The office was cleared of misconduct because the investigators said thr driver clearly fought with him. Still this is tragic.
-
Why do people have to mess with police officers?? That makes me so mad. This kid. What an idiot.
-
This is tragic and I am sorry for everyone's loss, but it is law to hand over your license. I don't agree with the article where it states that the officer should have given the kid a pass for refusing.
-
@mediagirl: did you read the article? I saw a video news snippet and then found this article to post. Apparently, the cop had been pulling over lots of motorists who all flashed their high beams at him. This guy was the only one that didn't comply with his request to see license & registration. I always say "comply, comply, comply and get home safe."
-
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I watched the video and in the video the officer told the kid that he had pulled over multiple vehicles that night for flashing him. I get so furious at entitled idiots who think they are better than the law. I started to write, "argue in court later" above and then read the article where I saw it stated it, as well.
-
I think both the officer and the driver acted inappropriately. Why is the officer pulling over everyone who flashed their high beams at him? The department should get new headlights...
And obviously, the driver should've complied with the request to hand over his license too. I've been pulled over several times, and every since time I've been treated poorly and/or disrespectfully by the officer. You still have to comply with an officer's request, even if it seems like they're on a power high...
-
I agree that you should always be polite and do what a police officer asks of you. But I don't think the subtext of that should be "or you might be killed," which it seems to be so often these days. I agree with the article that officers seriously need more training in deescalation -- it's safer for everyone.
-
@mrbee: Yes, I have only been pulled over for speeding once -- it was late at night and I was alone, so I was already very nervous about being pulled over on a dark road. The officer was extremely rude to me from the start, and I honestly was not even going that much over the speed limit. I was clearly upset and shaken up and he was a jerk to me the entire time. I don't even know why, because I obviously complied with everything he asked of me.
-
@mrbee: Yeah, I don't really understand why the officer was pulling over everyone. If he knew his headlights were bright and that that was PROBABLY why he was being flashed, why even bother pulling them over? Unless he has some sort of pull-over quota he has to meet??
But I get so frustrated when people don't comply with an officer's request, especially something so benign as handing over your license. I get that he thought he didn't have to, but still... why escalate the situation?? Did he really think he would just refuse and the officer would say "Oh, okay, have a nice day!"??
-
The police should have requested backup for someone being uncooperative. You don't get to kill someone because they won't listen to you. Police officer or not.
Sure the kid was stupid and should spend some time in jail. There's Zero reason that the kid should have been murdered.
-
You can't pull someone over and request their license without cause. Flashing your high beams is not illegal is it? He shouldn't have been pulled over in the first place.
Maybe it varies state to state (or person to person?) but i know people including myself had had 24 hours to present a license when being pulled over without it on me.
Bottom line, an unarmed person didn't need to die over this. If the officer felt threatened, he should have been able to take and apprehend him, call for backup or even shoot to injure but not to kill. I'm so sick of police officers exercising bad judgement and getting away with it. Police officers do not have the right to do whatever they want just because they are law enforcement. And no, If I'm not doing anything wrong you don't have a right to treat me like I am.
-
I think it is unfortunate that *generally* situations tend to escalate without people seeing the big picture. While reading this story there are so many points at which either party could have deescalated the situation.
Regardless of the legality of the shooting - it's a true shame that someone was killed as a result of a misunderstanding.
-
Here is a full timeline of events, if anyone is interested. The officer called for backup, but ordered the kid out of the car before backup arrived. When the kid refused, the officer tried to force him out, then took out his stun gun and pointed it at him to get him out of the car.
-
@Maysprout: I thought maybe he WAS asking for backup when he said "start me another car" to dispatch. And it's not well seen, but I think the kid ended up attacking him? It was hard for me to tell what was going on at the very end. It seemed like he was trying to handcuff him, but then he tased him? And then the kid attacked him? And then I guess he shot him?
-
@MrsSCB: I've had a similar experience and wondered the same! The one thing that helped me was that I read that traffic stops are one of the most dangerous parts of police work. So I try to tell myself that the officer is in fear for their life with every stop, so that's why they are so stressed and therefore rude. Dunno if that's true, but it helps put me in a compliant state of mind!
-
@Adira: but then he forced the kid out before anyone arrived.
-
@Maysprout: Yeah, it does seem like he could have just waited. There are multiple things that could've happened differently.
-
@mrbee: A police officer tried to start a fight with my husband when we were walking home one night. We lived in a pretty much zero dangerous crime area. He thought my husband had said something to him insulting his job when he was really teasing our friend who at that point was walking a few steps ahead. He literally told my husband to step off the side walk and come and fight him and started telling him what a little shit he was. It was very bizarre. As soon as I figured out what was going on I said something and my husband wasn't taking the bait so the police officer jumped in the car and drove off. That made me sure that a technique they use when they want to arrest someone is to try hard to start a physical confrontation.
