Why Do Cops touch the back of the Cars?
We have notice and watch cops touch the back of the cars in real life and in the movies. We accepted it as a norm, but many of us never question why they do it that way? Well, this might be interesting to know for some people, but for the others they just simply don’t care. Regardless of your stand, it’s still good to know the reason, why cops touch the back of the cars.
There are two reasons why cops do it this way and both reasons makes so much sense. First, cops do this to check if the trunk is closed, for obvious reason; no police will do a checkpoint with an open trunk bugging them. Moreover, they also do this for security. There are instances that a person jumps out from the trunk then start shooting the police. Therefore, tapping the back of the car is an extra safety pre-caution.
Secondly, the cops do touch the back of the cars because they want to have their finger prints on it. Although, they are taking note of the plate number and car type of the cars they are checking, it is still better to have a personal identity on the car just incase something dangerous happens between the cops and the civilians. There are probably other reasons beside these two, but this is the most logical and factual of them all.
To sum it up, police do this for safety purposes not just because it’s their habit or it’s a trend. If you will observe the cops, they have more careful way dealing with circumstances and things. This is because they are cops; therefore, they need to be two steps ahead of the villains to protect the innocent people.
February 16, 2011 3:25 pm
Touch? I thought they broke the taillight to establish the reason for pulling them over in the first place. Rookies.
April 3, 2011 2:01 pm
So much grammar mistakes. It’s killing me.
April 14, 2011 3:45 pm
Maybe they touch the back of the vehicle, (the trunk area) is to make sure no one is in the trunk to ambush the officer. A force of habit.
May 29, 2011 8:19 am
As a retired Police Officer we were taught to touch the trunk area to ensure the trunk is closed, as anyone could be in the trunk to ambush you. So Robert Wallace is correct.
June 22, 2011 6:45 am
What happens if trunk or boot has an automatic release from inside the car
July 19, 2012 12:17 am
having worked at Pearson International Airport, Toronto, we (TSA) always tap the trunk to ensure safety on both counts as mentioned previously. This is so that the safety of the officer(s) at a checkpoint don’t run the risk of being (a) peace officers being ambushed, and (b) innocent bystanders being in the line of fire. Again, it is all about safety. As for the finger prints – this also is done as a physical marker by the peace officer at the check point; although some crooks are intelligent and can have their vehicle later cleaned – highly unlikely however it can and does happen with the more intelligent one’s.
August 22, 2014 9:47 am
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