Man beats ex-wife and son. Police called. Man answers door announcing “I got a gun” as he raises it above his shoulder. Police officer tells him to “put it down.” Man replies “back up” as he points the gun at the police.
Man dead.
Officer #1 in the video is Lenert Ekzy and Officer #2 is Carlyn Alexander. Ekzy was the first officer on the porch and had to make a split decision once the armed man turned his gun barrel toward the police.
Wouldn’t life work out much better if people complied with police commands? If the police are in error, all of that can be sorted out in a peaceful way in just a few minutes or at the courthouse later.
But everyone lives if there is compliance with law enforcement. In this scenario, the LMPD officer went onto a porch where he heard yelling inside. The armed man appears in the doorway and the officer does not yet have his weapon out of its holster.
The belligerent man announces his weapon, refuses the police command to drop it, and then points it at the cops.
There is no other choice than for the cops to protect their own lives since the man refused to comply.
Why is that so hard to understand?
Of course we’ve seen police make mistakes. The woman in the Minnesota alley. The Cleveland kid with a toy gun. The man whose gamer son was swatted.
Of course we’ve been disgusted to learn that some rogue cop somewhere is an avowed racist. Cops hate him more than the people he targets because he sullies their entire profession. Bad cops are outed and punished.
Cops are in the crosshairs for lots of maniacs in America. Here’s the current list of cops killed in the line of duty.
After six officers were injured in a seven-hour gun battle, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said, “It’s nothing short of a miracle that we don’t have multiple officers killed today.” https://t.co/6o8nVw3lQ0
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 15, 2019
Policing is a shit job with low pay, unreasonable danger, and little room to advance. After the Philadelphia shootings, a Philly reporter tweeted about some onlookers taunting the cops who were under fire.
I mentioned this at 10 and since I was harassed during that live shot, I’ll mention it here too. A major moment of disappointment this evening was watching a crowd of people taunt police officers, laughing and yelling at them in the midst of the gunfire. #PhiladelphiaShooting
— Alexandria Hoff (@AlexandriaHoff) August 15, 2019
The comments below Alexandria Hoff’s tweet are astounding. So many people default to “the cops are out to get me” excuses without examining their own behavior in people/police relationships.
So a basic set of rules to keep everyone safe in police encounters is to Stop. Put your hands up. Follow commands.
999,999 out of 1,000,000 police interactions are flawless, and most of every interaction outcome is dependent upon the behavior of the citizen.
Lose the attitude. Stop. Comply.
“But you’re a white male and you have privilege and you don’t understand the peril I face because I am (fill in the blank).”
I call bullshit.
Stop. Listen. Follow commands. No one gets hurt.
Everyone wants to go on with their lives without the horror of someone getting splattered.
Respect police. Thank first responders. They keep society from turning into anarchy.
Respect the safety and security of the entire community by simply stopping what you’re doing and comply with law enforcement.
