Incident while not carrying

[Walt Lear]

I’ve been thinking for a while about whether or not to post this. It’s an incident that happened when I was not carrying. I don’t know if it would have ended the same way if I had been.

In 1995 I went to UCLA to do some research at the library. I have a handicapped parking placard, due to an artificial knee that a drunken driver gave me years ago. I hung it from my mirror, parked at a meter in a parking structure and went in to the library.

When I returned I got in the car, put the key in the ignition and locked the doors. I fiddled with putting away the placard when there was a knock on the drivers window.

There was a young Hispanic man outside. Several days of stubble, jeans, flannel plaid shirt. None of them freshly laundered. He had a badge in his hand – no case. He’d used it to knock on the window.

“Hey. License and registration.”

He sure as hell didn’t look like a cop. And an undercover officer, working parking? And a badge without a case? Asking for my registration? It did NOT smell right. Although I was unarmed I went to the equivalent of condition orange, hyperalert, observing everything and ready to act. I lowered my window about 4 inches. He might be able to reach in, but he wouldn’t have much mobility once he did. He couldn’t reach the door lock, and I could raise the power window on his arm if he tried. I hadn’t seen a gun on him, and his shirt was tucked in, but his jeans were baggy, I couldn’t be sure what he had in his pockets.

Then it hit me. It REALLY didn’t smell right. He hadn’t had a shower in a week.

When I’d first enrolled at UCLA, years earlier, a young couple had been kidnapped off the street, just off campus, by a couple of thugs that impersonated cops. He’d just been shot to death, she’d been raped and tortured, her body set on fire. Not that it’s all that uncommon – a lot of serial killers claim they’re cops. Ted Bundy, William Suff The “Riverside Prostitute Killer,” Kenneth Bianchi & Angelo Buono, the “Hillside Strangler” all impersonated cops to get their victims alone.

I said “Certainly. Could I see your identification please”

He answered by holding up the badge again. “Dis all I need.”

Jeff Cooper’s system only goes to red, that condition at which you have set a mental trigger. If he does x, I will respond with all the force at my disposal.

He leaves out a condition. I’ll call it green, only because it’s not used elsewhere. In Green, the mental trigger point has been passed. I knew without question that he was not a cop, that he was trying to use a badge to get me into a compliant state. He wasn’t just there to rob me, he certainly wanted more. (Edited by staff).

He was on the left side of my car, and I was pretty close to the car next to me. So I smiled and said “Certainly, it’s right here, let me get it for you.” I reached with my left hand toward my left rear pants pocket, but that was a feint. It was meant to keep him thinking I was cooperating, and get him to watch my left hand while my right turned the ignition key.

Time had dilated. Even now, I could easily describe it 1/4 second at a time.

It started on the first ½ crank (thank God for Japanese engineering), I grabbed the gear stalk (an automatic on the wheel) and popped it into reverse and spun the wheel to the right. (Edited by Staff) Too much and he’d be behind the impact point, too little and it would pass by him. If I could crush and immobilize him between the cars, I could grab the D cell flashlight from under the seat, exit the right side of the car, come over the hood and start swinging for his skull.

I was just starting to move when a women walked up next to him. She had on a Community Police T shirt and a radio with a mike clipped to her shoulder. I braked.

I screamed “He’s a phony cop! Call for backup!”

She yelled back “No, no he’s ok, it’s all right, turn off the car, it’s all right.”

The story came out. UCLA was issuing badges to students with no training, no uniform and no ID, and sending them out to ticket people using handicapped placards fraudulently. The creep didn’t have ID. None of them did. Just badges and stupid frat boy power trip attitudes.

I let them copy the placard registration and proved that it was legitimately mine.

I filed a written complaint with the school police chief, the dean of students and the Chancellor. I told them how close a student had come to dying because they told him to say he was a policeman, when he wasn’t. I never heard a word back.

But I’ve never gone back to UCLA.

[NSP]

Wow...

When well intentioned ideas go wrong.

Beyond that if you HAD acted defensively then an innocent person's death would be on your hands and you'd have to live with that the rest of your life. I cannot believe they were not even considerate enough to reply back to you.

[Blackhorse1]

Originally Posted by Walt Lear

She yelled back “No, no he’s ok, it’s all right, turn off the car, it’s all right.”

It's good to know there are stellar performers like this one vouching for the smelly wannabe. I'm sure she has awesome judgement.

[CCWInstructor]

This was about the time that all the football team had placards to park close to class.

[Bombard]

I saw UCLA play in the mid 90s.

Their offensive line deserved handicapped placards.

I'm shocked. Even the escorts they send out to walk women to their cars at night have printed T-shirts and windbreakers and ID cards. It's hard to say who's more to blame here, the moron with the badge or the guy that set up the program, but there's plenty of it to go around.

