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Did this police officer act correctly?

Did this officer act appropriately?

  • Yes

    Votes: 2 13.3%
  • No

    Votes: 13 86.7%

  • Total voters
    15

Peter Grimm

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I will just leave this. This is in Florida, where concealed carry is legal. Also, per Florida law, he does not have to advise the officer that he is armed unless asked.

 
I will just leave this. This is in Florida, where concealed carry is legal. Also, per Florida law, he does not have to advise the officer that he is armed unless asked.



I stopped watching at 1:33 where I had seen all I needed to with the quote "I don't care if you have a permit or not"
 
Law abiding American citizens should not be treated this way.

He made no reach for the firearm and showed no distress. He did not even argue with the cop. In my mind, they are both lucky to the man did not act in self defense to the unwarranted threat on his life.
 
I will just leave this. This is in Florida, where concealed carry is legal. Also, per Florida law, he does not have to advise the officer that he is armed unless asked.



I don't blame the cop. The guy had an opportunity to tell the cop he was carrying and didn't do so. THE COP SAW THE GUN. "Oh, by the way, sir, do you have a license to carry that firearm?" Really? You expect a cop to do that?

I don't. He did just fine.
 
I will just leave this. This is in Florida, where concealed carry is legal. Also, per Florida law, he does not have to advise the officer that he is armed unless asked.



The officer was just making mistakes right and left. He refuses to acknowledge that the driver had a concealed carry permit when told, or act to confirm it. He tells the driver he did not care if the driver had a CCW after being told again by both the driver and his wife. He then tries to justify his actions by twice accusing the driver of brandishing, and failing to reveal he had a CCW despite the record showing both the driver and his wife stated this several times.

I believe this officer clearly overreacted. Perhaps it is time for some discipline?

I don't blame the cop. The guy had an opportunity to tell the cop he was carrying and didn't do so. THE COP SAW THE GUN. "Oh, by the way, sir, do you have a license to carry that firearm?" Really? You expect a cop to do that?

Actually, in this non-threatening situation? Yes I would expect a cop in a jurisdiction allowing CCW and no reason to inform unless asked to do just that. Ask.
 
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I have seen far to many cases in which officers do not know the laws they are there to enforce and resort to "anything I say is the law" mindset. This seems to be another example of that.
 
In this case the charges against the driver were dismissed. The driver sued the deputy and those charges were also dismissed.

I don't have any problem with the charges against the cop being dismissed as he didn't actually do anything wrong but he should have received a whole lot of additional training because he also didn't do much of anything right.

SMITH v. COX | Leagle.com
 
I don't blame the cop. The guy had an opportunity to tell the cop he was carrying and didn't do so. THE COP SAW THE GUN. "Oh, by the way, sir, do you have a license to carry that firearm?" Really? You expect a cop to do that?

I don't. He did just fine.

That's the law in Florida. The man had no obligation to tell the cop he had a weapon. Maybe the law is dumb, but this man didn't break any laws.
 
In this case the charges against the driver were dismissed. The driver sued the deputy and those charges were also dismissed.

I don't have any problem with the charges against the cop being dismissed as he didn't actually do anything wrong but he should have received a whole lot of additional training because he also didn't do much of anything right.

SMITH v. COX | Leagle.com

This cop should have been fired, IMO. You can't just go around mistreating law-abiding citizens. The cop was freaking out over a gun, but the man was clearly not being aggressive toward the officer.
 
I don't blame the cop. The guy had an opportunity to tell the cop he was carrying and didn't do so. THE COP SAW THE GUN. "Oh, by the way, sir, do you have a license to carry that firearm?" Really? You expect a cop to do that?

I don't. He did just fine.

I disagree Maggie. As per the OP, in Florida there is no duty for the license holder to inform law enforcement. Take a gander at one of the Alaska State Trooper shows to see how they deal with it. This aint that and the officer here gets it wrong.
 
I disagree Maggie. As per the OP, in Florida there is no duty for the license holder to inform law enforcement. Take a gander at one of the Alaska State Trooper shows to see how they deal with it. This aint that and the officer gets it wrong.

The point is that the officer saw the gum. Now it's not even properly concealed, right? If we, the collective we, are expecting officers to ASSUME when they see a gun in someone's waistband that its LEGAL? I think the collective we is nuts.
 
This cop should have been fired, IMO. You can't just go around mistreating law-abiding citizens. The cop was freaking out over a gun, but the man was clearly not being aggressive toward the officer.

The cop overreacted quite a bit but unless he had a habit of freaking out I can't say he should be fired based on just what we saw in the video.
 
I don't blame the cop. The guy had an opportunity to tell the cop he was carrying and didn't do so. THE COP SAW THE GUN. "Oh, by the way, sir, do you have a license to carry that firearm?" Really? You expect a cop to do that?

I don't. He did just fine.

Aside from the f-bombs, I have no problem with the officer's actions.
 
The point is that the officer saw the gum. Now it's not even properly concealed, right? If we, the collective we, are expecting officers to ASSUME when they see a gun in someone's waistband that its LEGAL? I think the collective we is nuts.


