So when they don't have a weapon, what's the course of action?

 

Once it gets to that point it's a moot point. If you failed to follow instructions AND (key) you made a move that COULD be a move for a weapon then, again, the officer is absolved.

 

Obviously, every officer is going to say he was in a position of being threatened. Witnesses would have to somehow disprove that. The officer is always going to get the benefit of the doubt as they should. Sadly, bad officers take advantage of it.

Officers cannot "wait until they see part of the gun." It's too late at that point if they are in close proximity.

 

Waiting is a recipe for death.

So then we should just all shut up then? Got it...

 

I thought this was a message board. I didn't know you had to graduate from the academy to comment. My bad.

You can Monday morning quarterback all you want. But when you offer up a ridiculous suggestion that would make things worse, I'm going to call you out.

 

Comment all you want. It sure hasn't stopped everyone else.

What part of obey law enforcement do all people not understand ... But today's society is like " a word that can't be used here " YOU ! Everyone is so hung up their " rights " they refuse any and all authority .

A bigger issue may be why so many 20-30 something police officers are so fearful of individuals in the communities that they police. In other words why is the assumption, excluding the Michael Brown case, in so many of these cases that they guy was going to kill me?

 

Dont know about anyone else, but if I'm a cop and someone is charging me and I'm the guy with a gun then my first thought is this guys crazy and he might do no telling what to me.

45 police officers have been killed by either gunfire or assault this year and 10 more have been ran over and killed by people in cars.

 

I think saying they are "Fearful" is a cheap shot at police officers, shame on you.

 

Come on man, I watched a video a few days of a cop that pulled up on a 12 year old boy with a toy. He was so fearful he immediately opened fire. Shame on that guy.

Dont know about anyone else, but if I'm a cop and someone is charging me and I'm the guy with a gun then my first thought is this guys crazy and he might do no telling what to me.

 

This guy nor the kid in Cleveland were charging.

If you can show there was a threat that you or others were going to be harmed or killed you can.

 

So if I shoot a guy because I felt threatened because he had his hand in his pocket, and it turns out to be a pill bottle, do I get arrested/indicted/prosecuted?

So if I shoot a guy because I felt threatened because he had his hand in his pocket, and it turns out to be a pill bottle, do I get arrested/indicted/prosecuted?

 

By all means, wait to even reach for your weapon until you can clearly identify if he's got a weapon or not. Then I'd also be doubly sure it was loaded. Perhaps you could look really closely or even just ask him.

 

Come on man, I watched a video a few days of a cop that pulled up on a 12 year old boy with a toy. He was so fearful he immediately opened fire. Shame on that guy.

 

Easy to know it was a toy after the fact.

 

So if I shoot a guy because I felt threatened because he had his hand in his pocket, and it turns out to be a pill bottle, do I get arrested/indicted/prosecuted?

 

Why are you in a confrontation with this person?

 

By all means, wait to even reach for your weapon until you can clearly identify if he's got a weapon or not. Then I'd also be doubly sure it was loaded. Perhaps you could look really closely or even just ask him.

 

Dodge a few bullets too, and make sure they're real.

Do a matrix slow motion move then shoot back.

Come on man, I watched a video a few days of a cop that pulled up on a 12 year old boy with a toy. He was so fearful he immediately opened fire. Shame on that guy.

I guess you could have told the difference between it and a real gun as it was being pulled out of his waist band? When a gun, any gun is pulled officers don't shoot out of FEAR they do what they are trained to do.

This guy nor the kid in Cleveland were charging.

 

No the Cleveland kid was pulling this out of his waist band...