So no one thinks those cops should be promoted and given the keys to the city?
Dang, you guys are hard core.
I do however, enjoy seeing everyone spun up a little - and think it is good to debate stuff like this instead of being stuck on one topic (like politics) all the time. I'm just having some fun with y'all... you too AZ... ;D
Hope I didn't yank your chains too hard.
Yeah, those cops were way out of line, and that idiot put the driver at risk when the situation did not appear to warrrant such aggressive actions. I will concede that since I was not there, nor did I witness what led to the traffic stop, nor could I hear everything that was said amongst them - I will not pass judgement on either party - but am inclined to believe it would warrant additional review and subsequent administrative actions.
However, I seem to recall (without going back to watch it again) - the officer on the passenger side having his weapon drawn too. I seem to remember him having to holster his sidearm at one point when he was at the rear of the truck. Dang it, now I gotta go back and watch it again. :duh:
I also consider myself lucky, to have had the pleasure of coming into contact with more than reasonable LEO's - especially one night when I was forced to hold a young man (who was breaking into my car at 3AM) at gunpoint until the State Trooper arrived.
There is more to the story, but here is the short version...
I was standing in the road, gun drawn on the guy, when the trooper rolls up beside me. He puts his passenger window down and calmly asks me what is going on. I tell him that I caught this guy and two others breaking into my car.
He calmly says, 'OK, I'll take it from here...' and proceeds to take control of the situation.
When it was all said and done, I had (4) WV State Troopers in front of my house, who had all three suspects in custody.
They each shook my hand and thanked me for my efforts, and when it came time for the report - I was politely told that the initial suspect was rather upset that I had drawn my weapon on him - and the trooper said he had no idea what he was talking about, because when he rolled up - he "...saw no gun..."
I nodded quietly and filled out the incident report...
These troopers were not all ate up with glory, were appreciative of my own calm demeanor and they obviously felt no need to complicate matters further by making an issue of me standing in the middle of the road with a gun drawn on someone.
I wish there were more LEO's out there like that - and suspect the Georgia guys are the exception and not the norm. :2cents: