Was That A Good Cop Stop?

SAN ANGELO, TX -- A local woman wrote a frustrated and fairly angry post on Facebook regarding a traffic stop made by a San Angelo Police Officer.

On the evening of Dec. 26, the woman was pulled over and was told by the officer that she had been stopped because the computer in his cruiser showed that she didn’t have auto insurance.

Fully complying with the Officer, she kept her hands on the steering wheel and asked the officer to reach into the back seat and get her purse so she could show proof of financial responsibility.

After showing it to the Officer, he gave her the okay, and asked if she had any questions for him. She did not.

But the woman went on to say that what was frustrating was the fact that she was pulled over at all. Further, she wondered if it was a habit of San Angelo police officers to patrol the streets running licenses; in other words was there a “gotcha” kind of sting going on.

I called Sgt. Matthew Vaughn of the San Angelo Police Department, Office of Professional Standards to ask about the traffic stop.

The Department consists of one detective and one sergeant. The Office of Professional Standards was previously known as Internal Affairs.

Says Vaughn, “The new department title better describes an opportunity for the public to be informed, and for the Department to know if any retraining is needed for an officer.”

According to Sgt. Vaughn, “There was a program initiated a few years back where insurance companies provided information regarding motor vehicle insurance for police departments to use that informed them whether the driver had insurance or not.”

So, the stop and the inquiry were completely legal, but more times than not there is some other extenuating circumstance involved in the stop.”

“But,” said Vaughn, “the database isn’t perfect. Insurance companies don’t always provide the information.”

According to Vaughn,“If in checking the database no insurance is registered, the prompt will read, ‘Verify manually.’”

Whether the officer used that language, or, as the woman heard it, “no license,” isn’t clear.

Just as in the case of the female driver who was stopped, she provided proof of insurance and went on her way. That was the end of the encounter.

She did not report that there was any conflict or mistreatment.

According to Sgt. Vaughn, “If a citation is issued it is usually just a matter of presenting proof of insurance when the driver answers for the ticket.”

Sgt. Vaughn went on to say that “Honoring the Fourth Amendment is stressed during training.”

The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.

“It is the culture of the San Angelo Police Department to respect Constitutional law.”

“We want to get it right.”

Sgt. Vaughn encourages the public to contact the Office of Professional to talk about any situation where the encounter is in question.

“A lot of people worry about retaliation if they make an inquiry or complaint.”

Sgt. Vaughn responded that “there will be no retaliation.” Sgt. Matthew Vaughn can be reached at 325-657-4463. The San Angelo Police Department website is sanangelopolice.org.