Pointing guns at folks with no RAS that those specific folks were criminals goes against Terry. A cop points a gun at me without RAS, and I'm pursuing the hell outta criminal assault charges.
Technology should make it easier to catch the bad guys, while impacting citizens less. If it can't do that, don't use it until it can.
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If I knew what I do now when I was 15 I could've owned my local PD.
I was riding with my uncle to the local gas-station when we noticed numerous police cruisers coming our way on a two-lane road; naturally, we pulled into a parking lot so they could pass, being as we had no idea where they were going. When we pulled into the lot, the officers pulled in directly behind us (5 cruisers) and jumped out of their vehicles with guns drawn. We were in a parking lot on the right side of the road, and to the left of the road is our local mall. An officer yelled for my uncle to turn off the ignition to the van and throw the keys out of the driver's window. They then asked him to put his hands outside of the window and open the door with his left hand, while keeping his right hand in the air.
As he was exiting the vehicle, I became very nervous, and being as I did not know any better I exited the vehicle at the same time. When I came around the rear of the van I immediately faced down 4 pistols and a shotgun (I learned this after the fact being as I was in slow-motion once I realized they had their firearms pointed at me). They yelled at me very fiercely to put my hands above my head and to lay on my stomach. I really don't think words can express the tone of their voices.
I did as they asked, and immediately had four officers on top of me cuffing me violently, with two of them jamming their firearms into the back of my head. Only one officer stood over my uncle with his gun drawn, and they didn't cuff him until they had finished knocking me around.
They searched my uncle, me, and the van. When my uncle asked them why they had just "felony stopped" us, they stated that someone had called in and said that there was someone in a brown van bringing a gun to the fight that was occuring in the mall lot. We had no knowledge of such a fight, and it seemed a little strange that someone would "call in" and say such nonsense.
Once they determined that we were not the "suspected" individuals, they took the 'cuffs off and sent us on our way.
Fast-forward 5 years, and I began dating a girl whos uncle just happened to work for the Ashland PD (he was one of the officers that showed up after the fact), and we became friends. After several months of knowing him, I asked him about that night and if he remembered it, which he clearly did. I then asked him if they had honestly received a call or if it was bogus, and he answered truthfully -- it was bogus.
This can just go to show anyone that trouble can happen at anytime. We were minding our business and getting out of the officers' way as state law demands, and we ended up having our rights destroyed because of us doing so. What would have happened had we had a firearm? Would we have been booked on some phony charges? Perhaps; I guess I will never really know. It could have costed us large amounts of money and the possible loss of our rights if we had to fight the issue in court if we were charged.
If I were as intelligent as I am now I would have filed charges on the officers and the PD. The limitation for criminal charges is one year, and five years for civil.
I have attempted to find any source of information from that night and I have been unsuccessful. I was told that the local dispatch center did not have anything from that night through a FOIA request.
People say that things like this will never happen to them -- until they do!
