Here’s Why You See A Cop Tapping A Brake Light Anytime He Pulls Someone Over
Brandi Philip / AWM contributor
One of the surest ways to spike your stress levels is by getting pulled over by law enforcement. Ninety nine percent of the time, it is because of some extremely minor infraction and we have little to worry about beyond a simple fine. But it still causes all kinds of anxiety for many of us.
Of course, no matter why a cop pulls you over, there is one thing you can be sure of: whenever he approaches your car, he is going to tap your tail light. Why? Well you’ll just have to read on to find out, won’t you?
REMEMBER: Go to AWM.com every day to see the best comments!
When a law enforcement officer pulls over a motorist for a traffic violation, they will frequently tap the tail light as they approach the driver. This practice has a number of purposes, some antiquated, some still entirely useful. We thought we would let you in on a little bit of police trivia.
One of the most important reasons that law enforcement officers tap your tail light as they approach your window is as a means of getting your attention. Drivers who may actually be up to nefarious activities will often be distracted by their attempt to hide contraband, so when an officer knocks on the tail light, it catches the motorist’s attention and distracts them from their attempt to hide their criminality.
Simple psychology, really.
The second reason that officers, especially long time veterans, will tap a tail light with their hand is as a means of leaving trace evidence behind.
In the era before dashcams and body cameras, law enforcement officers would tap the tail light of a suspect car in order to leave fingerprints as a marker for forensic teams should anything catastrophic happen during the traffic stop. The hope was that, if anything should happen to the officer, investigators could establish the vehicle’s role in a crime by the fingerprints left by that officer.
Of course calling the vehicle’s plates in before approaching the vehicle is standard procedure, as this pre-establishes whether a vehicle may have warrants outstanding or if it has been reported stolen. It also immediately documents that vehicle as being involved in the traffic stop.
Now that you know why a law enforcement officer might tap your tail lights, you should rest a little easier.
Here are some other interesting facts about law enforcement in the United States.
Did you know that there are over eighteen thousand independent law enforcement agencies in our country? Surprisingly, eighty percent of these agencies have twenty five or fewer officers, and about one thousand police departments only have a single officer. The largest municipal department is New York City, with more than thirty four thousand officers.
Another interesting fact is that about half of all deaths that occur while in the line of duty are vehicle related, and that half of these are single vehicle accidents involving only the patrol car.
Police officers are often a faceless uniform to society, but some have actually become well-known celebrities. Actors Dennis Farina, Ken Osmond, and Ernie Hudson, as well as basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal have all served as full time or volunteer law enforcement officers at some point in their lives.
Do you know and love a cop? Share your stories about them with us here.
Brandi Philip / AWM contributor
One of the surest ways to spike your stress levels is by getting pulled over by law enforcement. Ninety nine percent of the time, it is because of some extremely minor infraction and we have little to worry about beyond a simple fine. But it still causes all kinds of anxiety for many of us.
Of course, no matter why a cop pulls you over, there is one thing you can be sure of: whenever he approaches your car, he is going to tap your tail light. Why? Well you’ll just have to read on to find out, won’t you?
REMEMBER: Go to AWM.com every day to see the best comments!
When a law enforcement officer pulls over a motorist for a traffic violation, they will frequently tap the tail light as they approach the driver. This practice has a number of purposes, some antiquated, some still entirely useful. We thought we would let you in on a little bit of police trivia.
One of the most important reasons that law enforcement officers tap your tail light as they approach your window is as a means of getting your attention. Drivers who may actually be up to nefarious activities will often be distracted by their attempt to hide contraband, so when an officer knocks on the tail light, it catches the motorist’s attention and distracts them from their attempt to hide their criminality.
Simple psychology, really.
The second reason that officers, especially long time veterans, will tap a tail light with their hand is as a means of leaving trace evidence behind.
In the era before dashcams and body cameras, law enforcement officers would tap the tail light of a suspect car in order to leave fingerprints as a marker for forensic teams should anything catastrophic happen during the traffic stop. The hope was that, if anything should happen to the officer, investigators could establish the vehicle’s role in a crime by the fingerprints left by that officer.
Of course calling the vehicle’s plates in before approaching the vehicle is standard procedure, as this pre-establishes whether a vehicle may have warrants outstanding or if it has been reported stolen. It also immediately documents that vehicle as being involved in the traffic stop.
Now that you know why a law enforcement officer might tap your tail lights, you should rest a little easier.
Here are some other interesting facts about law enforcement in the United States.
Did you know that there are over eighteen thousand independent law enforcement agencies in our country? Surprisingly, eighty percent of these agencies have twenty five or fewer officers, and about one thousand police departments only have a single officer. The largest municipal department is New York City, with more than thirty four thousand officers.
Another interesting fact is that about half of all deaths that occur while in the line of duty are vehicle related, and that half of these are single vehicle accidents involving only the patrol car.
Police officers are often a faceless uniform to society, but some have actually become well-known celebrities. Actors Dennis Farina, Ken Osmond, and Ernie Hudson, as well as basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal have all served as full time or volunteer law enforcement officers at some point in their lives.
Do you know and love a cop? Share your stories about them with us here.
