Steerpike

Saw reports about this on CNN and other channels today (Samuel DuBose).

Samuel DuBose video appears to show two officers reinforced false account of police killing

Like so many other similar incidents recently, the issue started with something trivial - the guy was pulled over for having no front license plate. A few minutes later, he is shot in the head and killed. In this case the cop was wearing a body camera and the camera contradicted his account of the incident, and now a grand jury has indicted the cop for murder.

Are you in the "it's his fault; he should have just got out of the car when told to do so" camp, or do you see a bigger picture problem that being stopped for a front license plate violation should not result in death?

Thankfully, in this case, the (Republican) prosecutor indicted the cop for murder and this will now go to trial. Several people said this would not have happened without the camera footage; it would have been just another case of the cop's word against the dead guy.

scrubbedexpat091

Glad the video was there and prime example as to why all officers need to wear them, have no way to turn them off, and no way to delete or alter the video.

moneypenny20

How dumb must the copper be for lying when he knows there's video proof?

Beaverstate

Shows why some police departments have tried to outlaw private citizens from recording their interactions with the public.

Pulaski

I'll admit to previously being mystified as to why anyone would pick a fight with a cop, or try to run off, as it is quite obvious no good is going to come of it, but this case appears to be in a different league entirely. The video is a bit jumbled, but it doesn't appear to me that the cop was, as he claimed, "dragged" before firing his gun, so I think the cop is in a whole heap of trouble. What intrigues me is that apparently there were two other cops at the scene when the shooting occured, so if the stop was for a missing front registration plate, why were three cops already there when the victim was first confronted? What is the run-up to/ context of the shooting?

The trial is about to start of a local cop shooting here in NC, and just yesterday they announced that the jury of twelve, plus four alternates, has been finalized. In this case, again there were multiple cops on the scene, and from what I understand of the story at least two other cops already had the incident (which really wasn't much of anything other than a broken down car and an over anxious home owner) under control when this idiot cop arrives on the scene, jumps out of his car and shoots the car owner, not just once or twice, but empties the clip of twelve bullets, striking the victim ten times. I am astounded only that the charge is relatively minor, with the cop facing IIRC five years in prison.

Lion in Winter

And here (partly) is where the fear thing that I was talking about earlier kicks in. First,there is an assumption that a man knocking on the door of a home means harm and constitutes a danger. Then there is an assumption by the cop who killed him that the man is dangerous. In both cases, he is doing nothing at all to warrant that conclusion. Fear and fear-caused adrenalin lead to his killing. Remind me not to knock on anyone's door if I have an accident - although as a white woman I'm probably somewhat less at risk.....

Pulaski

I do not agree the home owner did anything wrong. In an outer-suburbs subdivision the homeowner heard a noise outside late at night, and called the police to check up on what was going on. Under similar circumstances a few years ago a homeowner in Texas shot and killed a British driver who was seeking assistance for a broken down car; that was probably excessive, but the homeowner wasn't even attested, much less charged with a crime.

Lion in Winter

I don't think I would call police just becuse someone is outside. Maybe it's just me. I agree he committed no crime, however, nor should he have been charged with anything. It's just fear at work. You are entitled to call the police if you are afraid of someone - my question is simply around why people are so easily made afraid? Do people in the country in the UK call police for similar things, for example?

Pulaski

If someone is thrashing around in your front yard in the middle of the night, I would say "yes, they do". ..... I certainly wouldn't open the door to someone hammering on my front door at midnight even if I was still living in the UK, but then I have always kept my car doors locked too when driving.

Lion in Winter

Was he thrashing around and hammering? You may be right, I just haven't read that detail.

I suppose at 8' 4" or whatever you said you were you feel vulnerable in the car

Pulaski

He was banging on the door and calling for help, IIRC. I don't recall if he was drunk, but he might have been.

Jericho79

If/when pulled over by police, do you simply oblige them and do as you're asked to make the process easier, even if you've been wrongly stopped (or feel that you've been wrongly stopped)?

As I white guy, the only time I've been stopped is when I've been caught speeding. I've never been stopped/questioned for no reason. So it's difficult for me to understand how frustrating it must be to be pulled over for no actual reason- simply because of my skin colour. I can also see how scary a proposition this must be- the news is full of stories of black guys being killed by police, when in most cases, the infraction was minor (if any at all). If I was in a country where white guys were being shot and killed by police with alarming frequency, I'd be on the defensive too.

The law imposes certain restrictions on what police officers can/cannot do, and provides us with with certain rights. Police officers cannot open your car door for instance for no reason. The driver wasn't under arrest or caution. So he was well within his rights to attempt to shut the door. There was no suspicion of any illegal activity- he was pulled over for the missing plate, but the officer clearly instructed him not to get his papers from the glovebox.

This is happening all to frequently right now. I'm not sure if this is a recent phenomenon, or if this has always taken place but the media is now paying attention. With more cameras, etc, we can only hope that justice is done. Before now, the police would close ranks and there'd be no evidence- cops word against the victim. Cops win every time. But with these body cameras, camera phones, etc, at least we get to see an unbiased account of what happened.

An extremely sad situation, but i sense it will get worse before it gets better. We do not seem to be seeing this happening with black cops shooting white people.

Nutek

Really? I would.

Pulaski

Well if I recognise them, or their voice, as a neighbour I would, but just some random person in knocking on the door in the middle of the night? Hell, no!

Of course that is unlikely because I have lived in a cul-de-sac for most of my life, so there is no passing traffic. Apart from when I was a student and a few years after graduating when I was renting (aggregate 9 years), and my brief time in New York and VA (aggregate 15 months), every house my parents or I have owned and lived in since I was 18 months old has been in a cul-de-sac.

SultanOfSwing

I guess you try as best you can. Even if you are wrongly stopped, there really is little point in arguing about it because they will just find something to ticket you for, or arrest you for, or otherwise make your day miserable for.

It's not right, but it's self preservation. Though I did take a bit of a chance suggesting to a policeman who cited me for failure to yield in a 50-50 fender bender that his assessment of the incident was 'subjective'. Didn't matter though, I still ended up having to pay $325.00 in court, the ****er.

I wouldn't, UK, US or anywhere. Someone banging on your door at midnight is never going to be good. It's either bad news, a burglar or someone that is going to need you to do something for them. Let the bad news wait until the morning and for anything else, let them bugger off down the road and become the neighbour's problem

That being said, I'd probably not call the police for a simple noise, I'd take a torch and a cast-iron frying pan and have a quick look myself. I know the crime stats of our town - violent crime is very rare, but opportunistic burglary is common. A small-time thief is probably going to think twice about ****ing with a pissed-off looking baldie with a big pan ready to smack him with it. He runs away, I get to go back to bed and nobody I care about (plus one person I don't) gets hurt.