Traffic stop.
Two small words that can strike fear in even the most hardened police officers.
Go to a family dispute and you expect to see people fighting. Go to a car crash and you expect to see wrecked vehicles. Go to a shooting and you expect there to be a gun. advertisement
But there is nothing routine or even predictable about a traffic stop.
"You could get anything," said Officer Rich Germaine of the state Department of Public Safety. "It's kind of like playing the slot machine. Every time you pull the handle, you never know what you're going to get. You can win or you can lose."
The dangers were underscored this week when a Phoenix police officer was shot twice and killed Tuesday during a traffic stop. Officer David Uribe, a 22-year veteran, had pulled over a vehicle with a stolen license plate and was shot in the neck and head when he got out of his patrol car. His killers are still on the loose.
Then, on Wednesday, an officer in west Phoenix attempted to pull over a stolen car and the driver fled, ditching the Honda in a residential neighborhood and jumping fences. Gustavo Ricardo Becerra, 22, who also was wanted for a home-invasion robbery and kidnapping, then pulled a gun on police and was shot to death, officials said. Officer Lane White suffered bruising to his head.
"Here we are, presented with the same incident again, a stolen vehicle we are trying to pull over," Phoenix police Sgt. Lauri Williams said. "It reminds us as police officers how risky and dangerous this is.
"Typically, on a traffic stop, you don't know anything. You're taking your chances about who's in the car. You're going in blind."
Nationally, more officers have been killed during traffic pursuits and stops than in any other situation except arrests. From 1994 to 2003, 101 law enforcement officers, an average of 10 a year, died in traffic stops, according to an FBI report on officers killed and assaulted. One in three, like Uribe, were killed approaching an offender.
"You don't know what's being planned or what's being thought up when you're walking up to the vehicle," Phoenix police Officer Shayne Tuchfarber said. "The unknown is one of the biggest fears.
"You can only assume things when you walk up to a vehicle. Anything can happen at any time."
Tuchfarber said tragedies like Uribe's death are a brutal reminder that "nothing's routine, not on a traffic stop."
"Our hearts go out to the family," Tuchfarber said. "We don't know what he went through. But we all know he died a hero."
Across the Valley, officers say traffic stops are some of the most dangerous work they do. They usually are alone and often stop vehicles with multiple passengers. If a person is wanted or driving a stolen vehicle, an officer may not initially know that and could become even more vulnerable to an unexpected attack.
Still, police caution every stop is different and, because of that, procedures vary. Although all agencies stress stopping in safe places and avoiding standing directly between two vehicles so officers don't get hit by another car, there are differences in whether officers approach from the right side or left and whether they prefer violators to remain inside their vehicles or to stand outside with them.
A common thread, though, in police training Valley-wide is to watch the hands. Hands can kill. "If you can see the hands, they can't hurt you," Tuchfarber said.
Officers also train to expect the unexpected, to keep track of all the people inside a vehicle, to notice smells, like alcohol or marijuana that may indicate trouble and to never take their eyes off the violator. Germaine uses a vehicle's mirrors to see what's going on inside.
Tempe police Sgt. Don Yennie said he positions himself "in such a way that it's uncomfortable for the driver."
"You stand behind them so they have to turn three-quarters of the way around," Yennie said. "It puts you at the advantage."
Chandler police Officer Robert Krautheim said he remains on guard by acting as if the vehicle's occupants are "wanted criminals." He also makes sure to never have anything in the hand he uses to draw his gun, just in case.
"There's so many variables. It's overwhelming sometimes," Krautheim said. "(We say it's) routine because we do it all the time, but there's nothing routine about a traffic stop. They all have different dynamics and inherent dangers."
Germaine, who also is a DPS firearms instructor, said officers have to concentrate 100 percent on the stop, not on their families or what they'll do after work or anything else.
"What's important is what's in front of you," Germaine said. "If you're not careful, he's got his gun out and he's pointing it at you before you even know you've been invited to a shootout."