What would you do? Car cuts you off, then the driver exits and points a gun at you?

[vfrrwb]

If that were me, It would have been all throttle onto the hard shoulder... seeya! then I'd have found a marked car to report what happened.

Wouldn't have to go far, there was one right behind the biker.

[John]

heres my question:

it was 5 seconds before the guy ID'd himself as a cop.

if dude had a CCW, and shot him within that 5 seconds, who would be in trouble?

[magley64]

Wouldn't have to go far, there was one right behind the biker.

yeah, but if a car cut me off, and a man popped out with a gun, I wouldn't be checking my mirrors.

[vfrrwb]

If the biker had all the gear on with lots of Kevlar would the bullet even go through?

[magley64]

If the biker had all the gear on with lots of Kevlar would the bullet even go through?

helmet, not sure...leathers, definitely.

[KruelHouse]

The sad part is that if the cop would have simply opened the door and shown his BADGE... The rider (who may be a rational guy, though this isn't evidenced by his riding) may have just shut off the bike, camera, and removed his helmet to accept his ticket. Or maybe he could have just allowed the officer in the marked car (who's probably wearing a uniform) make the arrest... I mean, it's not like he's going to get a commission for closing the arrest or anything.

I mean honestly... If you're riding along, and someone emerges from an unmarked car with windows that look like they were painted black, brandishing a semi-automatic weapon... Would you expect that cat to be law enforcement, or someone who's about to put two in your chest and ride off with your sh*t? ESPECIALLY in MD!

[Disclaimer]

I can't speak for Black Tod, but I'm going to say it was handled improperly, unless they knew there was a black guy under all that cycle gear -- then you can never be too careful.

[Likwid]

heres my question:

it was 5 seconds before the guy ID'd himself as a cop.

if dude had a CCW, and shot him within that 5 seconds, who would be in trouble?

Legally? Or who's about to get gunned down by 50 other cops?

[mahdey]

what scares me is i have a ccw, i carry almost ALL the time even when i ride. The second i saw that guys gun i would have drawn my weapon immediately. I wonder how that would have turned out if i had drawn my weapon and fired.

[Sara_Rides]

.......everybody would be at arms (pardon the pun) about fault if it had been duel between a plain clothes officer and a licensed ccw citizen...

Seems the civilian is getting the short end of the stick this round--lucky it didn't turn out with shots fired...

[Rod38um]

We seem to have a habit of hiring police officers who have a bully type of personality. What kills me is no matter how many times you show video of cops beating some poor innocent person or tasering an already subdued person just for kicks. there will be a dozen officers speak up and defend those actions as justified.

(In fear of a motorcycle backing away).......well hell, if he had tried to get away from the percieved car jacker, would that have justified shooting him?

I sure wish they would hire people with a brain instead of the wide eyed idiot mumbling "badge and gun" "badge and gun" "yeh, yeh" "badge and gun"

Edited April 17, 2010 by Rod38um

[FZRMatt]

I was debating on replying to this post, but speaking as a "wide eyed idiot", I will say that there are some things that should have been done differently on both parties part.

First, how about the biker not putting himself in that position to begin with. Even though the rider seemed to be in "control" while riding, he still put himself and everyone else on the road at risk by pulling a wheelie on a public road with traffic.

Second, the trooper should not have made the "traffic stop" in the way he did. Although I wouldn't concider that being "cut off", he should have let the marked cruiser conduct the stop (it was right there anyway). In my city, traffic stops are to only be conducted by marked cruisers with officers in uniform. However, it is not illegal nor discouraged in other areas.

And third, had the trooper allowed the marked unit to conduct the stop, this would all be a non-issue, but he didn't. So, just because the bike is backing away, doesn't mean that it is not a threat to the trooper. Had the rider dropped the bike in 1st gear and took off forward, he would then be piloting a 600lb (rider included) weapon directly toward the trooper. The trooper will then have almost zero time to react, and it could easilybecome a deadly force situation (and a justified one at that depending on their laws about unmarked vehicles making traffic stops).

Feel free to tell me what a douche bag I am for defending the loose cannon (even though I'm not). I am simply trying to show the side of the equasion that the non-law enforcement person never sees. Also, video only tells part of the story and we didn't see what (if anything) else happened before the stop was made.

Sorry is the post comes across as cranky or grumpy, but is was a long night at work and to be honest the F-ing cop crap gets old after a while.

[Rod38um]

I am simply trying to show the side of the equasion that the non-law enforcement person never sees.

Sorry is the post comes across as cranky or grumpy, but is was a long night at work and to be honest the F-ing cop crap gets old after a while.

Cops would not have the horrible reputation they do if the extreme actions of a few were not defended by the many..... Policing your own goes a long way.......

Anyone.......even us "civilians" just want to be treated with respect.

And you didnt come off as cranky or grumpy......

[mahdey]

In Ohio it is illegal to be pulled over by an unmarked car. The OSP even issued a press release saying to never stop for unmarked police cars, they cannot pull you over. If this happened to me in Ohio i would have drawn my weapon and fired.

