I haven’t been able to find any update.
And for the record; I don’t disagree with CaptMurdoch. The OKC man who fired through the door acted recklessly and deserves punishment just as the Houston woman does. But, imho, these seem to be typical gun owners, and so these types of things are not new and will continue in the future. Killing people. And forcing officials to continue to make “judgement calls” on whether or not to prosecute the shooters. Giving judges and sheriffs and DAs more opportunities to make judgements on who they believe was justified in shooting and who they believe was justified in being shot. And, quite frankly, these people don’t have the best track record in fair and unbiased decisions.
I think some cops just love using all the force at their disposal, with no consideration for whether or not it’s necessary. Take this story from Arkansas, where a cop activated his lights to pull over a motorist who had been speeding:
Apparently Arkansas State Trooper Rodney Dunn does not qualify as a sane person, because while the driver was driving more slowly in the right-hand lane, with her hazard lights on, and looking for a safe place to pull over, the cop decided to pull a PIT maneuver, which flipped her SUV.
Here’s what the Arkansas Driver License Study Guide (PDF) says about traffic stops:
So this woman literally followed the actual directions provided in the state’s own handbook, and the state trooper decided to forcibly stop her car anyway. She was pregnant. Luckily, she came out of it without serious injury.
According to the Reason article, Arkansas cops used the PIT maneuver 144 times last year - more than twice as many as the year before.
Looks like this guy was being arrested for shoplifting:
Nice touch by the guy in uniform – arriving late and kicking the suspect (down and posing no imminent threat) right in the face.
I was just reading about this. I was floored. I cannot think of any rational reason why someone would pull this maneuver for a speeding ticket. You only pull this in a high speed pursuit with fleeing armed murder or robbery suspects.
Video. In not one incident, but two.
Should we have psychological screening for police recruits?
The court has heard Bettley-Smith estimated Atkinson – who was 5ft 11ins – to be “6ft 4ins or taller” following the incident – while Monk said in a police interview that the ex-sportsman was “massive” despite being an inch bigger than him.
Ms Healy told jurors on Thursday: “The Crown say this exaggeration of the description of his size is a deliberate exaggeration because these officers knew they needed to justify their actions.
You gotta get your thrills where you can.
Wouldn’t it suck to sign up for being a state trooper, and have to spend all your time dealing with minor traffic infractions and filing reports?
Get a chance to use your training and spin someone else out, it’d be a crime not to take it.
Yeah, not even then.
This officer did a pit at 109 mph…109!!.
Killed the suspect and almost killed himself.
Yet another instance of officers going out of their way to beat up some guy that they didn’t even have any cause to arrest.
This is the part that gets me, though. We’re used to reading about people “resisting” because they can’t follow conflicting instructions from police. In this case, the police report says the guy was ordered to stay seated, but body camera footage reveals the officer “did not give him a command to stay seated and only made noises at him.”
and, of course, another instance of a state trooper taking a collar’s phone, which he noticed her using while in the back of his car, and going through it to text himself the revealing pictures of her that she had on it. And, fortunately for her, he was inept at covering his tracks.
I hate when shit like this starts to seem mundane.
You can watch the whole video here:
Absolutely bonkers. That move should never be used unless there’s a real risk of danger to others. Maybe not even then.
What’s really nuts about that is that, according to snopes, the cops came to the emergency room and gave her the ticket.
This cop should fired then lose everything he has.
“Why didn’t you stop?” Dunn said.
“Because I didn’t feel it was safe,” Harper answered Dunn.
“Well, this is where you ended up,” Dunn can be heard retorting. Harper’s attorney, Andrew Norwood told Snopes that when Dunn said this, Harper was still hanging upside down.
A little later, Harper exclaims, “I’m pregnant!” Dunn then berates her for not pulling over immediately, to which Harper responds, “I had my flashers on.” Dunn then states, “It doesn’t matter ma’am.”
Stupid, thuggish and a liar.
Or maybe he doesn’t realize how many woman have been raped when pulled over by cars with ‘flashers’.
That guy should definitely be fired and sued into the poorhouse. Also, charged with reckless driving.
I recall reading about a police pursuit some many years ago that went on for over an hour at speeds sometimes exceeding 30 miles an hour. I believe the suspect’s idea was to hold them off long enough for his BAC to drop well below .08, so that they would not have proper DWI evidence.
This might partially explain the urgency they have to get someone stopped, though it is a pretty weak justification for heavy use of PITs. Mostly I feel like their attitude is “do what I say or else!” That is a thing needing changing.
Speed cameras.
I’m sure that I’m overlooking downsides, but on a surface glance:
- they’ll catch everyone speeding - not just the one car the cop targets. If 10 people blast by, all 10 get a ticket.
- If the issue truly is safety (and not revenue generation), people will learn to slow down if they know the camera will automatically ticket and fine them, resulting in much safer streets.
- They don’t flip over cars.
NOT defending the policeman here, but you misunderstand the quote.
It was the woman who said “I had my flashers on”. Probably meaning “I turned on my emergency flashers trying to signal the policeman behind me that I knew he was there and would stop when/where it was safe to do so.”
The one time I did something similar 30 years ago the cop was pissed too. But it never escalated past him saying that was a real bad idea. In his phrase, “Lights and especially lights plus a burp of siren means ‘Pull over right NOW!’”