Trying to predict the outcome of any encounter with the police is a bit like playing Russian roulette: most of the time you will emerge relatively unscathed, although decidedly poorer and less secure about your rights, but there's always the chance that an encounter will turn deadly.
The odds weren't in Walter L. Scott's favor. Reportedly pulled over for a broken taillight, Scott--unarmed--ran away from the police officer, who pursued and shot him from behind, first with a Taser, then with a gun. Scott was struck five times, "three times in the back, once in the upper buttocks and once in the ear -- with at least one bullet entering his heart."
Samuel Dubose, also unarmed, was pulled over for a missing front license plate. He was reportedly shot in the head after a brief struggle in which his car began rolling forward.
Levar Jones was stopped for a seatbelt offense, just as he was getting out of his car to enter a convenience store. Directed to show his license, Jones leaned into his car to get his wallet, only to be shot four times by the "fearful" officer. Jones was also unarmed.
Bobby Canipe was pulled over for having an expired registration. When the 70-year-old reached into the back of his truck for his walking cane, the officer fired several shots at him, hitting him once in the abdomen.
Dontrell Stevens was stopped "for not bicycling properly." Four seconds later, the sheriff's deputy shot Stephens four times as he pulled a black object from his waistband. The object was his cell phone. Stephens was unarmed.
If there is any lesson to be learned from these "routine" traffic stops, it is that drivers should beware.
At a time when police can do no wrong--at least in the eyes of the courts, police unions and politicians dependent on their votes--and a "fear" for officer safety is used to justify all manner of police misconduct, "we the people" are at a severe disadvantage.
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