[Lost]

Now honestly,

Had he not posted it on Utube it would have went away, What a dumb ass, like that idiot that posted his speeding videos on myspace.

Most of you are too young to remember trying to get he 56k connection. most of the connections were 28.8

[jagr]

I've got YouTube videos of bikes doing an easy 170 and I'm right next to it recording it.

What's the problem with that?

[John]

I was debating on replying to this post, but speaking as a "wide eyed idiot", I will say that there are some things that should have been done differently on both parties part.

First, how about the biker not putting himself in that position to begin with. Even though the rider seemed to be in "control" while riding, he still put himself and everyone else on the road at risk by pulling a wheelie on a public road with traffic.

Second, the trooper should not have made the "traffic stop" in the way he did. Although I wouldn't concider that being "cut off", he should have let the marked cruiser conduct the stop (it was right there anyway). In my city, traffic stops are to only be conducted by marked cruisers with officers in uniform. However, it is not illegal nor discouraged in other areas.

And third, had the trooper allowed the marked unit to conduct the stop, this would all be a non-issue, but he didn't. So, just because the bike is backing away, doesn't mean that it is not a threat to the trooper. Had the rider dropped the bike in 1st gear and took off forward, he would then be piloting a 600lb (rider included) weapon directly toward the trooper. The trooper will then have almost zero time to react, and it could easilybecome a deadly force situation (and a justified one at that depending on their laws about unmarked vehicles making traffic stops).

Feel free to tell me what a douche bag I am for defending the loose cannon (even though I'm not). I am simply trying to show the side of the equasion that the non-law enforcement person never sees. Also, video only tells part of the story and we didn't see what (if anything) else happened before the stop was made.

Sorry is the post comes across as cranky or grumpy, but is was a long night at work and to be honest the F-ing cop crap gets old after a while.

the guy didnt identify himself when he got out of the car. he said "GET OFF THE MOTORCYCLE" three times before he identified himself as a cop. how was dude supposed to know its a cop? its perfectly reasonable to back up. any normal person would feel they are in danger in that situation.

if he would have started out with "state police" instead of "get off the motorcycle", then all would be well.

the stop is a secondary issue though IMO. sure mistakes were made in the stop... but the real problem is the state pressing retaliatory charges against him for posting the video of mistakes being made.

Edited April 17, 2010 by John

[FZRMatt]

if he would have started out with "state police" instead of "get off the motorcycle", then all would be well.

the stop is a secondary issue though IMO. sure mistakes were made in the stop... but the real problem is the state pressing retaliatory charges against him for posting the video of mistakes being made.

Let me start off by saying that I appreciate the fact that no "F-ing cop" stuff was posted in any of the replies to my post.

I 100% agree that the trooper handled the initial contact in a completely wrong and tactically incorrect way. I say tactically incorrect because handling a situation in a tactical manner is what keeps myself and other officers alive every night. Again, if he had let the marked cruiser make the stop in the first place, this wouldn't be an issue. Had the rider had a CCW permit, he would definitely have a case for self defense had he shot. As far as the charges being retaliatory, we don't know if the state prosecutes those cases aggressively on a consistent basis. If they do, it obviously isn't retaliatory, but we don't know for sure. To be honest, I wish our state/city had the balls to prosecute a lot of the things that they don't.

On a side note John, do you live close enough to hear the shots fired at club Ice/Fire tonight?

[Strictly Street]

The felony is for recording audio of a law enforcement officer without consent from my understanding.

Fixed!

The video happened "In the public eye"

(On a highway and is not protected by any law)

Just the audio under the states wiretap law.

If he would have posted the video without a sound track nobody could do anything about it.

[chevysoldier]

^You should be allowed to record audio. What if the cop says something like "If you give me a BJ I'll let you go" It's happened.

I carry a digital voice recorder sometimes when I CC, and all the time when I OC. It's to protect my me.

[NinjaNick]

First, how about the biker not putting himself in that position to begin with.

That isn't important. What happened, happened.

In Ohio it is illegal to be pulled over by an unmarked car. The OSP even issued a press release saying to never stop for unmarked police cars, they cannot pull you over. If this happened to me in Ohio i would have drawn my weapon and fired.

I would NEVER pull over for an unmarked car! They even say for our safety not to or ride to the nearest police station if you are concerned. There has been cases of them not really being officers and killers instead.

[Uncle Punk]

^You should be allowed to record audio. What if the cop says something like "If you give me a BJ I'll let you go" It's happened.

I carry a digital voice recorder sometimes when I CC, and all the time when I OC. It's to protect my me.

Two different states, two different laws. As it should be.

[chevysoldier]

Two different states, two different laws. As it should be.

No I got that part, just think the law to not be able to record audio, in a public area is BS and why it should be legal to do.

[Uncle Punk]

Choose to obey, choose to ignore, choose to change or choose to live in a state that meets your expectations.

[chevysoldier]

Choose to obey, choose to ignore, choose to change or choose to live in a state that meets your expectations.

Well said.