs them" issue. "You have been stopped for speeding, 70 in a 55." There is no need to hide the reason for the stop, or play a silly guessing game with them by asking them if they know why. The violator should be treated with respect as an adult. Also do not say "I stopped you for speeding". This is NOT about you the officer (parent) catching the violator (child) doing something wrong. It is about their (adult) behavior.

4. Gather the DL and Insurance and whatever else you need.

5. Tell the violator you will return, then move to your position of safety yo write the cite or warning, and run records.

6. Tell the person what action is going to be taken. "Sir, you will be receiveing a citation/warning for speeding." Not not use phrases such as "I am going to cite you" or I am going to give you a ticket". Again, it is not about you punishing them. The courts job is punishment.

7. Take the action. Issue the citation or warning. Explain what the person needs to do. "Sir, please sign next to the x. Signing is not a plea of guilt, it is simply your promise to appear in the JP court within 10 days. The address and phone number will be on the back of your copy. Do you have any questions about what you need to do?"

8. Departure. This is critical. Do not tell the person to have a nice day. Simply thank them for their cooperation, if appropriate, or close by stating "drive safely". This will often solicite a "thank you" from the violator you just issued several tickets to. Then leave. Don't hang around and hash it out.


I know several of the LEO's here will disagree with this. I saw it work, and when I adopted it my traffic stops went much smoother and stress free.

I will also tell you that DPS teaches, and I also tried to follow this logic. I decided before I exited my unit whether to issue a citation or warning. It was not my job to enforce attitudes, nor was that allowed by statute or my departments rules or operations manuals. When you allow it to become personal, you fail to be professional.

**Please note that this is only for your standard traffic stop. All officer safety procedures should be followed, and if the stop turns to anything more than a traffic violation then proper safety, tactical and investigative procedures must be followed. If your sixth sense or whatever you call it makes you feel hinky, do what you gotta do***

Is this the process, Tx?

[txinvestigator1]

Is this the process, Tx?

Yep, I actually added a step in your quote, number 4, as some officers could not figure out to do that without a specific step for it.

Below is some additional theory:

The 7-step violator contact was created to ease the tension during traffic stops and improve the community relations between LE and the public. It is based on the concept of the ego states of humans.

Adults have three ego states, Parent, Adult and Child. At any given moment each individual in a social aggregation will exhibit one of these ego states. Adults usually are fine when in the role of Parent or Adult, but conflict arises when we are in the child state.

Conflict can be lessened when you, the LEO, do not assume the parent ego in a traffic stop, and treat the violator as a child. If you take the role of adult, rather than parent, it more readily allows the violator to maintain the adult ego state; thereby, offering the best chance of reduced or no conflict.

Imagine the typical reaction of a violator driving along and seeing the red lights in the rear view mirror. He immediately assumes the child ego state with thoughts like, “I don’t know why the speed limit is so low here, my speed is safe”, or “why can’t the cop go find a real criminal rather than bother me!” Then the police officer walks up and demands to see the violator’s license and insurance (or registration depending on your state). Before he will tell you what you did wrong, you must produce the DL and such. What ego state has the officer assumed in this scenario? Now we have a parent-child relationship, full of potential conflict.

The only way to resolve conflict is to speak to the person in an adult-adult mode. This works to diffuse conflict by not allowing the person to get on the defensive and letting them keep their self-respect and save face. Do not make judgment statements regarding the violator’s behavior that caused the stop.

You also want to refrain from statements that make the contact about you vs. them, such as, “The reason I stopped you”. The stop is NOT about what YOU are doing to THEM, but rather the violators conduct. A better phrase would be, “You were stopped for speeding”. “The radar indicated you at 77 in a 65 zone”, etc.

I also believe it IS NOT YOUR JOB TO ENFORCE ATTITUDES. I have read plenty of law and a lot of department manuals. I have never seen where your discretion was allowed over the attitude of the violator. Under most situations, you should have the decision made to write or warn made before you exit your police car. I have warned assholes and written sweet people. Some here will disagree, but IMO, enforcing attitudes is officious and unnecessary to a professional.

[MORA Ranger]

Oh, cool, thanks 121 and Tx!

[andytelford]

thats ok goldstar, you can still write me up !!