The most dangerous police encounters with the public are traffic stops and domestic calls. An officer has no idea what they are walking into in those situations. The officer killed with a rifle during a traffic stop, which if I remember correctly was a “motorist assist” situation, did not see the driver as a threat until it was too late. Maybe he took the driver’s explanation for why he was on the side of the road/highway at face value and let his guard down. The driver wasn’t a threat until he was, which doesn’t console his family.
And, your statement “The police were never in danger. They (at least the one asshole) were way out of line.” is not logical. Was it possible that the driver had just stolen the vehicle and had armed accomplices in the back of the vehicle?
The answer is yes. Until the driver has exited the vehicle and the officers can inspect it for others, they don’t know. You are working off of “after the fact” facts. The officers did not, and could not, know that at the time of the encounter.
You are allowed to have your opinion and obvious anti-cop bias, but I asked that you put yourself in the officers shoes in evaluating the encounter. You appear to be unable to do that. Sorry you are so biased.
With all due respect it's you sir that have the biased eyes.
"Was it possible that the driver had just stolen the vehicle and had armed accomplices in the back of the vehicle?"
This could be said about any and all interactions the police have with the public. Anything is possible at any moment but this does not justify putting the public in danger and it does not justify violent aggressive action by the police.
When watching this video at what point was the driver acting in anything other than a calm and cooperative manner even when the police approached the vehicle with guns drawn and shouting conflicting commands in a aggressive and violent manner? Where in the video was it apparent the driver was not attempting to resolve this encounter in a respectful manner?
Now ask yourself where in the video did the officers attempt to talk with the driver in a calm and respectful manner? Where in the video did the officers attempt to de escalate this traffic stop? Did they inform the driver he was being stopped for not displaying tags? If they did don't you think the driver would have said he just bought the car and the temp tag is in the window? Did the officers ask the driver why he did not immediately pull over? In which case the driver could have said he did not want to pull over in a dark area. Did the officers attempt in any way to asses this situation in anything other than a very dangerous violent aggressive manner? Where in the video is the officers attempt to de escalate?
You cite the recent murder of a police officer by a felon as justification for this type of behavior. This was a horrible crime but what you and others fail to talk about is the fact that tens of thousands of motorists are stopped every day who are no threat whatsoever yet many are treated in a similar manner. This is unacceptable and dangerous behavior that must be stopped. It's very clear in this instance had this driver at any point taken his hands out of view in an attempt to comply with getting out of the car he may have been killed by the first officer who was clearly not in control of his emotions.
While there is an element of danger in all police/public encounters, here once the stop was made the officers had good lighting, could clearly see the drivers hands, were communicating with him (driver was not shouting ACAB, etc.)
It looks like the driver failed the attitude test and pissed off a bully cop.
The US Const. does not require citizens to pass an attitude test when encountering peace officers.
I am not anti-cop. However, for the job they are expected to do they are poorly trained and often poorly supervised. (See, recent negligent discharge in MN)
Cops should receive a lot more training. I wish they would rotate 3 months on patrol/field duty and 3 mos training. Similar to how Army Ranger battalions rotate thru deployment/training cycles.
But training is expensive and it consumes a lot manpower. So I doubt we will see much improvement in my lifetime anyway.