I love reading posts about over armed police, "militarized" police departments' "why do police need xyz weapon", he/ she treated me like I was a drug dealer/ criminal and so on. The simple answer is: Predicting a persons thoughts is IMPOSSIBLE. Sure, you know you're on the road at 3 am because you just pulled a double shift because you have a newborn at home and you need the extra money and you were speeding because your wife has to leave to go to work 10 minutes after you get home and you were swerving because you're so tired, but the officer doesn't know that. You might be the guy who just killed someone down the street and is hauling *** to get outta the the area.
In todays litigious society I think the LAST thing any cop wants to do is shoot someone, even if it's justified. If you look at ODMP.ORG, the majority of felonious LOD deaths are not the result of some "hot call", but simple things like the call comes in as a disturbance or dispute. I hate to use personal experience, but two months ago I got a simple "citizen dispute" call. I stopped a car that was leaving the scene, and when I got out, the driver backed into me. I don't mean my cruiser, and not a "bump". He hit me hard enough to put me completely through the back window of a Subaru Forrester. Then he slammed on the breaks throwing me to the ground. Then, tried to back over me again. The only thing that saved my *** was the ice on the driveway because he couldn't get traction. After I got out of the way and he backed onto the paved road, I ran towards the car and ordered him to stop and put and put his hands on the windshield. After seeing the muzzle of my G23, he put the car in drive, ducked his head below the dash and tried to run me over. With over half the travel out of the trigger I saw a rear seat passenger so I didn't shoot the *****. "Fleeing felon" ring any bells? I would absolutely have been justified, but I didn't want to hit the passenger. Why did this happen? Because he was drunk, under suspension for DUI 3 etc. and that was reason enough for him to try to run me over. And, as RoboCop said, I was trying to be "nice". I had no information other than "citizen dispute", was not sure what the vehicle had to with it other than it was there, and I tried to be low key because it was 2 AM and the car stopped in a residential driveway. I know better after 7 years, but I was being "nice".
Now, I was the one working double shifts because I have kids at home and need the extra money, this guy doesn't and buying dope is his motivation to make money. So, now, after 2 months out of work, a **** load of doctors appointments, medication that makes me sick, my girlfriend being forced to take care of the kids essentially by herself, falling behind on my bills because workman's comp only pays 2/3 of my salary and I can't work overtime, I might get to go back to work on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the states attorney refused to charge the douche with attempted murder and he was out of jail THE SAME DAY on $10,000 unsecured bond. And he was ALREADY on probation!
Most people are decent and have a decent "excuse" for speeding, swerving, running a stop sign, etc. Some, as my "friend" above, don't, and don't give a second thought about taking out a cop because they're not "real people" (ala Reservoir Dogs). I think my kids, my girlfriend, my parents and my brother would disagree.
It seems that the "******* cop" stories are retold more than the ones about the cop who found a lost kid, pulled someone from a car fire, made a sexual assault case, helped out the battered wife etc. Not that I think cops deserve some special praise at all because that's part of the job, but don't dwell on a bad experience. I despise anyone who makes the general statement "I don't like cops." That is about as ignorant as saying I don't like blacks, whites or hispanics. Yes, some cops are jerks, but so are some store clerks, so are some mechanics, so are some doctors and so on. People just the same. If a cop is a *****, it's a personality flaw and he or she had that flaw long before they donned a badge and gun as an agent of the State.