civilian coming at you

[penelhum212]

How would you handle a situation such as:

You witness a driver traveling 30 MPH above the speed limit so you pull the car over. You approach the car and ask for the driver's ID, which he/she hands over to you without incident. You return to your vehicle with the person's ID. As you enter this information in your mobile system, the driver gets out of the car, hands to the side, no weapon that you can see, and approaches your police vehicle, approaching in a steady but commanding pace.

what is the proper way to deal with this situation? does it matter if the person is twice your size and looks like an MMA fighter or smaller in physical size?

ive been trying to come up with scenarios in my head, and how i would answer a question if asked during a panel interview, and this scenario i have never been able to figure out whether deadly force would be required, or whether this is one of those situations where hand to hand combat (or less lethal option) will come into play if that's on the driver's mind.

Thank You

[Iowa #1603]

You are going to be told to return to your vehicle. If you refuse and keep coming------------------

You are going to meet Mr Glock----what happens next is going to be up to the civilian.

I don't care how big you are (or are not) if you are Bruce Lee or Joe Blow

[Sierra259]

It depends.

Everyone's answers are going to be different and there is nothing black/white about this profession. And even though you provided more detail than most of the posters asking this question usually do, it still isn't enough to provide you with a complete answer.

Easiest thing to do is ask, tell, make. In my opinion, if they are already out of the car, then out of the car they will stay. Direct them to show their hands, turn around and walk backwards towards me. If they refuse to comply, I will take the use of force steps required to keep both of us safe. Also, start another unit to assist me.

I am lucky that I work in a place where I do not have to run license/warrants checks on my computer, I can do everything over the air.

ETA: And by "use of force steps required", I mean you will probably be meeting the business end of my Glock. Depends on the situation, though.

[mdrdep]

That person is going to either comply with my orders or go to jail (or possibly the morgue), most likely after a medical okay to book. That's about as far as I'm going to say here.

[CCCSD]

I will take the action that is needed and within my agency's guidelines.

[jdthor]

First thing is they are already not following my instructions because i will have already told the to remain in their car for their safety aswell as mine.
When their door opens i will already be stepping out of the car issuing instructions once again to stay in their vehicle .At that point if they are still refusing to listen and do as instructed they will get the normal show me your hands and leather will be cleared.

[L-1]

Assuming there is no one behind you, you can always drop the patrol car in reverse and back up, putting a quick and respectable distance between you and the driver. If he keeps coming (ignoring your commands to stop and get back in his car) you can keep backing up until back up arrives, or he gets tired of walking, or you run out of gas.

[penelhum212]

Thank you all. Much appreciated.

[Lady Blue]

I can assure you that you will have a good idea of just how big the bore of a .45 appears when it is pointed directly at you.

[So Fla Cop]

It depends if it is raining or not.

[Shush]

It really depends on each agencies Force Continuum, but what the suspect is displaying is nonverbal active aggression. PPCT says the appropriate response would be intermediate weapons. Failure to obey a verbal command would raise your response immediately to intermediate weapons (baton, etc.), although a lot of agencies now have a pain compliance category to precede intermediate weapons, making the appropriate response taser or spray.

This question would be hard to answer in an oral because it does depend specifically on the departments policy and defined force continuum. In some departments, the firearm may be ok. In some - not so much. I would say personally that in the scenario you provided,non-lethal pain compliance would be my first choice if he did not respond to verbal command.

[SmallCityCop]

The simple act of refusing or failing to comply is grounds for my Tazer.... or my Glock, if I can articulate it.

[tj05]

The simple act of refusing or failing to comply is grounds for my Tazer.... or my Glock, if I can articulate it.

I'd probably go the taser route

[penelhum212]

It really depends on each agencies Force Continuum, but what the suspect is displaying is nonverbal active aggression. PPCT says the appropriate response would be intermediate weapons. Failure to obey a verbal command would raise your response immediately to intermediate weapons (baton, etc.), although a lot of agencies now have a pain compliance category to precede intermediate weapons, making the appropriate response taser or spray.

This question would be hard to answer in an oral because it does depend specifically on the departments policy and defined force continuum. In some departments, the firearm may be ok. In some - not so much. I would say personally that in the scenario you provided,non-lethal pain compliance would be my first choice if he did not respond to verbal command.

cool thanks

[CCCSD]

I don't detail my tactics on the web as EVERYTHING is discoverable.