An embarrassingly basic question

[aardwolf]

If the officer drawns on you its just for his safety. If he requests you put your weapon down "Decline Politely"

[DParker]

And when the police get there, if its just one officer still hold your gun on the perp. If the officer drawns on you its just for his safety. If he requests you put your weapon down "Decline Politely" and tell him you will when the second officer arrives to cover the perp. He will understand your concerns, just dont have the gun pointed in his direction.

OK...I've had quite a run today of misinterpreting statements that were intented as sarcasm, so I'll have to wait until you confirm whether or not you were really serious there before commenting further.

[rm9792]

"You're not under arrest at this time. I'm simply handcuffing you for your safety and mine."

I have never understood this statement. Perhaps a thread where it can be adequately discussed would be appropriate. I do not see how restraining me would make me more safe. Yes, it might be more safe for the officer, but not me.

Anygunanywhere

Maybe in a domestic violence situation it would keep you and the other party from fighting. Tempers might be flaring, officer doesnt know at this point maybe who is doing what. Maybe your safety from the officer if you are uncuffed and move behind him you could get tazed, even if you were just getting comfortable. Some officers are very jumpy and skittish.

[anygunanywhere]

Maybe your safety from the officer if you are uncuffed and move behind him you could get tazed, even if you were just getting comfortable. Some officers are very jumpy and skittish.

You are really stretching this one.

Anygunanywhere

[rm9792]

probably.

[Kythas]

"You're not under arrest at this time. I'm simply handcuffing you for your safety and mine."

I have never understood this statement. Perhaps a thread where it can be adequately discussed would be appropriate. I do not see how restraining me would make me more safe. Yes, it might be more safe for the officer, but not me.

Anygunanywhere

You are of course correct, so the only way it makes sense is if he means: I am handcuffing you so that I don't get nervous and shoot you.

Basically, you're correct. However, we made a distinction between detaining and arresting. The handcuffs were to ensure the safety of the officers on scene primarily, and if the officers are less nervous, then it's safer for everyone involved. However, I've seen situations where people weren't handcuffed and - with police standing right there - would start swinging at each other. So it was also to protect the parties from each other in high tempered situations or situations which had the potential to escalate. We didn't always handcuff everyone at the scene - in fact, we rarely did - but wouldn't hesitate to do so if we felt the situation warranted it.

It was also to ensure nobody involved tried to run. I was a cop in New Orleans and had to deal with situations in the projects many times. There were often times suspects would run into projects and we'd never find them. Residents of the projects would actually light firecrackers and throw them off balconies at us, which would cause us to take cover as we wouldn't know if we were being shot at or not. This was to give cover for the suspect we were chasing so he could more easily escape.

Just for the record, no, I'm not a Katrina refugee. Texas is my home state and I came back here in '96.