Police review video of Northern California officer pulling gun on man recording him

[closeupready]

Source: LA Times

A Northern California police department is reviewing a video showing one of its officers pulling a gun on a man who was recording him on his cellphone..

The video, posted on YouTube, shows a Rohnert Park Public Safety officer driving toward Don McComas as he's filming. As McComas moves in closer to record the license plate number on the officer’s police SUV, the officer stops, gets out and tells McComas to take his hand out of his pocket.

McComas replies: “No sir, I’ve done nothing. I have done absolutely nothing. No.”

The officer removes his gun from his holster, speaks into his radio and says, “Seriously.”

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-gun-officer-video-recording-20150805-story.html

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Take their guns away. Local law enforcement agents are brutalizing citizens, as we all know.

[HassleCat]

1. They do this now

The police are so afraid of citizens they will taze people for having hands in pockets, making "sudden movement" and just about anything else you can think of.

[The Green Manalishi]

3. I don't know about you, but

If a police officer tells me to remove my hands from my pockets and put them where he can see them, I'd doing it. There's a difference between submitting to tyranny and commons sense to avoid self Darwination.

Not talking about submitting to BS shakedowns, acquiescing to an illegal interrogation or otherwise waiving my rights, no Jackbooted Thug lover at all, but not following those instructions to get your hands out of your pockets is not very bright.

FWIW, most of the PD's around here, particularly in the wake of the Andy Lopez shooting and a few others (mostly disturbed individuals) are making real efforts to learn about de-escalation and the like..... but yeah, hands in pockets will get you tazed, if you are lucky; for those of us in the reality based world, of any color, that is reality and it is not going to change any time soon.

The above going said, there is a real disturbing feeling about this case... ALL interactions with police should be recorded, all the time, anyone against that is part of the problem, anyone interfering with it is a criminal.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

8. hands in pockets will get you tazed??

That's crazy. People walk around all the time with hands in their pockets. INSANE!

[The Green Manalishi]

12. Please...

I'm not talking about walking around with hand in pocket, I am talking about not giving a probably paranoid person with a gun an excuse to use one that *NO* jury is going to disagree with. If you in any way act like you have a gun during any sort of confrontation with a cop you are really likely to get shot. White (although less likely of course) or black....

YMMV, I rather like being alive and it's a hell of a lot easier to file a complaint against an asshole cop if one is still alive.

BTW- *NOT* saying this cop isn't an asshole who should be fired- he is, just that PARTICULARLY with these types of assholes being a live plaintiff beats being dead....

[tblue37]

19. Cell phone held in right hand, pointing at cop with left hand (as we can see in the video)--

does McComas have a a third hand?

Telling him to get his hand out of his pocket sounds like a bogus statement like "Stop resisting arrest" and "He's going for my gun!"--and other such standard comments cops use to cover up whatever they are doing to a victim. By making the statement, the cop figures he can then justify shooting the guy if he decides to.

But the video clearly shows the man holding his camera in one hand and pointing at the cop with the other as the cop continues to advance on him with his gun drawn.

[Demit]

9. Where would you draw the line?

It's only a little bit of abuse...just go along with it...it won't get any worse…

The problem is, a thing like tyranny happens incrementally. Not all at once. Where would you draw the line?

[The Green Manalishi]

11. Uh, cops get that way..

I kind of draw the line at things that will get me dead.

I can file a police abuse report later. But only if I'm alive.


Simple fact: if a police officer tells you to keep your hands where they can see them, you can sue or complain later- although I don't think ANY court in the land is going to find against an officer you can at least try; but if you don't you just might get shot.

For all *I* know, the cop is on the lookout for someone armed and dangerous who fits my description. Probably not, but it's a fucked up world and getting the police to merely stop shooting people who *AREN'T* doing something stupid is a big stretch at this point; making ANY sort of gesture than might indicate that one has and will bring into play a weapon WILL get you shot - black, white, rich, poor.

Not following instructions in an interaction with a policeman can get you shot; I prefer to acknowledge reality and stay alive. YMMV.

