I’m a cop. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me.

By Sunil Dutta, a professor of homeland security at Colorado Tech University and an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department for 17 years:

Even though it might sound harsh and impolitic, here is the bottom line: if you don’t want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you. Don’t argue with me, don’t call me names, don’t tell me that I can’t stop you, don’t say I’m a racist pig, don’t threaten that you’ll sue me and take away my badge. Don’t scream at me that you pay my salary, and don’t even think of aggressively walking towards me. Most field stops are complete in minutes. How difficult is it to cooperate for that long?

http://wapo.st/VCJFTr

CNN has cataloged some of the response to the column: http://cnn.it/1nk9CyG

 

Militarization: It's not just about the cool equipment!

 

The truth and common sense always seem to bother a certain segment of society.

 

Mixed feelings about this. I was always taught to be respectful of police officers, but I'm having trouble with the underlying sentiment that you shouldn't challenge authority.

 

Don't look at as authority...look at it as law enforcement.

 

This part was great.

Later, you can ask for a supervisor, lodge a complaint or contact civil rights organizations if you believe your rights were violated. Feel free to sue the police!

Yes. Because cops always thoroughly investigate those complaints.

 

If I were a minority, and had seen one innocent person I knew after another hauled in and locked up, I might put up some resistance, too.

 

To me, this crosses the line between respect and fear. If you opt for compliance because of the threat of bodily harm, that is not respect. Wise use of survival instinct, yes, but not respect.

 

I agree with the overall sentiment but I thought he came across as a bully and it was a bit much. Kind of overlooks the fact that people are pretty regularly harassed/stopped for no good reason other than their race/age/class. If I was a teenage black kid stopped for what I perceived to be no good reason other than that I'm a teenage black kid, I wouldn't be so inclined to cooperate either.

 

Certain people in Massachusetts thought it was OK to kill law enforcement in 1775. What's the difference if people who are threatened by a Type-A with a badge and a gun try it today?

 

Mostly that they'll end up dead.

The fact is, if you come across an asshole cop, giving him grief is not going to endear him to you. It's likely going to escalate things.

If you act calmly, the cop likely will too.

Even in the best tellings of the Michael Brown story, it begins with him being asked/told by the cop to get out of the middle of the road. Instead of doing so, he mouths off and continues on in the middle of the road.

Regardless of anything else that happened, and even if Darren Wilson is a racist motherfucker, who was just looking to take out a black kid, the whole thing would have been over in 10 seconds if Brown had been polite, and moved to the side of the street or sidewalk.

This whole column just sounds a lot like "the conversation" we heard about in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin case. I'm not sure why it upsets folks so much, especially since the author is not white.

 

The author's race/ethnicity does not change the fact that people are harassed/stopped for no good reason quite often. And how does the author square this with his overall point?:

Sure, I'll just accept it and lodge a complaint later. I'm sure that will be worth my time.