Officer David Stinger’s recent arrest of two men involved in an armed robbery is an excellent illustration of how staying aware of your surroundings at all times can pay off. In this case, as he stayed alert to passing traffic he noticed that the passenger of a passing car was wearing a mask. Red flag! A really, really bright one...
There’s another technique we like to call the no-look rule that can be highly effective at spotting potential trouble while monitoring passing vehicles. The premise of the strategy is based on the belief that the vast majority of everyday people who end up next to you at a light or who you drive by on the street will naturally glance over in your direction. The no-look rule is based on staying alert for someone who very clearly will NOT look in your direction. Their eyes stay laser-focused forward, regardless of how obvious you make it that you’re there.
It’s as though they believe that if they don’t look in your direction, they’ll be invisible to you. Conversely, they believe that if they DO look in your direction, you’ll immediately know about all the things bad things they’ve done.
To confirm that the no-look is definitely intentional, some officers who have successfully used this technique will pull forward a bit so their squad, now clearly in peripheral vision range of the person next to them, can’t be missed. Some will honk their horn. Some will even squawk their siren. If the person next to them absolutely refuses to look over, you might be on to something. To confirm a no-look even further, some officers will then pull in behind the vehicle in an obvious fashion at the next light and watch to see if the driver glances back through the rear view mirrors.
Remember that a no-look is just one piece of a potential criminal puzzle you’ll need to put together, but if you find yourself pulling this vehicle over for a traffic violation, remember what you saw... and what they tried NOT to see.
