By Lisa Redmond
The Lowell Sun
LOWELL, Mass. — Each time a police officer steps out of a cruiser during a motor-vehicle stop, or stands in a roadway directing traffic, that officer’s life is in mortal danger.
It’s man versus machine, and the machine usually wins.
“It is very dangerous,” Wilmington Police Chief Michael Begonis said.
Just how dangerous became tragically apparent a week ago. State Police Sgt. Douglas Weddleton, a father of four, was killed by an alleged drunken driver in Attleboro after he stopped at a crash scene of another alleged drunken driver.
Whether it is the state or local police, law enforcement officials say they have no set policy on how to handle traffic stops because each stop is different and often hazardous.
“The Lowell Police Department does not have any policy/procedures specific to how officers approach a vehicle in a car stop,” said Lowell police Capt. Randall Humphrey. “There are too many variables involved when an officer stops a vehicle.”
Billerica police Sgt. Roy Frost said, “We don’t have a policy here, we have a system of training our officers in numerous approach options, with the ultimate decision being made by the officer once all the factors surrounding the stop are taken into consideration.”
New Hampshire State Police teach new recruits to angle their cruisers so they act as a buffer to oncoming traffic. They also train their recruits on different ways to approach a vehicle on a case-by-case basis, according to a representative of the N.H. State Police Standard and Training Council.
In Massachusetts, each officer may have a preference for approaching a vehicle, but Frost said, “for the most part there is a consistent method of placing your patrol car in a manner which provides an area of safety for the officer to approach.”
He explained that at the police academy recruits are trained that the cruiser is maneuvered about three-quarters of a car length behind the target vehicle and is parked at an angle so that the front of the patrol car (engine) sticks out into the travel lane to force cars around the area of the stop.
How the vehicle is approached depends on other factors, such as number of occupants, whether it is day or night, behavior of the occupants during the stop and approach, and whether you’re operating with a partner.
“Also, if the area of the stop has high-speed traffic, I will often approach from the passenger side if practicable,” Frost said.
Once the officer has approached the vehicle, where he or she stands can depend on a variety of variables.
“For instance, just behind the driver, preventing them from observing you directly, giving you a tactical advantage as well as allowing a better view of the targets hands. Or, in front of the driver, facing traffic, allowing you a better perspective of oncoming traffic in addition to placing a barrier (windshield) between you and the target,” Frost said.
Begonis says Wilmington is like most departments.
“We don’t have a policy about either side (to approach a vehicle). We suggest that officers mix it up,” Begonis said. “Officers should use their best judgment and limit their risk. The goal is to have someone stop in a safe area.”
In the past few years, Begonis said he’s had several officers who have been “bumped” or slightly hit by a passing vehicle. No one was seriously injured.
The problem with traffic stops, in particular, is that they are a Catch-22, Begonis said. Stopping a car in a safe area to ensure officer safety is a priority, but so is public safety.
“If you are stopping a drunk driver, how far do you let them drive before pulling them over?” Begonis asked.
There are approximately 1,500 drunken-driving arrests each month in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, 10 police officers were accidentally killed from 1999 to 2008.
The officer is at the mercy of where the driver of the other car stops. An officer that stops a car on a busy highway and approaches on the driver’s side is at a greater risk of being hit than the officer who pulls someone over on a quiet side street.
Wayne Sampson, of the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association, says his organization tells its members to always face traffic.
The Move Over Law was supposed to help ensure the safety of police, firefighters, paramedics, tow-truck drivers and all roadside emergency and maintenance professionals.
Enacted on March 22, 2009, the law requires drivers approaching a stationary emergency or maintenance vehicle with flashing lights to move to the next adjacent lane if it is safe to do so, and barring that, to reduce their speed.
Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to $100.
Terrel Harris, spokesman for the Executive Office of Public Safety, said the Move Over Law is supposed to “help us avoid tragedies.”
Since it was enacted, police across the state have handed out nearly 4,000 citations, according to the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
The Move Over Law looks good on paper, Begonis said, but “the problem is people don’t do it and it’s difficult to enforce.”
If an officer is busy with a traffic stop, he or she can’t pull someone over for not moving over, he said.
“It would require one officer doing the traffic stop and another keeping track of who doesn’t move over,” he said.
Where this does work is when police and firefighters respond to a scene.
“Then the officer can monitor who moves over and who doesn’t,” Begonis said.
States such as Arizona and Florida have tried having officers wear reflective clothes and having brighter lights on warning signs.
But Begonis said the answer is simple.
“If everybody did what was right, we wouldn’t have these problems. It is incumbent on the public to care enough,” he said.
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