sphere wrote:
It may be that I'm just incredibly intelligent, composed, and insightful, but if I made the decision to not pull over for a long period of time, if that's what indeed happened, I'm assuming I'm adding another level of anxiety to the interaction because I didn't pull over immediately. I don't know how police perceive that, but I looks like it wasn't well received by the detaining officer. As I said before, the two times I can remember not pulling over immediately and making my hands immediately visible (one via sunroof, one via driver side window), I signaled to the officer that I was looking for an exit so we wouldn't be sitting a few inches from 70+ mph traffic. I have to imagine that show of concern, both with my signal and my hand visibility without being directed, put them at ease.
Putting myself in the shoes of that driver, had I made the decision to continue driving after they lit me up, I'd be overcompensating with compliance because my assumption would be that they were on edge because my response to being pulled over was not, from my perspective, normal or viewed as compliance. Window down, both hands visible, yes sir/no sir, everything as instructed, when instructed, with an apology for not pulling over sooner, but wanting them to feel more comfortable off the road and in a well lit space. Maybe that's unnecessary, or should be unnecessary, but that's the viewpoint I see these entirely avoidable disasters from.
You'll never convince me that this approach will increase, and not decrease, my risk of harm.
That does not suggest in any form that the officer acted reasonably. He did not, in my estimation, and he was deservedly fired. He mismanaged his end from the very beginning and only made things worse from there. He should not be working in law enforcement. It is notable, though, that despite having his gun in hand, he didn't fire it. He verbally instructed the driver dozens of times and was rebuffed. He then tried to physically remove him from the vehicle, the driver did not comply. He then used pepper spray to disable him to remove him from the vehicle. Best I can tell, he followed a reasonable escalation of force required for detention: multiple voice commands, attempted physical restraint, then non-lethal adjunct to physical restraint, pepper spray. He did not strike, taser, or shoot the non-compliant driver.
But too little too late, and the driver's verbal and nonverbal cues, setting aside his noncompliance, should have helped deescalate that situation with a reasonable officer. I suspect the result was a combination of the officer's disposition, the driver's non-compliance to pull over immediately, and the non-compliance to show his hands for a full minute, that dialed up the officer's anxiety to 11, from which he (the cop) was unable to dial back.
Again - it’s easy to say you’d have acted perfectly in that situation from the comfort of your keyboard.
But imagine you’re a black guy, getting pulled over, telling the cops you’re afraid for your life, the cops saying “you should be”, guns drawn over a traffic stop, scared for your life.
Until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes, it’s foolish at best to say he should have acted different. There are plenty of situations where guys escalated the situation, but this isn’t it.
This is a textbook example of why our black brothers and sisters think our society is racist and the cops crooked.
It’s scary to think this is how they behave when they know the cameras are on. It’s damn frightening to imagine how they do when they know they’re off.