Aaron1124
Regular Member
I was reading another thread on here, and it got me thinking. What if you're out on your day, minding your own business, when suddenly a man approaches you, draws a weapon, and tells you to get down, while yelling "POLICE!"?
Question: How do you know he's REALLY the police, and not some nutjob posing as one? Laws on impersonating a police officer do not stop people from impersonating police officers. There are many circumstances where officers truly have a case of mistaken identity, and may think you're a wanted suspect, when you're just Joe Blow out minding your own business.
What would generally come out of a situation like this? It seems like it's almost a lose/lose situation for yourself.
In Scenario 1, You can either trust that it's an officer, and obey his commands, and hope that you're right, and that you will eventually be on your way after everything is cleared up.
In Scenario 2, You choose not to trust that he's a police officer, and you do not obey his commands, because you have done nothing illegal. You take action and quickly draw and fire on him, killing him. It turns out that it was a police officer who misidentified you for someone else, and now you're in some hot water.
In Scenario 3, You choose not to trust that he's a police officer, and you do not obey his commands, because you have done nothing illegal. You take action and quickly draw and fire on him, killing him. It turns out that you were RIGHT, and it was not a police officer, and you have just used justifiable force (depending on state statutes)
In Scenario 4, You could simply end up shot yourself if you go to grab for your firearm, regardless if it's a police officer or a thug.
Question: How do you know he's REALLY the police, and not some nutjob posing as one? Laws on impersonating a police officer do not stop people from impersonating police officers. There are many circumstances where officers truly have a case of mistaken identity, and may think you're a wanted suspect, when you're just Joe Blow out minding your own business.
What would generally come out of a situation like this? It seems like it's almost a lose/lose situation for yourself.
In Scenario 1, You can either trust that it's an officer, and obey his commands, and hope that you're right, and that you will eventually be on your way after everything is cleared up.
In Scenario 2, You choose not to trust that he's a police officer, and you do not obey his commands, because you have done nothing illegal. You take action and quickly draw and fire on him, killing him. It turns out that it was a police officer who misidentified you for someone else, and now you're in some hot water.
In Scenario 3, You choose not to trust that he's a police officer, and you do not obey his commands, because you have done nothing illegal. You take action and quickly draw and fire on him, killing him. It turns out that you were RIGHT, and it was not a police officer, and you have just used justifiable force (depending on state statutes)
In Scenario 4, You could simply end up shot yourself if you go to grab for your firearm, regardless if it's a police officer or a thug.