If that's the case, that he's off duty, isn't this a much more serious crime? Improperly using the cop car, lights and siren, badge, weaponry, and authority of his position to pretend to be an officer preforming his duties when he's really harassing and pranking someone as a private citizen? That should definitely be a felony.

Actually, no. He has his badge displayed prominently, and his cuffs, pepper spray, and gun on his belt. He may be off duty, true, but there's nothing about his uniform that would indicate that. Not all officers wear blues. I've seen many officers on duty wearing similar clothing and gear.

No matter what, it's an abuse of his power and equipment for his own personal amusement.

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I hear pepper spray works wonders for getting cockroaches out of your upholstery.

...or cranking the stereo and climate control, locking the windows up and stepping out of the car. Once she reaches into the driver's compartment AT ALL, you can claim she's trying to steal the car and get medieval on her ass.

That was the homeowner spraying something at the guy coming at him with a crowbar. Possibly a bear bomb, as human-targeted pepper spray is considered a weapon up here, and you can't legally own it. Using pepper spray on a human is considered assault, regardless of the provocation.

That being said, I guarantee the charges were dropped to probably a fine, and the guy coming at him with the crowbar would have been arrested thanks to the video.

Was that the owner pepper spraying someone and then getting investigated by the police?

Yeah, Ontario has the rule now too, implemented a couple of years ago, but for a specific reason: there was apparently an idiotic game some big rigs drivers would play, trying to knock off an officer's hat with their side mirror. With predictably horrible results.

To avoid the lame defense that it was an oopsie, drivers are not forced to vacate the lane.

It was extended to cover all emergency vehicles and tow trucks last year too IIRC.

And I did actually see a woman get pulled over by a cop for buzzing by in the right lane - that, of course, is the appropriate response, rather than a ridiculous pepper spray attack. Wow.

Fort Worth police press release

Dallas Morning News article

"It's important to remember that cops are just humans with guns (and tazers and pepper spray). As such, you should treat them with the same caution that you'd treat any human armed with weapons."

This is brilliant. Best comment I have ever read about how to deal with police. Thanks @Jerykk

That's pretty stupid. Complete footage of the incident from the cameras of all the officers involved should have been released, unedited and uncensored. Police shouldn't get to pick and choose what gets shared.

That said, the councilman didn't really handle the situation well. If a cop tells you to step back, you should probably step back even if you aren't legally obligated to. Ignoring a cop or arguing with him/her is one of the worst things you can do. Physically resisting when they're trying to cuff you is the also a bad idea. If you feel that a cop's actions are unjustified and/or illegal, report him/her after you're inevitably freed and call a lawyer if necessary.

It's important to remember that cops are just humans with guns (and tazers and pepper spray). As such, you should treat them with the same caution that you'd treat any human armed with weapons.

He probably would have had a stern word with you about all the assumptions you're making too.

You've said the guy was unarmed as if it was an established fact when he was shot when it wasn't. You have said he was non-violent but his movement and demeanour certainly weren't submissive, and one really has to wonder what he was planning to do when he got close enough to the officer, kiss him?

My position in all this is that as a Brit I think it's madness that police have to go around with guns all the time. This simply couldn't happen in the UK so as far as I'm concerned it's a fully avoidable situation, just put all the fucking guns down.

However, it's really not that easy. Guns are everywhere in America so the police have to act accordingly. It's really easy with hindsight to say all the things you're saying but in the heat of the moment that cop has to assume the guy is armed and dangerous. That's the effect of having guns everywhere.

They're on the edge of a highway at night, the guy is lit with flashing lights and car headlights going past. This makes seeing bulges or anything like that that might indicate a weapon very difficult and yet you think the officer should have been able to tell this and be happy to risk his life on it? Bullshit.

People are suggesting that under the same circumstances it's a simple job to aim for an extremity and it's a guaranteed hit. Really? It's that easy? So easy you'd stake your life on it?

The guy committed suicide by cop. Plain and simple. He wasn't a compliant victim, he was a threat to the officer. His shuffling was strange and that in isolation isn't threatening, but shuffling closer and closer to an armed officer is a different story.

Maybe the cop should have pulled a tazer first? That wouldn't help much if the guy came out of the car with a gun. Or would it? I don't know. If a tazer would have worked in that situation please put me right, I'm no expert. To me it seems if a guy comes out of the car with a gun and points it at the officer then a gun would be more use in defence than a tazer. Same with pepper spray.

So maybe the officer should put the gun away as soon as he's established that the guy isn't armed? That's fine, I'm all in agreement there. But nowhere in the video is he able to establish that as fact. So if he started with a gun he sure as hell should still have it drawn all the way through this video.

I'm really fucking glad I don't have to deal with anything like this in the UK. It's shit that this happens. But given the prevalence of guns in the US I can't see any way this could have gone differently without risking the situation becoming like the videos reiwan posted.

lol bob

Perhaps we're not giving newtboy enough credit...he apparently has the cajones to approach a nutcase with a rifle while armed with pepper spray

maybe we can make a warrior out of him after all

Talk (officer one was just starting to try this)....then Taser/pepper spray....then shotgun bean bag/rubber bullets....THEN deadly force.
That simple.

I would say they exercised too much restraint in that case, i credit them for their restraint, but i wouldn't want things to get far enough to have one of them get shot. Smack the crap out of a fighter with a telescopic baton, by all means, or pepper spray, or tazer.

Interesting though that it was their own gun that ended up escalating the physical confrontation into a firearm confrontation. However with the wild west nostalgia for gun laws over there, i can't see how you could send them out unarmed.

I tried watching this but the word "selfie" irritates me beyond belief. It summarizes everything I despise about modern society in one little baby-talk word.

I wonder if this contraption could be hacked to twist off the head of whoever feels the need to use it? So far my attempts to hack iPhones to shoot pepper spray when used like this have failed. :-)