Working on the highways and roadways of America is some of the most dangerous work a law enforcement officer can do. While the risks of who is in the car that is being stopped, the positioning of the patrol vehicle, how an officer exits the car, the approach of the violator vehicle and the retreat after contact is made are all vitally important in the safety of an officer, one of the most vital decisions that an officer must make when stopping on the roadway is the use of their emergency lights.

Generally in a fight, the more officers present the better the situation and that concept can just about be applied to everything we do in law enforcement with the exception of one important function. Just because we have a bunch of emergency lights does not necessarily mean that using all of them would be better. I have made this mistake more times than I care to admit. The United States Fire Administration describes this problem in their 2008 report titled Traffic Incident Management Systems.

“While it is clear that some lighting is necessary in order to warn approaching motorists of the presence of emergency responders, it is also suspected that too much or certain types of lighting can actually increase the hazard to personnel operating on the scene, particularly during nighttime operations.” continue reading