Tactical Spanish for Law Enforcement Officers

Unit 5 - Conducting a Routine Traffic Stop

Traffic Stop Commands and Questions

In this section you will learn some basic commands and questions for a Routine Traffic Stop and asking questions to adults and children with the verbs:to speak, to understand, to have and to know.

Let’s start with the commands.
Notice the different ending between Formal and Informal Commands.
Listen and Repeat the Spanish Words.

Wait	Espere Espera
Sign Here	Firme Aquí Firma Aquí
Drive carefully	Maneje con cuidado Maneja con cuidado
Drop the gun	Tire la pistola Tira la pistola
Sit down	Siéntese Siéntate
Stand up	Párese Párate

If you need to request a phone number, take a short cut and simply use the word "teléfono".

Your phone number	Su teléfono
Sir, your phone number please	Señor, su teléfono por favor

Add this verb to the previous question

Do you know ...?	Sabe …?
Do you know your phone number ?	Sabe su telefono?
Sir, do you know your phone number?	Señor sabe su teléfono?

And the informal way when you speak with children, teenagers or friends :

Your phone number	Tu teléfono
Juan, your phone number	Juan tu teléfono

And the informal Spanish for

Do you know...?	Sabes...?
Juan, do you know your phone number...?	Juan, Sabes tu teléfono …?

The answer to this question can be:

I don’t know	No sé
I don't know my phone number	No sé mi teléfono?

Mini Grammar: Basic Conjugation

So far you have learned 4 verbs: “speak”, “understand”, “have” and “know”.
To make a statement or to ask a question in Formal or Informal Spanish, you can use the same words, but to ask a question, all you do is raise the tone of your voice at the end of the phrase.

Here are the basic forms that you need to communicate effectively. The first is the formal -for adults.The second is the informal- for teenagers. The third one is the one you use when you talk about yourself. When you talk about yourself usually the verb ends in "o". You can recognize the Informal Spanish because of the letter "s" at the end of the verb.

You speak	Habla	Hablas
I speak	Hablo

You understand	Entiende	Entiendes
I understand	Entiendo

You have	Tiene	Tienes
I have	Tengo

You know	Sabe	Sabes
I don't know	No sé

By raising the tone of your voice at the end, the verbs become a question, either for an adult or for a young person. Listen and Repeat!

Do you speak?	Habla?	Hablas?
Do you understand?	Entiende?	Entiendes?
Do you have?	Tiene?	Tienes?
Do you know?	Sabe?	Sabes?

Cultural Info: The Police

In many countries in LatinAmerica armed forces and police are not regarded with respect but with fear and suspicion, because of their corrupt and criminal behaviour. Low salaries, inadequate training and a long tradition of bribes (mordidas - literally bites) converts the average traffic cop into an habitual lawbreaker.

There are dozens of police units in Mexico including: Riot Police, Customs Police, Highway Police, Federal Judicial Police, State Judicial Police, etc. The last two groups are also called : federales and judiciales, which are the most feared kind of police. As Mexicans say: If you see a cop coming on your left and a thief coming on your right, it's better to go with the latter".

Check Point

You are going to conduct a basic traffic stop.The person is a male adult. It's 10:00 in the evening. Please tell him:

Good Evening Sir	Buenas noches Señor
May I have your driver's licence registration and car insurance?	Me permite su licencia, registro y seguro?
Wait in the car please	Espere en el carro por favor
Sign here	Firme aqui
Drive carefully	Maneje con cuidado

Listen to the phrases at normal speed.

Buenas noches Señor

Me permite su licencia, registro y seguro?

Espere en el carro por favor

Firme aqui

Maneje con cuidado

Muy bien Oficial ! Excelente ! Su Español es muy bueno !

This is the end of Unit 5.

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Please complete exercises 10, 11,12 and 54.