Quote:
Originally Posted by Chico23231
the video is disturbing, glad he was fired and is being prosecuted. Secondly, that dude is a horrible shot, he shot 4 times that close and only hit him once? jeez, guy is lucky to be alive.
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Wow. Terrible. A simple "Keep your hands where I can see them" or simply taking a defensive posture until he can see if the guy is grabbing a gun, especially since he just said, "show me your license".
I am not blaming the victim (really, I am not. The cop was wrong and needs to be prosecuted, do jail time, etc.) but just a simple heads up to everyone when stopped by or otherwise dealing with cops: always ALWAYS tell them what you are doing before you do it and ask them if it is okay. As much as possible, keep hands visible at all times.
If it had been me, I would have said 'my license is in my car. I need to get it out of the glove compartment. may I reach go into my car to get it?" At the same time, this cop was clearly on the edge and who knows if anything would have prevented it.
True Story:
Back drop: I got pulled over once in my 20's (in the 80's for those not adept at math) by a Prince George's County cop. Big old redneck guy (in PG in the 80's? go figure!). I wasn't speeding or drunk, it was mid-afternoon, I was in jeans and led zeppelin t-shirt.
He walks up to the car, I had my hands on the wheel where he could see them as he approached - waited for him to get to the car and said that, in those pre-automatic window days, I was going to reach down to roll down the window. He gets perturbed and said something to the effect of I better do it damn quick and why hadn't I done so before. I get the window he tells me to get the F out of the car. I ask "why?" (dumb me). He gets REALLY angry and says, if I don't want to spend the night in jail, I better get my ass out of the car immediately.
I get out and THEN he asks to see my license and registration, I give him license but the registration is in the car so I say "My registration is the glove compartment, can I get it." "Yeah, but keep your hands where I can see them" Me: "Well, I am not sure I can do that officer because of where the glove compartment is"; Him: "Don't give me any lip, boy. Now get your damn registration and keep your hands where I can see them!". The next five minutes consisted of him yelling at me for not letting him see my hands and me trying to do the physically impossible task he wanted me to perform. To any watching it would have appeared farcical.
Apparently I was swerving in the lane - I had been reaching down on the floor for something so I probably had been. He thought I was drunk or on drugs. He couldn't find anything in the car and I passed the sobriety tests. I think he got even more pissed. Finally, gave me a citation and lectured me for 20 mins on my disrespectful attitude. He didn't show up on the court date and the ticket was thrown out.
Bottom line - You just never know what is going to set some of these guys off. Only thing you can do is the old "yes sir" "no sir" "if you please, sir".
Sorry for the digression.