WRONG “Kinney pulled out AFTER the police officer refused to called for assistance.” Kinney wanted the PO to have another cop, handle the stop. If you follow Kinney’s request you have lost control, you are no longer in-charge. To be more succinct, the badge means you are the boss, after you have established PC, probable cause for the stop.
From you”the officer didn’t handle the situation right at all. It sounded like he got pissed and lost his cool.” This goes back to who is in-charge the cop or?? It is an act to get pissed, if I stand there like a kiss ass wimp, who will think I am not IC. Yea, the PO probably “sounded” pissed off, and you say that got him killed.I suspect the PO dropped his guard, cops get complacent, just as drivers do, and pilots. You you ever been in a drag down fight?
I can’t tell you how I would have handled the situation I was not there. Plus your question is typical of person such as you who second guesses based on newspaper articles, and what you think LE work I all about.
I can only tell you those situations I have been in. One I thing I always did, whether it was a stop for speed, or a situation with higher risk, like a domestic violence call, was self assessment. How could I have done it better and safer? There are no two calls, or stops which are the same. I have stopped the same driver multiple times of a period of years. One thing I never did is treat the driver like we were friends because of the stops. Generally I knew the cop haters, some times dispatch would tell me what the driver had for a record, which helps in making a decision. Of course if there are passengers who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men and women.
I would suggest you go to your local PD and ask if you can ride along, in the day then at night. You will have to sign a release, and like to ride in a car at high speed. Most PD's have this policy, check it out and let me know. Do it more than once. If you can pass the physical, mental, and back ground checks, tell them you are thinking of becoming a cop. Yep there are bad apples and a** H****
Slightly OT, but in response to your “...how I would have handled the situation...” I recall many years ago being pulled over for expired tabs. The cop was using the stop as an excuse to conduct a fishing expedition. I had all of my papers in order and my vehicle was completely legal, except for the tabs which I had just purchased, but hadn’t installed yet.
The cop asked permission to search my truck and I declined. He got insistent, snotty, and belligerent. Funny thing about that “getting the drop” - I had my carry piece in a position where he would have been dead if I was inclined. But I wasn’t inclined. I just wanted my ticket and to go home.
I suggested that perhaps a different officer could complete the stop. That really pissed him off! Curiously, he had the right to bring me out of my vehicle, but never did. Instead he stood outside my door and berated me. After about five minutes (an eternity when you’re under attack) another squad car pulled up.
After a confab the other officer approached me and asked “What’s up?” I explained my predicament, and recited my right to “quiet enjoyment”, and suggested that they just write the ticket and call it a night. Amazingly, he agreed. He went back to the younger cop and had another talk with huim. I could see that he was plainly pissed but wrote out the ticket with an angry flourish and had me sign it (gritting his teeth all the while).
The problem with this stop was that it:
1. Was over nothing.
2. Accomplished nothing worthwhile (I took my new tabs into the judge and he threw out the case).
3. Threatened both of us needlessly (yes, I contemplated my defense options which included killing him - I consciously chose against that course).
4. Left an indelibly bad impression of the police.