Encounter with police

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ltc444

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A 911 caller was arrested after Pasadena, CA Police shot an unarmed man.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/2...cops-shoot-dead-alleged-armed-robber/#comment

The story got me thinking on how to avoid being shot when you encounter police. Following are some thoughts:

1. Be calm. If the cops think you are armed they won't be calm.
2. Follow instructions.
3. All movements on your part should be slow and deliberate IAW the police instructions.
4. If the cops are confused/indecisive passively take control and lead them to the point were they conclude that you are not a threat.
5. Make all movements "SLOW AS LASSES IN WINTER".
 
My thoughts exactly. Until I can prove to the police that I'm harmless, I'm not reaching for anything but sky.
 
Some LEO's might find it offensive what I am about to say but I follow these rules when dealing with police officers. Talk slowly and softly, nothing that could be considered threatening. NO sudden movements, any movements (such as show me your drivers license) done very slowly; keep hands visible at all times and open palmed.

If it is dark and you have a cell phone, flash light, anything DARK or for that matter silver JUST DROP IT. better to break your phone than get NYPD'd
 
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I'm a former police officer and the biggest thing I can tell you is keep your hands out in the open where the officer can see them.
 
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This is simple

Follow instructions. If they tell you to do the hokie pokie do the hokie pokie. It is not up to anyone to lead the poliece to any conclusion. Answer any question asked with the truth and move on. When I encounter the police I will most likely be armed therefore I will inform them of that correctly.

Everyone goes home when everyone listens.

Kind Regards, Vermonter
 
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Maybe just be prepared to defend yourself is the fuzz tries to murder you.
I am NOT a dirt bag, dope dealer, or miscreant and I DO expect to be treated with the respect due any lawabiding US citizen.
 
Generally in a given shift in law enforcement, talking about dispatched calls, searching for suspects, or witnessed crimes, an officer will deal with many of the same people, doing the same or similar crimes, or at least it is true in the small town where I work. These people range from not that good, to pretty bad (not to get in to controversial terms).

During a shift, an officer will also deal with the regular upstanding citizens when he/she is out and about, whether it is on meal break, stopping for coffee, during some traffic enforcement/investigation, and during some calls.

Being that the job description is 'law enforcement', it is proper that the officer generally be around those doing the crimes, and try to catch and enforce the laws, but also spend time, though smaller with those reporting the crimes. It is only my experience here, but it takes more time to find/catch the bad guys/gals, then it does to take the initial report.

Unless you, meaning the person the officer is interacting with, is readily known to the officer, he/she will be on guard, cautious, and watching not only you, but others around. Im going to try to word the next part delicatly. When you deal with people, even good folks who the officer has known for years are not 'always trusted' in that, the officer in uniform is not only a person, but a representitive of the government, and as such is a target in some ways. A percentage of good people can be pushed to the edge, and a smaller percentage of them may go over the edge in a bad way.

Many on this forum have spoke about how they need to be prepared and ready because criminals are out there. People tend to forget that the officer is prepared because he/she knows the same, or that the officer should have some magic sense to tell him/her that the person they are dealing with is good or bad.

If you are detained, temporarily or otherwise, be as respectful while the officer does whats required/needed, as you would if the officer was doing business with you in some other manner. Meaning, dont try to tell the officer how to do his job, because I doubt most people would enjoy being told how to do their job either. If you feel you are wronged, fight it in court, not on the street. Respect goes along ways.
 
I'm not LE, but I spent several years in the Fire Department and from listening to the scanner, I was AMAZED at the percentage of license checks that came back suspended or revoked or attached to outstanding warrants ... it isn't that law enforcement FEELS that they deal with a lot of trouble makers, it is a FACT. It isn't personal and they don't think that everyone is a criminal, but a disproportionately high percentage of the people that they DEAL with are.

FWIW, when I get stopped, my hands are both on the wheel where they can be easily seen by the officer. It's "Yes officer," "No officer," "I'm not sure officer" and "The registration is behind the seat, officer, would you like me to get it for you?" How difficult is that?

I'm sure that not all LEOs are great guys, but my experience is that most of them are at least good guys. That being said, I know from talking to a few that they do an attitude check in the first 3 seconds they interact with you and it all flows from there ... cop a 'tude and it won't be any fun at all. Profiling and stereotypes get a bad rap in today's PC world, but they come from experience and people with attitudes tend to cause LEOs trouble ... I just can't blame them if they react when provoked by disrespect.

Saands
 
This is simple
Follow instructions. If they tell you to do the hokie pokie do the hokie pokie. It is not up to anyone to lead the poliece to any conclusion. Answer any question asked with the truth and move on. When I encounter the police I will most likely be armed therefore I will inform them of that correctly.

Everyone goes home when everyone listens.
Click to expand...

Unless your gun is in the holster on your belt and they tell you to "drop the gun" or "hand over the gun". (that's a trap) Do not put your hands anywhere near the gun even if they tell you to.
 
In my experience as a police officer most of the people I dealt with were decent people who just needed some help with what ever problem brought us together. After what ever interaction... most people thanked me. Part of being a good cop is being able to tell the difference between a person in some sort of emotional distress, and someone up to no good.

IMO it is the tactical responsibility of the officer to act in his own safety, the safety of other officers, the safety of the public at large, and even toward the safety of the wrondoer. Again I relied on tactics as best I could. I've disarmed quite a few people. Most of the time they drop the gun when asked. when stepping to an individual, or group I SUSPECT of being armed I always challanged from a position of cover, or ambush.

My advice is to treat an officer the same way you want to be treated. If it's an armed confrontation... as the officer gives you instructions... repeat those instructions out loud as you follow them.
 
I grew up in a small town at a time when policemen wore white shirts and had a decidedly easy-going attitude. That was 50 years ago. The town is even smaller now (I moved away) but I was alarmed to discover the crime rate there is higher than it is where I live now in a suburb of Washington, DC. Do you suppose that was always the case or have things changed? Was the idea of a peaceful small town where nothing ever happened a myth?

I don't see how a policeman could have an easy-going attitude now, though all I have had personal interaction with have been nice and professional. But judging from just what I've read in this forum, if you will allow me to say so, policemen have to deal with people who think they are law-abiding, God-fearing, church-going, conservative patriots but who are in fact arrogant, racist, anti-authoritarian, reactionary and maybe just a little bit conceited. But then, practically everyone in Virginia and South Carolina is conceited. North Carolina has a little more humility. Anyway, and those are just the good guys.
 
Okay, for those of you who are not from Back East, here's the original expression:

North Carolina is a vale of humility between two mountains of conceit.

I live in Virginia, the same state where my father was born. My wife and her father were born in the District of Columbia and have no idea what I'm talking about.

But to return to the topic at hand, do people think policemen may have changed since we were kids in the 1950s? Or did we change?
 
I think part of it is that, just like TV news tends to focus on the scary, illicit, and dangerous (because that drives up ratings), that people tend to have sharper memories of events that went badly than of those that went well.

I think there are anthropological and psychological reasons for that, based on long term survival of the species (Danger! Beware!), but I will leave that argument to Glenn E Meyer to dissect.

My point being, though, that I suspect humans are geared to have stronger memories of negative interactions - hence, "it only takes a few bad apples."

I have a lot of LEO friends. Of those LEOs I only met in passing - and there have been many - most were good people. But, of the ones I met in passing, the two who made the sharpest impression were bullies, who had reputations among the high school and college crowd in my area as bullies.

As a percentage, these guys were a small minority. Their emotional impact, though, was disproportionate.
 
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