An Arizona man recently wrote about his experience during a traffic stop and the post has gone viral.

Steven Hildreth Jr. was driving his vehicle when he was pulled over by two Tucson Police officers. His vehicle had a broken headlight and was the reason for his stop. When asked if he had any weapons, Hildreth acknowledged that he did and he is a concealed carry permit holder. He told the officers where on his body the weapon was and also that his wallet was on that same side of his body. Officers let Hildreth know they would have to disarm him to check his ID.

Hildreth explained what happened during this traffic stop in a lengthy Facebook post that has since gone viral.

So, I'm driving to my office to turn in my weekly paperwork. A headlight is out. I see a Tucson Police Department squad vehicle turn around and follow me. I'm already preparing for the stop.

The lights go on and I pull over. The officer asks me how I'm doing, and then asks if I have any weapons.

"Yes, sir. I'm a concealed carry permit holder and my weapon is located on my right hip. My wallet is in my back-right pocket."

The officer explains for his safety and mine, he needs to disarm me for the stop. I understand, and I unlock the vehicle. I explain that I'm running a 7TS ALS holster but from the angle, the second officer can't unholster it. Lead officer asks me to step out, and I do so slowly. Officer relieves me of my Glock and compliments the X300U I'm running on it. He also sees my military ID and I tell him I'm with the National Guard.

Lead officer points out my registration card is out of date but he knows my registration is up to date. He goes back to run my license. I know he's got me on at least two infractions. I'm thinking of how to pay them.

Officers return with my Glock in an evidence back, locked and cleared. "Because you were cool with us and didn't give us grief, I'm just going to leave it at a verbal warning. Get that headlight fixed as soon as possible."

I smile. "Thank you, sir."

I'm a black man wearing a hoodie and strapped. According to certain social movements, I shouldn't be alive right now because the police are allegedly out to kill minorities.

Maybe...just maybe...that notion is bunk.

Maybe if you treat police officers with respect, they will do the same to you.

Police officers are people, too. By far and large, most are good people and they're not out to get you.

I'd like to thank the TPD and their officers for their consistent professionalism, courtesy, and the good work that they do, both in this particular contact and every day.


We talk so much about the bad apples who shouldn't be wearing a badge. I'd like to spread the word about an example of men who earned their badges and exemplify what that badge stands for.

#BlueLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter

 

The post has now been shared almost 200,000 times and has over 340,000 likes with 24,000 comments.

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