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Very happy Officer Gutierrez was fired. He and his partner were out of line. Good thing Mr. Nazario was capturing it all on his phone. Those two officers could have (and probably would have) lied about how it all went down. Now Gutierrez is right where he should be. Unemployed. If his partner, Crocker, isn't fired, he should use this as a teaching moment and count his blessings he's not sitting along side Gutierrez.
He pulled over to a well lit spot with potential witnesses. He was not fleeing and he kept his hands visible.
The situation did not require the level of escalation the (former) officer instigated.
That is why he is a former officer.
Police cannot be trusted today, its that simple. i would definitely not feel safe exiting my vehicle at the request of a cop during a traffic stop, NO WAY!
According to the documents filed in court including the time stamps on the video entered into evidence as exhibits 7, 12 and 13 the article you linked is incorrect.
That's the difference between an area like that and LA or NY....the cop actually got fired.
Heck, imagine if he shot the Lt. 16 times and the partner tried to destroy all the video evidence, lied in his police reports and the mayor tried to help cover it up at least until after the election and the only one that went to jail was the shooter.
Oh wait, you don't have to imagine, it happened in Chicago and the mayor is now on ABC news.
Yes, we are all aware that pepper spraying a motorist--several times--pulled over for a traffic violation is standard procedure, as is drawn and pointed firearms. As is ordering the motorist out of the vehicle. Why, just last week I was pulled over for going five MPH over. I was billy clubbed and ran-through with a rapier as part of standard traffic-violation procedure in my area. We must always assume that a routine motorist pullover is a lethal situation. Better safe than sorry. Incapacitate the motorist just in case he or she is dangerous.
Your clearly viewing this through the jaded lens the media has created for you.
The commentary from the officers was clearly out of line, not against the law, but that part is for the Chief to handle, which it appears he has.
The actual incident when broken down, isn’t inappropriate in my opinion. Keep in mind, in the end, the cops were cool with this guy, how they got to that point was completely dictated by the drivers actions, or in this case lack of action.
The SC has ruled multiple times even if the pre text for a traffic stop is illegal, the driver has a duty to comply with commands. In this case, the driver doesn’t know if it’s a simple traffic stop or if he or his vehicle matches the description of a rapist who just fled the scene of a crime, either way he had a duty to yield to the police and comply with their commands.
Second point, on every law enforcement use of force continuum I’ve seen, drawing a personal defense weapon is the lowest level, typically level 1 officer presence.
If he did drive a mile and a half until he stopped, it’s reasonable to treat the stop as a high threat. In this case, if he gets out the FIRST time he was ordered to, he explains his actions, they see the paper tag taped in his window, he’s on his way.
Instead, he fails to comply after being tasked 20 times. He fails to comply when an officer is standing at the drives window giving verbal commands.
Your clearly viewing this through the jaded lens the media has created for you.
The commentary from the officers was clearly out of line, not against the law, but that part is for the Chief to handle, which it appears he has.
The actual incident when broken down, isn’t inappropriate in my opinion. Keep in mind, in the end, the cops were cool with this guy, how they got to that point was completely dictated by the drivers actions, or in this case lack of action.
The SC has ruled multiple times even if the pre text for a traffic stop is illegal, the driver has a duty to comply with commands. In this case, the driver doesn’t know if it’s a simple traffic stop or if he or his vehicle matches the description of a rapist who just fled the scene of a crime, either way he had a duty to yield to the police and comply with their commands.
Second point, on every law enforcement use of force continuum I’ve seen, drawing a personal defense weapon is the lowest level, typically level 1 officer presence.
If he did drive a mile and a half until he stopped, it’s reasonable to treat the stop as a high threat. In this case, if he gets out the FIRST time he was ordered to, he explains his actions, they see the paper tag taped in his window, he’s on his way.
Instead, he fails to comply after being tasked 20 times. He fails to comply when an officer is standing at the drives window giving verbal commands.
There’s no excuse for him not complying.
There was no way to comply with the two contradicting orders that were being shouted at the same time. It is not physically possible to keep your hands out the window and also remove your seat belt to get out of the car.
I'm waiting for the resident cop defenders to provide a rational, reasonable explanation for how someone is supposed to comply with these 2 commands.
....I think we'll be waiting for some time, because it's impossible to do.
The driver should have turned off his vehicle and unbuckled as soon as he came to a complete stop. He should have also gathered his license and registration before the police approached the vehicle. This is common sense. Maybe the government should make a PSA on how to act when encountering law enforcement. Don't they cover this in Driver's Ed???
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