# Cop Confronts Unarmed Black Guy at Traffic Stop … **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765 "2015-08-13T20:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/21 "2015-08-14T01:55:50Z")
Christ, does no one understand, during a police stop, what you want to do is remove the perception of threat to the cop. That means following instructions, being non threatening or belligerent, and otherwise trying to de-escalate the situation. I learned that at 15 the first time I had cops pointing guns at my head in bumfuckville northern California. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/22 "2015-08-14T02:10:48Z")
Seems like both of OP’s observations attack straw men. Does anyone actually hold the position that “unarmed guy at traffic stop necessarily equal harmless guy”? I doubt it. I think the point of observing that many of the people killed by police are unarmed is that such people pose _less_ of a threat than those that are armed, a fairly incontrovertible proposition. Does anyone actually hold the position that it’s healthy to have so much antipathy toward the cops? I doubt it. What we disagree about it who is responsible for that climate and what to do about it, which obviously turns on your views of the criminal justice system. If you believe cops are engaged in widespread misconduct and institutional racism, it would be pretty odd to blame the victims for the antipathy. The fact of an unarmed man harming a police officer doesn’t go to either of these actual disputes at all. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/23 "2015-08-14T07:10:03Z")
How did the detective stop him in the first place? Did he use invisible tractor beams? If a car that isn’t marked as a police car, driven by a driver who isn’t wearing a uniform tries to stop _you_ (how?), do _you_ pull over and stop? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/24 "2015-08-14T10:37:10Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Christ, does no one understand, during a police stop, what you want to do is remove the perception of threat to the cop. That means following instructions, being non threatening or belligerent, and otherwise trying to de-escalate the situation. > > I learned that at 15 the first time I had cops pointing guns at my head in bumfuckville northern California. Well, sure. Part of the problem, however, is that some cops perceive minorities as a threat solely because of their own prejudices. That’s not unique to cops, of course – I’ve been in a car with people who had been chattering away, ignoring white pedestrians, then suddenly warned us all to lock our doors when a black pedestrian wandered past. It just has more serious consequences when an armed officer’s threat perceptions are distorted. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/25 "2015-08-14T11:45:42Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > How did the detective stop him in the first place? Did he use invisible tractor beams? > > If a car that isn’t marked as a police car, driven by a driver who isn’t wearing a uniform tries to stop _you_ (how?), do _you_ pull over and stop? An “unmarked” car still has police flashers and sirens, the lights just aren’t displayed on the outside of the car like they are in “marked” vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/26 "2015-08-14T13:43:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Bullshit. Total and complete bullshit. “Almost killed” my ass. The cop didn’t even stay in the hospital overnight for observation. They stuck a couple of bandaids on his boo-boos and sent him home. That’s a fair observation. But the fact is that the guy pounded his head with a hard object until he left him lying motionless on the ground - that seems like something that could have killed him. Apparently there’s a broad variety of outcomes in such circumstances. > [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Does anyone actually hold the position that “unarmed guy at traffic stop necessarily equal harmless guy”? I doubt it. I think the point of observing that many of the people killed by police are unarmed is that such people pose _less_ of a threat than those that are armed, a fairly incontrovertible proposition. That would be appropriate if there was some sort of statistical analysis being done of people killed by police. (That’s why your sentence reads nicely when it’s about “many of the people killed by police”.) If it’s being highlighted in individual instances - as it commonly is - it’s because of the inference that in a given instance the victim was relatively harmless. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/27 "2015-08-14T14:40:35Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Bullshit. Total and complete bullshit. “Almost killed” my ass. The cop didn’t even stay in the hospital overnight for observation. They stuck a couple of bandaids on his boo-boos and sent him home. > > Was the bad guy a “bad guy?” Sure looks like it. But let’s not overstate the extent to which the cop got his ass kicked. Plainclothes cop in an unmarked car? He’s lucky an upstanding white citizen didn’t shoot him. All Lives Matter. It’s not nice to beat people. It’s interesting that some people appear to under the impression that the driver didn’t hit the officer often enough/hard enough to cause “serious” injury. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/28 "2015-08-14T14:46:37Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Christ, does no one understand, during a police stop, what you want to do is remove the perception of threat to the cop. That means following instructions, being non threatening or belligerent, and otherwise trying to de-escalate the situation. Makes sense. Does it apply to cops also? Why should people be in fear of their lives because they were pulled over? ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/29 "2015-08-14T15:04:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Does it apply to cops also? Why should people be in fear of their lives because they were pulled over? Who is in fear of their lives because they got pulled over? The people who end up getting shot are generally not people who were in fear of their lives. If they were in fear of their lives they would comply with the cops’ orders instead of getting belligerent. The attitude these people have taken (in the cases I’m familiar with) have not been that of someone who was in fear of their life. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/30 "2015-08-14T15:27:38Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Who is in fear of their lives because they got pulled over? Criminals, mostly. Although to hear some people tell it, cops will pull black people over and shoot them just because. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/31 "2015-08-14T15:57:38Z")
It seems that the cop lost control of the situation. Even in a routine traffic stop, you don’t let the driver get into a position where he can hurt you. If the cop actually suspected the driver was the burglar, this is doubly so. There is a whole spectrum of responses between “shooting an unarmed man” and “getting your head bashed in because of fear of internet judgement”. Like using his baton, taser, mace etc. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/32 "2015-08-22T00:30:25Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > All Lives Matter. Nope, just minorities. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765/33 "2015-08-22T05:20:29Z")
Why is the title of this thread “Cop Confronts Unarmed Black Guy at Traffic Stop …”? What the fuck does it matter what skin color anyone was??? 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-confronts-unarmed-black-guy-at-traffic-stop/727765.md?page=1)