Over 100 officers were killed in the line of duty last year, many of them while conducting traffic stops. Thousands more assaulted. Believe it or not they were all carrying guns, pepper spray and batons. Many were armed with long guns, tasers and knives and the majority were wearing vests. Nevertheless they still got assaulted, some severely, and some lost their life.
You don't know squat about what you're talking about.
This is true. Gunshots were the cause of death in the majority of cases according to
Officer Down, followed by non-duty-related automobile accidents. There were 2 deaths due to edged weapons.
However, of these 35 deceased officers, some additional detail is necessarily:
-2 were accidental
-4 were dogs, not human officers. Not knocking police dogs, but as you might be able to guess, they were not killed during a routine traffic stop.
-The vast majority of these deaths were during confrontations with suspects during calls to scenes, or pre-meditated murders.
-The two edged-weapon deaths were in no way related to traffic stops. One was a DEA agent in Columbia (the country), the other a Corrections Officer who got shanked.
Only 4 officer homicides were during traffic stops, and one was actually assisting a disabled vehicle. In 3 of them the suspect exited the vehicle and opened fire on the still-seated officer, while in the fourth the suspect shot him immediately as he came into view by the window. None had any chance to
ask the occupants if they were armed.
What is my point? Yes, officers are completely warranted in being concerned for their well-being despite being well-armed and armored. However, claiming "many" were killed by weapons during routine traffic stops is misleading. And, the necessity and utility of questioning the driver of a car during a routine stop about
any weapons of any sort he might have in the vehicle is questionable at best. Especially if the nature of the stop means you have no intention of telling them to get out of the car until after they say "yes." If they have knives and no gun, I should remind you they are
seated in a car out of arm's reach. If they're a criminal intending to harm you, they're going to
lie about not having a knife. The only person who says "yes" is a truthful, law-abiding person who means you no harm and at worst was simply unaware of the law, if indeed any were broken, or a criminal who's seriously mentally deficient and probably wasn't planning on doing anything violent. The value in respecting the former's privacy and body boundaries far outweighs the very slim chance of catching the latter.
I might see the utility of asking about
weapons or
knives if you were fully intending to make them get of the car already, or asking if they have
any firearms and specify that I mean in the passenger compartment. If it's locked in the trunk why the hell should anyone care? Based on the past cases, if you're talking to the driver, if they wanted to shoot you they would have tried already.
(Yep, university continues to pay off...)