New Officer Practicing

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista K-9 handler Travis Trammell (left) explains some of the idiosyncrasies of traffic stops while officer Blake Hughes poses as a cuffed suspect and officer Greg Haigh, who is in his second week of field training, listens and asks questions.
Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista K-9 handler Travis Trammell (left) explains some of the idiosyncrasies of traffic stops while officer Blake Hughes poses as a cuffed suspect and officer Greg Haigh, who is in his second week of field training, listens and asks questions.

Shortly into his shift, officer Greg Haigh was able to fit in some traffic stop and search practice.

Haigh recently completed the police academy and he's currently three weeks into field training, which lasts a minimum of 12 weeks.

Officer Blake Hughes said he's training Haigh and it's important to give him exercises like this before he tries the real deal. Moreover, he said, this gives officers something constructive to do with downtime during a shift.

"It just gives us some time to practice," he said. "There's so much that can go wrong."

Hughes explained a variety of things to Haigh, including signs to look for during a stop and where to look in a vehicle, as well as what to watch for from a suspect.

A detained individual looking around, he explained, may be looking for someplace to run. When he plants his feet and looks in a specific direction, he said, he may have decided.

Typically, he explained, the individual in question can be stopped by an officer telling him not to run, which makes it clear the officer has an eye on him.

K-9 handler Travis Trammell, who was assisting with the training, said an officer needs to be assertive.

"Always make sure they know you're in charge," he explained.

Trammell went on to show the new officer some of the less obvious aspects of approaching someone in a vehicle and asking him or her to exit the vehicle.

He showed that by opening the door for the driver and moving with it, the driver doesn't have proper leverage to slam the door into the officer. Moreover, he explained, keeping the door between an officer and the driver who has been pulled over creates a barrier should the driver become hostile, and the officer is positioned to slam the door on a combative individual.

While there are a lot of details to traffic stops, Trammell explained, an officer is likely to develop his or her own style over the course of a career. It's most important, he said, for each individual to learn what works for him.

Officer Haigh said that he picked up a lot during the practice session.

"It was very beneficial ... I'm looking forward to doing a lot more," he said.

General News on 11/15/2017