African American Country Singer Coffey Anderson’s Traffic-Stop Etiquette Video

FYI,

https://www.yahoo.com/music/african-american-country-singer-coffey-andersons-073347823.html

This is a pretty good video. As a minority, my dad taught me this stuff very young. Just say "yes sir" or "no sir". When you get pulled over, put your hands up on the steering wheel. If you reach for your wallet or registration, tell the cop exactly what you are doing. DO NOT make any sudden moves, and make sure they can always see your hands. NEVER talk back or be a smart ass. Basically, pretty common sense stuff. I agree with this guy, it is safer for you, and safer for the cop. Nothing personal. I like this video.

 

So sad we need a video like this. The thing is you can still do everything right....and it can still end badly. I only have had one speeding ticket in my life. Scratch that. I almost got a ticket but I used the power of female tears to not receive it. I did everything you aren't supposed to do. Reached in the back for my purse. Started shaking. Didn't say yes sir or no sir.. just started shaking and stuttering Forgot my own name. Yeah..I am a mess. And started crying. If I was a black man..all those crazy moves I did might have got me shot. But because I am an asian female I cried my way out of a ticket.

 

Well, there is some pretty solid advice in there, of course.

But what do you do when you are shot within seconds of the police arriving and you don't have the opportunity to be respectful?

I'm getting a little tired of the extremes on both sides of these arguments. Not all police are bad. And not all police are good.

Take this most recent incident in New York. Yeah, the guy shouldn't have gotten out of the car in his fit of road rage. Had he not done that then he might very well be alive. This is true. What is also true is that the police officer, and one "witness" swore up and down that this guy was standing at the car window repeatedly punching the off-duty officer in the face until the officer shot him because he "had not choice."

Then comes the video and, whoops, the cop shot him immediately upon this guy arriving at the window. No punching. Just shooting.

The officers who shot Tamir Rice swore that they approached, ordered Rice to drop the weapon "at least three times." Then they shot him because he pointed the weapon at them and they "had no choice."

Then comes the video and, whoops, the cops shot him immediately upon driving up. No chance they yelled a warning, let alone three, and there was no real opportunity to comply.

In Seattle a police officer arrested an elderly African-American man, who was using a golf club as a cane, writing in her report that he was swinging it in an aggressive manner toward police.

Then comes the video and, whoops, he never did any such thing.

People, when they get in trouble, lie. Everyone does it. Criminals do it. Non-criminals do it. It's an instinct. But we're talking about police officers filing false police reports. Reports that we know to be false because video evidence, which they didn't know existed at the time they made their statements, has shown their story to be creatively retold to favor a narrative that is less damning to them.

Is there a race issue underlying all of it? Yeah, probably. But right now people are so caught up in their chosen narrative, either "the cops are always right" or "the cops are always wrong," that we cannot have a meaningful discussion. The result is that people whom I would consider "good cops" end up defending the sort of trash who lie to investigators to protect themselves because they feel that this is an "us versus them" situation. That's a problem we need to root out first before we address the finer points of who is considered in the "them" part of that equation.

 

"The result is that people whom I would consider "good cops" end up defending the sort of trash who lie to investigators to protect themselves because they feel that this is an "us versus them" situation. That's a problem we need to root out first before we address the finer points of who is considered in the "them" part of that equation."

That is discussed by this cop:

Watch: a black female police officer passionately condemns "racist" police shootings - Vox

 

Here are some others who decided to speak up.

 

I can't wait for all police to have body cams. And, of course, I cannot wait to start seeing ALL of the body cam footage (properly redacted) of what cops have to deal with. It will weed out the bad cops (hopefully) and will show the scoffing public what cops go through on a day to day basis.


We'll need some sort of channel where we can watch police interactions in bad areas of town. The results will be...illuminating.