Posted on 12/02/2014 5:05:57 AM PST by Kaslin
I've had a cop point a gun at me.
You can even see the picture of it – which come to think of it, was probably a bad idea. Who puts his hands over his head and takes a snap of a police officer pointing a rifle at him? But, I was in full journalist mode covering a 300 cops in riot gear running a bunch of dirt hippies from the Occupy Movement out of a park in Denver. Earlier, I had been up close to the line of cops taking pictures when they charged forward and they probably thought I was some kind of protest leader. Maybe I should have yelled, “Don’t shoot me bro, I’m a Republican,” but I didn’t think of it.
I’ve also been pulled over quite a few times because of my lead foot, which always felt more like an annoyance than a threat. You get pulled over, you a pay a lawyer, your ticket goes away. Repeat every 6-12 months.
Incidentally, that’s the first key to not getting shot by the police. Don’t think of the police as a threat. They’re really not going to randomly beat you, arrest you or shoot you for no reason whatsoever. It’s like a bee. Don’t start swatting at it and chances are, it’s not going to sting you.
In fact, when a cop pulls you over, you should have your license and registration ready, you put your hands on the steering wheel so he can see them when he arrives and you say, “Yes sir” and “No sir.”
But, but, but….what if you’ve done nothing wrong? What if you disagree with them pulling you over? Why should you treat a cop with so much respect? After all, don’t you pay their salaries?
Like the Bible says, there’s a season for everything. When a cop is pulling you over, that’s the time to be as polite and non-threatening as possible. Why? Because that cop has a gun, he can arrest you and you have no idea what’s going through his head. Maybe someone who looks like you just committed a crime in the area. Maybe one of his buddies got shot on a traffic stop last week and he’s nervous about it. Maybe you just look a little bit like Dave Chappelle and he never forgave him for quitting his show. It doesn’t really matter. If you think a cop needs to be taken down a peg or two, that’s a job for your lawyer to handle in a court room full of people, not a job for you to handle when it’s your word against his.
Along similar lines, move slowly, cautiously, obey the officer and don’t do anything that makes a cop think you’re a threat. You shove your hands in your pants, you could going for a gun. Jerk your cell phone out of your jacket? His brain might be screaming, “He has a gun! Shoot, shoot!” If you start whipping around a “toy” gun, well then you’re just begging to get shot. If you run from the cops, the adrenalin is going to be through the roof when they catch up to you and people full of adrenalin are more likely to shoot you. You don’t even have to run. You start jumping around, screaming at the officer, resisting arrest or generally just getting agitated and guess what? The cop is going to get agitated, too. That’s bad because a calm, cool, cop who feels safe isn’t going to pull out his gun, but a cop who gets agitated is more likely to shoot you in the chest. Of course, it goes without saying that if you attack a police officer, or for that matter, ANYBODY carrying a gun, you might get a bullet between the eyes. Maybe you shouldn’t be shot. Maybe a police officer should have used a stun gun or waited for back-up, but that’s not going to be much consolation to your family at your funeral.
Oh, but what if you REALLY hate cops? Well, if you REALLY hate cops, the best way to minimize the number of interactions you have with them is not to break the law. Just to give you one great example from the news, if Mike Brown hadn’t robbed a convenience store, would he be alive today? Absolutely.
You can take that even further if you like. If you dress like a thug, people – including cops – will respond to that. Back in the day, when I decided to put my psychology degree to work in a group home, I remember one of the kids complaining that every time he walked through a store, he heard them call for “security” to look at different aisles. As he said that, he was wearing saggy pants with a bandana on his head (Wasn’t my call on letting him dress like that), so was it a surprise that he was treated with suspicion? Incidentally, since he was actually WAS A THIEF, their system seemed to be working.
This applies to cops, too. They’re going to look at you differently based on whether you’re wearing a suit or look like a member of the Crips. Is that unfair? Not at all, because if you want to send the world the message that you’re a thug by the way you dress, then maybe it makes sense to pay attention to that message. The police certainly will and if a cop is looking at the “thug life” tattoo on your arm, then you need to be that much more polite to keep him from getting edgy.
Whether you think cops are mostly good guys doing a tough job (I do) or trigger happy, racist meatheads looking for people to push around, the calculus doesn’t change. Good guys can and do kill people. Trigger happy Neanderthals don’t behave like that most of the time because they can’t get away with it. Either way, you don’t want to be the one who gives them ANY REASON to pull out their gun.
Telling people to be polite, not make any sudden moves and obey the police isn’t exactly rocket science, but 99.9% of police shootings wouldn’t have happened if people followed those basic rules and the other 0.1% of cases, like the Akai Gurley case, are tragic accidents. The police should always be held accountable for bad behavior or shooting people unnecessarily, but people interacting with the police also have responsibilities that shouldn’t be shrugged off just because they ended up on the wrong end of a gun.
One time I was out of the car (he told me to get out) chatting with him when I made the mistake of putting my hand under my untucked shirt. Just an idle move I thought nothing over but it earned me a well deserved pat down and a lecture about what motions to NOT do.
“.....the Cop already knows this before he/she walks up to your vehicle as its in your DB which he/she more than likely pulled up before coming to your car.”.........
Do they have mind reading cops there in Texas? How does the cop know who you are BEFORE coming to the car? Interesting........
