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” I see him unneccessarily escalate the situation when no threat to his safety is presented.”

So, if Mr. Massey had signed the ticket, would any of this have happened?

Did the officer force Mr. Massey into refusing to sign the ticket?

What do the words “turn around and put your hands behind your back” mean?

I watched the video. I see Mr. Massey walking away from the officer, back towards his vehicle, after being told to turn around and put his hands behind his back.

His demeanor and attitude were also obvious. He wasn’t going to listen to anyone. He wasn’t going to take the ticket.

He was the authority (although he missed seeing two speed limit signs, a loose gravel sign, the red flags on them, and the police car in front of him), and he demonstrated to the officer by his actions that he wasn’t going to cooperate.

Was the officer in danger? Probably not. (of course, we got to watch the video over, and over, and saw that the driver seemed like a normal white guy with a family, and that he didn’t pull out a gun and shoot the officer at the end)

Did the officer ‘know’ he was safe? Remember, if could have been a deadly situation, because the Officer had to deal with it as it ‘happened’. Not from the safety of his couch and keyboard where he already ‘knew’ that the driver wasn’t armed or going to break into violence to keep from getting the ticket, because he read the article before watching the video.