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Next time you are reviewing a police video of some horrific bullshit that went down. I challenge you to ask yourself these questions:
Suggestion: When reviewing police videos of incidents that went horribly wrong. find a place to stop the video before everything goes to shit, maybe pause it in multipule places and ask yourself these questions.
Setup: Assume (FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT) the police officer and the citizen are operating in good faith, that is: they have good faith reasons for doing what they do, and saying what they are saying.
Question: Can you tell me those good faith reasons as you understand them?
Fact: Those actions are currently not being received in the context of good faith by the other party.
Question: Can you think of anything EITHER the cop or the citizen could communicate to the other that might be able to diffuse this situation or alternatively, do you believe at this point, the interaction will inevitably lead to this horrible outcome?
Is something ALREADY being said that is not being heard?
Eg. could we turn the common refrain of:
Citizen: "i'm not resisting, i'm not resisting, i'm not resisting" Maybe what's meant is:
"The way you've twisted my arm hurts, and I don't want to be handcuffed that way for the 40-minute drive to the station"
But all the officer knows, is that not seeing hands and controlling arms is dangerous. The people training him have been telling him he's a warfighter for decades. despite the fact most cops die in traffic accidents, and being a cop is safer than a lot of occupations, my former occupation as a truck driver included.
So,
maybe that's too complex a thought for anyone to have in a "panic situation"
Would some form of citizen: "on my honor, if you let up on me, i will allow you to handcuff me, help this hurts." and Cop: "I'm afraid you have a weapon/you're bigger than me/stronger than me and I don't care to re-engage you on even footing" I'm not asking for blame--avoid the "the cop has an ego" answer as long as possible in your thinking. Also, avoid "the citizen has threatened the officer's safety and wellbeing beyond any possible verbal remedy" argument as long as possible in your thinking. And before you tell me i'm being unrealistic. I used to be a cop, now i work for the defense, a lot of cops are bullies and assholes, a few are decent people. Me, i was always listening to people i was trying to arrest, and in about 5 years working in law enforcement, I can't say i physically hurt more than a few people. Those were extreme situations, one of them was on angel dust--people on angel dust feel no pain, and have superhuman strength. it SUCKED I still feel bad about that dude's broken knee--over some minor shoplifting bullshit--but I truly believed he was going to hurt other people, and I couldn't convince myself otherwise, How do I live with that broken knee? at least I didn't have to shoot him. As big of an asshole and total racist as my partner was (the defendant was black)--we celebrated the fact we didn't have to kill a guy, while the paramedics were tending to our light wounds--even the assholes have values. Additionally, If i was trying to sue a cop for abuse, Qualified immunity is a HUGE hurdle to overcome, it might be a little easier and i'd love it if i had some video or audio of my client saying reasonable things in the middle of the incident. Because it's possible, I'm also going to get to pause the video, and say "what was unreasonable about what the suspect asked you?" (and hopefully the client and I picked a good jury).
Sorry but....ACAB.
Since you use to be a cop @RJ "Deke" Dieken , how come you had a a more progressive mentally? and why aren't there more like you?
thats the best advice.. "...always listening to people i was trying to arrest", but that would mean viewing the people as humans and not scary people that look diffrent then you...
hmmmm...🤔 what your saying is reasonable.... although what would you say to other crisis response like hospitals that almost never resort to violence, or all police agencies around that world that carry out their duties with considerably less force? Is it unfair to compare other countries to the US? are we that different?