Maggie, if you carry on a regular basis I GUARANTEE that you'll end up exposing your sidearm from time to time. The only way to prevent that from happening is to wear it in such a way that it's generally inaccessible which is useless. Concealed carry laws that prohibit any kind of exposure are ridiculous.

-edit-

Why would it be "nuts" to expect the cop to assume your sidearm is legal? Aren't we all entitled to the presumption of innocence?
 
The point is that the officer saw the gum. Now it's not even properly concealed, right? If we, the collective we, are expecting officers to ASSUME when they see a gun in someone's waistband that its LEGAL? I think the collective we is nuts.

Once again, there are many states where concealed carry is legal. Heck, they pretty much assume everyone is armed when they do a stop in Alaska. The guy was very cooperative with the officer. All the officer needed to do, which he didn't btw, was to secure the fellow and the gun until he cleared up the licensing. He didn't need to order him to the ground, nor did he need to threaten him.
 
Maggie, if you carry on a regular basis I GUARANTEE that you'll end up exposing your sidearm from time to time. The only way to prevent that from happening is to wear it in such a way that it's generally inaccessible which is useless. Concealed carry laws that prohibit any kind of exposure are ridiculous.

That's why I bought that Sneaky Pete. Don't even have to cover it. Oh, and I was taught in my CC class to always let the cop know you're both LICENSED to carry and IF you're carrying. (Nothing worse than a Smarty Pants Newbie.) ;)

Just save your edit: What's the matter with me that I can understand a cop wanting to make it home alive after his shift so bad that he wouldn't assume?
 
That's why I bought that Sneaky Pete. Don't even have to cover it. Oh, and I was taught in my CC class to always let the cop know you're both LICENSED to carry and IF you're carrying. (Nothing worse than a Smarty Pants Newbie.) ;)

That's probably good advice for Illinois. Out here I figure they'd just look at you funny.:lol:
 
The point is that the officer saw the gum. Now it's not even properly concealed, right? If we, the collective we, are expecting officers to ASSUME when they see a gun in someone's waistband that its LEGAL? I think the collective we is nuts.

Couldn't he have asked for the CCW permit after he got control of the situation? Instead, he got the guy to the ground, cuffed him, got him in the patrol car, arrested him and took him in.

The whole thing seemed excessive and over the top to me. I can sympathize with an officer who legitimately thinks there's a threat to his life wanting to get the suspect on the ground and get control of the situation. But once that was established...
 
That's why I bought that Sneaky Pete. Don't even have to cover it. Oh, and I was taught in my CC class to always let the cop know you're both LICENSED to carry and IF you're carrying. (Nothing worse than a Smarty Pants Newbie.) ;)

Just save your edit: What's the matter with me that I can understand a cop wanting to make it home alive after his shift so bad that he wouldn't assume?

Threatening to shoot a man in the back and illegally detaining him is "wanting to make it home alive"? I think that worry more belongs to the man that had the gun pointed at him, maybe I'm wrong though
 
The cop overreacted quite a bit but unless he had a habit of freaking out I can't say he should be fired based on just what we saw in the video.

You could be right, actually. I do sympathize with any officer who feels his life is in danger, it just seemed excessive to me. Imagine if that had been you, and that were your wife watching you get taken to the ground and hauled off to jail.

This man broke no laws, it's disturbing to watch.
 
Couldn't he have asked for the CCW permit after he got control of the situation? Instead, he got the guy to the ground, cuffed him, got him in the patrol car, arrested him and took him in.

The whole thing seemed excessive and over the top to me. I can sympathize with an officer who legitimately thinks there's a threat to his life wanting to get the suspect on the ground and get control of the situation. But once that was established...

I stopped watching before that happened. Stopped when the guy got him up off the ground. Yeah, that part was definitely over the top. I agree. If FL officers can't run a license check cross-referencing gun permits, they're in the dark ages.

Threatening to shoot a man in the back and illegally detaining him is "wanting to make it home alive"? I think that worry more belongs to the man that had the gun pointed at him, maybe I'm wrong though

:lol: :lol:
 
That's why I bought that Sneaky Pete. Don't even have to cover it. Oh, and I was taught in my CC class to always let the cop know you're both LICENSED to carry and IF you're carrying. (Nothing worse than a Smarty Pants Newbie.) ;)

Just save your edit: What's the matter with me that I can understand a cop wanting to make it home alive after his shift so bad that he wouldn't assume?

Perhaps in your state there is an legal obligation to inform the officer? There is none in Florida.
 
There is no way this could get a "yes" vote, there was no reason for such a reaction from that officer.
 
That's the law in Florida. The man had no obligation to tell the cop he had a weapon. Maybe the law is dumb, but this man didn't break any laws.

It may be the law but anytime a cop pulls me over and I have a concealed weapon on me that is the first thing I am telling him. Want to be upfront with him so there is no misunderstanding.

We have had too many cop killings and would think every person they pull over could be a potential cop killer. It is sad but that the way it is anymore.

The cop could have handled this far more better than he did.
 
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