“...When a cop is pulling you over, that’s the time to be as polite and non-threatening as possible. Why? Because that cop has a gun, he can arrest you and you have no idea what’s going through his head. Maybe someone who looks like you just committed a crime in the area. Maybe one of his buddies got shot on a traffic stop last week and he’s nervous about it. Maybe you just look a little bit like Dave Chappelle and he never forgave him for quitting his show. It doesn’t really matter. If you think a cop needs to be taken down a peg or two, that’s a job for your lawyer to handle in a court room full of people, not a job for you to handle when it’s your word against his.”
If you disagree with the reason a cop pulled you over, it’s best to quarrel with him on the street — with your counter-argument laced with profanities — right then and there rather than waiting until the case comes to court and calmly discrediting him with evidence to the contrary and according to the law as it is written
Maybe I'm being unfair, but my experience is that female cops are much less tolerant and less understanding than male cops. And I am a middle-aged lady.
That is a great picture of the level of depravity that equals “Normal” in the black “community”. Middle thug looks like a Gentle Giant candidate.
Yeah. Of course it is photoshopped. “Fake but accurate,” to borrow a phrase from the left.
It was obvious that I was about to get a ticket; I pulled over to the side of the freeway.
Well, pulling to the side rather than the center angered the cop. His exact words were "That's a good way to get yourself shot".
I told him that it was my training to pull over to the side for officer safety.
I should have said "If you fire into my vehicle with my wife and child in it I will do my best to shoot you back and hopefully remove the threat to my family."
Mesquite, TX: Don't ever go there. There is a rogue cop willing shoot people for pulling over in the unapproved manner.
You never know what a policeman wants when you are stopped.
I was stopped once, he (by loudspeaker) told me to get out of the car and bring back my insurance papers, registration and license. I did.
Years later, I got stopped again, grabbed the license and papers opened the door and was told (by loudspeaker) to “stay in the car”.
Now I stay in the car till told what to do. After all, it is HIM that will be at the drivers side window where the stupid speeding drivers can hit him.
***he knows you’re not a dumb ass.***
We had a young man about 22 years old, who worked with us who was a real DUMB a**. When he got stopped by a highway patrolman, the cop saw the dumb a** had a sawed off (legal length) shotgun in the car he backed away and called backup!
They got him out of the car and proceeded to search the vehicle, then realized the driver was a real honest to goodness dumba**.
They unloaded his shotgun, took the loads with them and gave him back the shotgun. Then they gave him the speech!
“YOU are a Dumba**! I’ve NEVER seen anyone so dumb! You are so dumb we are not even going to charge you! Get in your car, drive away and don’t EVER come through here with that shotgun again!”
How dumb was this twenty two year old? He then came to work and told everyone about what happened, We all rolled our eyes as he mentioned how the cops called him a Dumba**!”
If you're the registered owner of the vehicle, it comes up when they run your plates.
Think about it.. where do YOU keep your insurance? yep, in the glove box! (just like everyone else) which just happens to be where you you most likely keep a gun if you had one!
Just the process of reaching for your insurance in your glove box becomes a life and death decision if you think about it.
Even just getting your divers license out (which is in your wallet) involves moving in a dangerous way and reaching your hand behind you!
I THINK about ALL these things EVERY time I deal with a cop!
This is what occurred that day. it is cooberated by seven eye witnesses and the Police Officer's report. Most of the witnesses are African-American themselves.
The big strong Micael Borwn committred multiple crimes and was willing to assault and injure the officer in order to not get caught and apprehended. In the end, he was going to attack and seriously injure or kill that officer.
Michael Brwon was acriminal thug who reaped the direct consequences of his own actions. Plain and simple, and it does not matter what color he was.
The officeer acted approriately...even herocilally IMHO...and the grand jury, once they saw the evidence, made the only rational and just decision they could...NO BILL...no charges.
Liberal activists, race baiters, progressive liberals, and their politicans want to turn this into a race issue...but it never was.
Those people inciting these riots, IMHO, including the US Attorney General and the President, should themselves be charged with inciting the looting, arson, assault, and murder that have occurred as a result of their false narratives.
***Well, pulling to the side rather than the center angered the cop.***
Ran into the same thing. I’ve always pulled over to the right of the road. Once a cop was setting in the median and the lights came on, I then pulled to the median, and got a tongue lashing for doing so instead of pulling to the right.
Did not get a ticket. cruise control was on and I was doing the legal speed limit, but still got stopped. It may have been the oversized mud and snow tires I had on. Now I set cruise control about two miles under what is legal.
“Do they have mind reading cops there in Texas? How does the cop know who you are BEFORE coming to the car? Interesting........”
Really? Where do you live? Cops, at least here in Texas, have an in-car computer, basically a laptop mounted on a pedestal which has Internet connectivity by which their various data bases can be accessed. Includes ability to access info such as previous tickets, arrests, outstanding warrants, CHL, auto ins, etc. can’t believe you asked the question......
LOL! How naive! Tell that to the little girl who was shot by a SWAT team member in a story we were reading about just today.
Charges Dropped For Cop Who Fatally Shot Sleeping 7-Year-Old Girl
Of course, the cops did have a reason which was deemed sufficient to totally exonerate the fool who pulled the trigger.
There's always a reason whenever things go bad.
Believe it or not, there are actually more examples.
Want to know how not to get shot by cops? Do everything you said in your article above, and then pray for a big helping of good luck on top of that.
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