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[quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]So there's a guy with a gun in the car and you want the cops to turn their backs on him to talk to the wife? Bullets travel. From a distance means nothing. They didn't know if this guy was on something, if he was a wildcard who would just start shooting around him.[/quote]

Where did I say they should turn their backs to him? I said they should have stopped yelling, They should have stayed behind protective cover and they should have been ready to respond to a clear and present danger (such as his pointing the gun). But, they should have attempted to deescalate. 
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I don't disagree that all police could benefit from deescalation training, but it takes milliseconds to raise and fire a gun. If someone has a gun in their hand, they are milliseconds away from shooting and killing someone. That is an immediate threat. Police, for the safety of themselves and the public, need to address that threat. He was given a simple instruction (drop the gun) and he did not comply.[/quote]

I believe I have told this story before, but I'll tell it again. One day my wife and I were confronted by a guy who just said he had been robbed at gun point. I called 911 on my cell phone and then gave him the phone to tell what happened. While he was on the phone, he say the guy walking up the street. At the same time, a police cruiser drove by and he stopped it and pointed out the guy. One officer (for the record, officer was white, suspect was black) jumped out of the car and pursued the guy on foot. The suspect had a "puffy" coat jack like a down jacket but probably not down. He ran up the front steps of a building but then turned around and faced the police officer with his hands in his pockets. All of us thought he probably had his hand on his gun in his coat pocket and could start shooting (by all of us, I mean me, my wife, and the victim). The police officer pulled his weapon and started yelling for the guy to put his hands up. I was certain that the officer would eventually fire. But, he kept calm. This went on for a little while and then the suspect took off running. Suddenly the entire area was wall-to-wall police and they caught the guy after a foot chase. It turned out the gun was non-functional. That was a perfect demonstration of how to not unnecessary escalate a situation and I have nothing but praise for that officer.

Edit: Just for the benefit of the poster above saying that things are different when your or your wife's lives are on the line. When this happened, both me and my wife were pretty close to where any shooting would have taken place and well within range of the suspect had his weapon been functional (it's lack of functionality, of course, was not something we knew).
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NP. The officer was lucky the gun was not functional. Otherwise, he'd probably be dead. You can praise dumb heroism all you want, but you have absolutely no moral right to expect it from others. Zero right.
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