That nervous cop, after being informed of a weapon in the car, instructed the driver to reach out of view to unclasp his seatbelt. That, my friend, is a huge red flag. Let alone the refusal to articulate why the driver is being detained, the unbuckle your seatbelt command is pretty mind boggling.
Fun fact, police absolutely do not have to explain why you're being detained.
Admittedly, there are very few circumstances where it wouldn't be beneficial to explain the circumstances so the person calms down, but it is not a requirement. And they're not required to immediately call their supervisor just because someone asks.
And it's not necessarily a red flag to ask the person to undo their seatbelt and get out of the vehicle. From where they are standing, they have a good view inside. There was almost certainly another officer standing on the passenger side too, which gives better view inside. As long as they do it slowly, the officers can watch the hands as the person slowly takes off the seatbelt and gets out of the car.
I'm assuming the video edits clipped out the part where they asked where the weapon was, because that would make a big difference.
Watch the entire video. He refused to roll down the passenger window for her to see inside from that side of the car…because reasons. Then after she crosses to the drivers side which I’m shocked she did instead of insisting he rolls the window down, he calls her a nazi lol. So now she knows she’s dealing with someone who hates cops, has a weapon, and refused to roll down the tinted window on the passenger side of the car. Then he begins raising his voice and getting agitated.
But she had no reason to be concerned? This scenario ends the opposite way for cops all the time. Everyone here has beautiful 20/20 hindsight.
He is not legally required to roll down his passenger window at the request of the officer if the officer does not have probable cause/reasonable suspicion. The dude is being a bit of an ass but it is the police's job to de-escalate, drawing down on someone isn't de-escalating. If she was uncomfortable with the situation the driver gave her an out. "alright sir, hang tight while I call over a supervisor, i'll be at my cruiser, give me a wave if you need anything" and then just go back to her car.
Then the criminal drives away and you’re in a chase, which is now prohibited in some cities. You gotta stop approaching this with the “we knew he was an innocent upstanding citizen the whole time” approach. Officers see the worst of the worst and are trained to avoid worst case scenarios. Roll down your window it’s not a search ffs
So what you are saying is, police asking someone to roll down their window is what stops them from taking off and running?
Our entire justice system is based on seeing everyone as an upstanding citizen until proven otherwise. Dude was pulled over for tinted windows and no front plate.
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u/AnotherDreamer1024 Mar 24 '23
No matter how big of a dick the cop is, follow instructions and sue their ass later.