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Arrgghhh!
Story on the local news...
Seems a 15 year old stole a pickup (possibly a family vehicle, it wasn't clear). Cops spot the stolen vehicle and since auto theft is a felony, the officer approaches with a drawn weapon. The news mentioned that this is standard procedure for a "felony stop".
They did *not* mention that its standard procedure because of the high risk of the *officer* getting shot.
Officer gets up to truck, kid has window up. Officer thinks kid has a weapon or is going for a weapon. Shoots. Kid dies.
News is all about the family wanting the officer jailed and how the kid died for stealing the truck.
I wanted to scream at the set "No, he died because cops are *understandably* nervous when making a stop involving a felony. And the cops saw something that made him think he was about to be shot."
Whether the cop overreacted or not we can't know.
We can know that the kid did several stupid things. Alas, rather than explain to the public that these things are stupid, the media goes for "oh, how terrible this shooting is."
What they *should* have done is stated the facts. Noted that whether or not the officer acted appropriately was under investigation, and then explained *why* cops are under high stress when doing this sort of stop and explained what people should do when stopped so that they *don't* risk getting shot.
Things like:
Remember, all the cop knows is that he had a *serious* reason for stopping you and for all *he* knows you may be a desperate nutcase who is going for a gun.
Seems a 15 year old stole a pickup (possibly a family vehicle, it wasn't clear). Cops spot the stolen vehicle and since auto theft is a felony, the officer approaches with a drawn weapon. The news mentioned that this is standard procedure for a "felony stop".
They did *not* mention that its standard procedure because of the high risk of the *officer* getting shot.
Officer gets up to truck, kid has window up. Officer thinks kid has a weapon or is going for a weapon. Shoots. Kid dies.
News is all about the family wanting the officer jailed and how the kid died for stealing the truck.
I wanted to scream at the set "No, he died because cops are *understandably* nervous when making a stop involving a felony. And the cops saw something that made him think he was about to be shot."
Whether the cop overreacted or not we can't know.
We can know that the kid did several stupid things. Alas, rather than explain to the public that these things are stupid, the media goes for "oh, how terrible this shooting is."
What they *should* have done is stated the facts. Noted that whether or not the officer acted appropriately was under investigation, and then explained *why* cops are under high stress when doing this sort of stop and explained what people should do when stopped so that they *don't* risk getting shot.
Things like:
- roll down your window *before* the cop gets there.
- place *both* hands on the upper part of the steering wheel and leave them there.
- If the cop asks you to do something, do it.
- If the request will require one or both hands to a spot where the cop can't see them, move slowly and tell him what you are doing. "I'm getting my wallet out of my pants pocket
Remember, all the cop knows is that he had a *serious* reason for stopping you and for all *he* knows you may be a desperate nutcase who is going for a gun.