Originally Posted by
GyroF-16
I’m extremely sympathetic to the LT here.
Cops have pulled him over, and are suddenly pointing guns at him.
He’s asking reasonable questions.
He has a gun beside his seat, and is being told:
“Keep your hands outside the window”
“Take your seatbelt off”
“Get out of the vehicle”
Can’t do all at once. And he REALLY doesn’t want to reach for the seatbelt buckle, which is near the gun, while the cop holds a gun on him, and may see the gun at exactly the wrong moment.
Was the LT not complying? Yes - but passively (partially for the reasons I just mentioned). And he was respectful, and very deliberate about being non-threatening.
Having once been a 20-something 2nd Lt, I can very much put myself in this young man’s place.
I also always default to giving the policeman on the scene the benefit of the doubt. But, having watched this video, the officer who first approached the window was unnecessarily aggressive. When there’s a young man in uniform with his hands out the window, it’s time to start slowly deescalating and actually having some conversation. Or at least not escalate to pepper spray so rapidly.
And the same officer didn’t do his department any favors when he started negotiating, while talking about what they COULD charge the LT with.
If I was his CO, or his CO’s boss, or his boss (pretty much where I eventually wound up), I’d watch that video and back him.
In my view, the first officer to approach got carried away. The other officer (the one who had just graduated from “Rookie School”) seemed to have better instincts to give the LT credit for wanting to comply, but being fearful.
This is the first footage I’ve seen that makes me really believe that black “suspects” get treated differently. And that really makes me sad.
I need to think about the implications some more. But I suspect there are thousands of people who will watch that bodycam video and have their “racist cop” beliefs confirmed. And others (maybe me) who will come to understand the problem in a way they didn’t before.