There's plenty of good officers but there's LOTS of bad ones too.
-
@mrbee: Yeah, I can understand the stress. But I feel like once he got to me and I was visibly shaken (pretty sure I was crying, I was in my late teens and had never been pulled over before!) he could have been a little nicer. Plus, when he first signaled for me to pull over, we were in a part of the road that would NOT have been safe -- no shoulder, very dark, on a bend so someone else may not have seen us until too late. I slowed WAY down but went another maybe 50 yards. And he walked up and yelled at me for not pulling over faster. You are legally allowed to wait until you are in a safe space to stop, so I felt that was uncalled for also. Maybe it was just a bad day for the guy, but all of the crazy stories I read make me wonder...
-
@Maysprout: I've been reading a lot of police memoirs lately, and a number of the books emphasized that the police are vastly outnumbered... and that with that mindset, "respect" becomes really important as one of the key tools you need to stay alive.
I don't think it's a productive mindset, but it does help explain why being disrespected bothers so many officers!
-
@Maysprout: so many cops are on such a power trip . A few weeks ago we were taking LO to our local street festival. I was waiting for someone to pull out of a spot so I could parallel park. The spot happened to be on the end of a street and next thing I know as I'm backing in, this woman comes and pulls forward into my spot. DH leaned out the window and was like excuse me we were waiting for this spot! He wasn't overly aggressive but he wasn't happy either. Next thing you know the guy in the passenger seat is flashing a badge and getting out of the car. Umm no sorry I don't give a damn if you're an off duty cop, your wife doesn't get to steal my Parking spot without being told that we were waiting! It was absurd that he felt that flashing his badge was somehow appropriate. I'm sure it could have gotten bad had we not let up...
-
@MrsSCB: Oh yah totally, I am 100% on your side! That's crazy dangerous to pull you over in that spot. I heard that officers receive a lot of training around how to handle a traffic stop once the car is stopped... but very little training on where to stop the car.
I hope that officers get less rude in the coming years, and more training in deescalation! Right now, all of my experiences have involved initial rudeness and rapid escalation at the slightest provocation... feels like it should be the other way around.
-
@mrbee: Agreed! And just so I don't seem like a cop basher, one time my dad got pulled over for not stopping at a stop sign and a cop pulled him over. My sister was little then, and she started crying and saying, "I don't want my daddy to go to jail!" And the officer was very sweet and ended up just giving my dad a warning.
So there are plenty of good guys out there! I just wish more training was offered on how to deescalate. As easy as it seems to be for people to say, "Well, don't argue with a cop and you won't get hurt," I still think an officer's impulse should always be to deescalate the situation, no matter how much of a jerk the other person is being. In this case, it seems pretty clear he should have waited after calling for backup rather than forcing the kid out of the car.
-
@mrbee: That's not respect though, that's trying to cause fear. And ruling by fear is going to cause odd behaviors since people fear for their safety around cops.
Don't get me wrong I've had plenty of pleasant interactions, but there's some people who are in the wrong field and shouldn't be officers. It's dangerous for the community to have that arbitrary threat of violence be present by people more worried about a power trip than the safety of the community.
-
@Maysprout: Yah I agree! I'm hoping that cell phone videos and especially body cams will result in those bad apples leaving the force...
-
I'm the type of person who is always deferential to cops, would absolutely cooperate with anything they asked, and understand full well that if this kid had done that, he'd be alive today...
But I absolutely blame the cop in most of these cases. They are the ones with the power, the weapons, and the law behind them. Cops need to be more restrained than the people they arrest, not the other way around. I see no reason why punching a cop in the face should equal a death penalty.
-
@Maysprout: @Adira: from the video I saw it looks like the driver attacked the cop after he was tased while lying on his stomach on the ground.
I'm really not a fan of the way officers use tasers. A lot of stories that make the news show the officers misusing tasers and doing things against departmental policy.
I remember smarting off sort of with an officer in my early 20s. Two cops pulled me over because I didn't have my license plate on my car and had it only placed in the window. I was actually happy I was stopped and thanked them in hopes they had a screwdriver. One was really rude and kept asking me over & over why it was like that. The other one put the plate on for me. After about three times of giving him the same explanation I said he was right I was wrong, so sorry. I'm sure that came out slightly rude. What's the point of picking a fight with a cop!?
-
HOLY SHIT, cops are PAID by CITIZENS to keep the peace. That does not involve pulling over people for without cause, contributing to the rapid escalation of tense situations, tasering people for non-violent misdemeanors, or SHOOTING a TEENAGER multiple times, even if he does hit you. That video is terrifying. Was the kid foolhardy? Certainly, but no more so than my little brother or future son will probably be at one point or another. Without radical reforms, I will definitely be teaching my kids that they can't trust police.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
27 comments