A question posted recently on Quora asked, “What are some day to day life hacks that law enforcement people know but civilians don’t?” Retired cop Tim Dees gave his opinion on the topic, below. Check it out and add your thoughts in the comments.
1. To preserve your night vision when a car approaches you with its high beams lit, close one eye. When the car has passed, switch eyes until the eye exposed to the bright light has recovered.
2. This probably won’t affect many non-cops (and for those it does affect, I’d rather not know), but to break in a new pair of handcuffs, ratchet the swinging arms repeatedly through the pawl while you’re driving around alone. Don’t do this while anyone else is around, unless you want them to throw something heavy at your head. The noise will make them crazy.
3. If you ask a sensitive question where the damaging answer would be “yes,” and the answer is anything but a simple, monosyllabic “no,” the respondent is probably lying. Examples of contrived answers include “Noooooooooo,” “I swear to God, no” (in fact, any invocation of a deity), “You think I ______?” and so on. People who don’t feel guilty about the topic give simple answers.
4. If you’re going to wear a gun in a belt holster with a suit or sport coat, have a tailor sew in some sturdy fabric over or instead of the lining where the gun will rub. Otherwise, the lining of the jacket will be quickly shredded.
5. Runner’s tights keep you warmer than most varieties of lower-half thermal underwear, and they’ll fit under most of your clothes.
6. If you think someone is following you, make four consecutive right turns. If they’re still there, drive to a police or fire station.
