Blue Sheepdog

In the excellent book, Tactics for Criminal Patrol : Vehicle Stops, Drug Discovery and Officer Survival, Charles Remsburg attempts to impress on police officers the idea that each and every traffic stop may lead to interdicting a larger crime if you look for it. The concept is simple: most criminals use cars to move around, so if you keep an open mind on a traffic stop, you might catch a few of these bad guys instead of just writing a ticket.

Obviously, most of the people you stop are not felons. However, some are. A perfect example of an officer paying attention on a traffic stop is reported on in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper article printed below. A police officer makes a “routine” traffic stop that winds up netting $1.1 million in marijuana, and the seizure of two vehicles, a firearm, and almost $71,000 in cash. I’m guessing that will earn him a very nice letter in his file.

$1.1 million worth of marijuana seized in Gwinnett

By AJC Staff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/12/07

It started as a report of a stop sign being knocked down in Snellville on Tuesday.

By the time it was over, police said Wednesday, officers had seized marijuana worth $1.1 million, $70,726 in cash, an assault rifle, a Chevrolet Avalanche and a Chevrolet Tahoe.

They also had jailed two people on drug trafficking charges.

Officer Tim Pierson of the Snellville Police Department was on his way to investigate a report of a stop sign being knocked down Tuesday when he stopped a motorist for speeding, Chief Roy Whitehead of the Snellville police said Wednesday.

The officer found marijuana in the car and arrested the driver, 38-year-old Courtney Keise of Snellville, police said. His colleagues, meanwhile, went to the driver’s house, found marijuana worth $1.1 million and arrested 33-year-old Ann Marie Parker. Investigators charged Keise and Parker with trafficking marijuana.

Whitehead said the case demonstrates the value of an officer looking beyond a traffic offense to investigate other offenses.