On July 7th, after the death of Philando Castile when he was pulled over by a police officer, country music artist Coffey Anderson made a video explaining “What to do when you get pulled over.”
It now has over 35 million views on Facebook:
Takeaways from this clip:
Turn off your car.
You aren’t planning on fleeing the cops, right? Turn off your engine and follow the officer’s instructions. While some people might want to blare “Bad Boys” on their speakers, the situation will be calmer if the radio is just turned off as well.
Show your hands.
If the cop can see your hands, he doesn’t have to guess what you’re holding. Anderson points out that you should extend your fingers while resting your hands at the top of the steering wheel. If your car isn’t going anywhere, there’s no need to grip the wheel.
Place your I.D. on the dash.
“You have to have your I.D. pulled out before the cop gets there,” Anderson says.
If your identifying documents are on the dashboard, then you aren’t reaching for a place that may contain a weapon, like your glove compartment, your pocket, etc. This can easily be done as soon as you pull over, before the officer approaches your vehicle.
Anderson addresses both sides later, saying, “At the end of the day, the policeman wants to go home safely. We want to get home safely.”
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