Replies

I’d try like hell not to disobey an order from an officer with a gun drawn on me, but in the heat of the moment I’m sure I’d be nervous as heck! I have a bad back and a bad neck and I don’t necessarily think about mentioning that to anyone and everyone, but it does cause me to use my arms and hands to get out of my vehicle. To me that is normal behavior because I do it all the time. That could certainly appear as me reaching for something and be viewed as a threat as far as an officer is concerned. This is something I will have to try and keep in the back of my mind to be remembered if I ever find myself in that type of situation. I can see where mistakes will be made, but we the civilians expect some semblance of levelheadedness to prevail from what is supposed to be a professional police force.

I know, I know... Police are people too. But when they are supposed to protect and serve as well as uphold the law and maintain professionalism... well, that’s what they need to keep in the forefront of their minds also. IMO, Shooting a suspect should be the last thing a police officer thinks about doing as a matter of course - they should be considering “how am I going to resolve any conflict without the use of deadly force if at all possible, while still maintaining everyone’s safety including mine?”.

The suspect you talked about originally apparently pulled over and allowed you to take him into custody without incident. divining from that; the suspect complied immediately or I would’ve expected you to mention having to give chase or some other difficulty. That would be a red flag that the suspect was more dangerous vs. compliance or immediate compliance. Some people can pull a good ruse as well and will appear to comply immediately, then cause a ruckus, but the general population as a whole is not out to injure police officers - be they suspect or not.