These handicapped enforcers had to have SOME training, at least enough to know how to fill out a citation. I hope another training module was added after that, and a uniform requirement.

Edited to add: Looks like you're not the only one to think these "special police" are impersonating police officers

cbs4denver.com - Volunteers Ticket For Handicap Parking Violations

[IAmASensFan]

Interesting.

My Church hands out Courtesy Parking Notifications to people who park in green handicap spots (those are the spots over and above what the law requires us to have). Often, handicapped folks have to park a great distance away becasue the Musicians and other Volunteers think they are entitled to park there.

I have no issues with this. I also have no issue for calling the local OCSD Detachment to come by and check for folks illegally parked in the Blue Handicap spots.

I may take Rico's tri-tip, but I'll NEVER steal his parking spot...

[Walt Lear]

Even though my placard is genuine I rarely use it. I CAN walk, I'm not in a chair. But walking hurts, so I try to ballance the Karma. The only time I take a handicapped space is when 1) it's not the only handicapped space and 2) there isn't a normal space to be found. The last time I used it for a handicapped space was at Mainplace Mall last Christmas. I cruised their parking lot for 20 minutes trying for a normal space, I finally took a blue spot in a group of 5 empty ones.

I will also use it at a meter without feeling guilty. It takes me longer to walk back and forth. I'll feed the meter when I leave, but that way I don't get a ticket if I'm not back in time. That's what I was doing at UCLA that day, their meters had a 30 minute limit and it took me that long to walk to the library.

There's an old movie with Goldie Hawn - Butterflies are Free. She falls in love with a blind artist. At one point she asks if he ever went to college. He says "I was going to go to UCLA, but I couldn't get a parking permit."

Bombast, it sounds like the people in Denver are doing it better than UCLA. They are in a uniform of some kind, they are writing tickets to people who are actually using the placards wrong (altering them, taking 2 spaces). The guy that came after me was sending up every phony cop signal there was, and being belligerent at the same time.

[SierraNevadaCCW]

One of my buddys in the academy was a UCLA cop. That particular job was considered tops in the field...and very hard to get in. Hmmm...that was 90'...and I never heard anything about that kind of thing going on...at that time.

Where do you guys get all this condition one/orange stuff? LOL It's starting to sound like Gecko talk.

[Bombard]

The UCLA Football Player/Handicapped placard story is very well known

University of California - The New York Times - Narrowed by 'PARKING'

The condition 1/condition orange things come from Jeff Cooper. They are 2 different scales. The numbers refer to ways to carry a 1911 - chamber empty, hammer down is Condition 1. The colors are states of mind. I think white is the lowest, basically you have no anticipation of combat at all. It escalates through various colors through red, which is you are about to fire.

[SierraNevadaCCW]

Originally Posted by Bombast

The UCLA Football Player/Handicapped placard story is very well known

University of California - The New York Times - Narrowed by 'PARKING'

The condition 1/condition orange things come from Jeff Cooper. They are 2 different scales. The numbers refer to ways to carry a 1911 - chamber empty, hammer down is Condition 1. The colors are states of mind. I think white is the lowest, basically you have no anticipation of combat at all. It escalates through various colors through red, which is you are about to fire.

Some football players got handicapped plaques....yea and? I was referring to the dirtbag with a badge issued by UCLA.

And I know all about the "conditions" ....Sorry...my dry humor is at it again.

Let me be frank about it.... it's stupid to think in "conditions"...in my opinion. Real life is too variable and free flowing for compartmentalizing your thought process during high stress and dangerous situations.

Compartmental thinking is good for engineers, and computer programmers...though. Or would be great for Area 51 employees.
Put your secrets in a box and lock it up in your head.

With a firearm in public (during peace time), you need your wits, judgment and flexability. Not compartments with colors and numbers.

Just my opinion,.

[OCRancher]

Let me be frank about it.... it's stupid to think in "conditions"...in my opinion. Real life is too variable and free flowing for compartmentalizing your thought process during high stress and dangerous situations.

Ditto.

[JellyTheory]

I don't go through the color coded system in mind either when in public. Something doesn't have to fit into white, orange, red colors.

But having the system used when I'm reading someone else's story, does kind of help to get an idea across of what state of mind/situation the story teller thought they were in at any given point during the situation.

BTW, thanks for sharing your story. It's definitely good to see the situation was deescalated without any one getting hurt.

-Chris

[NSP]

The color system can be used afterwards to help describe what mental phase you were in. At the orange and red level I'm sure the individual is not thinking about being in the orange or red level but rather they know they are in danger and are beginning to take in their surroundings as the hair on the back of their neck is standing on end.

[Glock Holiday]

I usually go by the color of my underwear

[IAmASensFan]

Originally Posted by Glock Holiday

I usually go by the color of my underwear

LOL