You are welcome to reach in your pocket as if you had a gun if stopped by cop, but I am not going to.


BTW- *NOT* saying this cop isn't an asshole who should be fired- he is, just that PARTICULARLY with these types of assholes being a live plaintiff beats being dead....

[tblue37]

20. See my post #19 above. He is POINTING at the cop with the hand that is not

holding his cell phone to record.

That accounts for TWO hands. How many do you think McComas has?

[tblue37]

25. McComas said this in his FB description of the incident:

“When I saw the gun and comprehended what was happening I absolutely thought ‘they are going to kill me and claim my hand was in my pocket’ period."

I doubt his hand was ever in his pocket at all.

[Demit]

22. If a cop told you to hop on one foot, would you?

I'm not really joking…the cop has a gun and a badge, so he has the power, as you say. You would do it to stay alive. I doubt you'd lodge a complaint either, right? Your life is busy, the incident is over anyway…

The reason I ask, the reason I'm not really joking, is because women have a very real fear of a cop with a badge and a gun being able to make them do things. It scares me silly that as a society we are beginning to accept as normative that interacting with the cops can get you shot. "Just do what he says, dear" is a caution we once thought a person only had to use in a holdup or burglary, or some kind of illicit, can't-trust-this-twitchy-guy kind of situation.

We are conceding an almost limitless authority to the police and it doesn't bode well. Power corrupts.

[christx30]

29. How far would you go to fight

a crazy cop on the street with a gun on you? Unless you can physically subdue him, you're going to be in major trouble.
What do you plan to do? Call his supervisor and complain?
The only way to stop this kind of garbage is to change the laws. Make the police personally liable for their terrible deeds, so they are terrified of using force unless absolutely necessary. Make them fear mistakes that can cost them their homes.
Also, special police prosecutors need to be the ones to go after the cops. Not the ones that work with the cops every day.

[Demit]

33. I know. And with so many LEOs coming from the military, and so many

(possibly) using steroids, the problem is just going to worsen.

I wish soldiers would go through some kind of reverse-training when they leave the military, some form of debriefing. So that they could relearn that the citizenry is not the enemy.

[The Green Manalishi]

34. Good points (oops, meant to post to Demit upthread)

As a 6' male I hadn't quite looked at it that way. But hell yeah I'd file a complaint, AND fire up Cop Block on the phone..

I think we white folks are just now starting to realize what PoC have had to deal with for decades.

If it came down to it- I'm doing nearly ANYTHING I have to do to not get shot or otherwise killed by a nutcase, badge or no badge... better a live dog than a dead lion.

[cwydro]

13. I'm the same way.

In no way will I contribute to these jerks need to find a way to injure me or kill me.

I would take my hands out of my pockets, and I would be polite.

I would film it and then report the jerk.

[The Green Manalishi]

14. exactly.

I can't do my part to bring them to justice, or at least attention, when it's their word against my corpse (and does ANYONE really think that camera would have been found if the cop HAD shot him?).

RP is a small town; this isn't the 'A' team. They shoot developmentally disabled people for little or no reason in this county, and 12 year old kids with BB guns; the sheriff investigates the PD's and the PD's investigate the sheriff, gee, guess what the results are.....

[uppityperson]

31. At 2:31 it shows very obviously he is pointing with 1 hand, holding phone with the other. So what

hand is in his pocket? The one holding the camera at neck level or the one pointing at the cop?

[The Green Manalishi]

32. Yeah you are right

I started to generalize later on in my response. But when the cop first drew his gun I didn't see his hand; a few seconds later I see him pointing.

Again, this cop is OBVIOUSLY a psycho bully who needs to be off the force and not allowed to play with guns.

[tabasco]

38. He doesn't have his hand in his pocket, Sparky.

But thanks for rushing to the defense of a clearly mentally deficient, deranged police officer.

[The Green Manalishi]

42. No need to be insulting or rude

Looking at the video we don't see his OTHER hand until well into it....
The cops around here don't need a whole lot of excuse to rase or shoot you. I am in *NO* way 'rushing to the defense" of the idiot cop, and I find it insulting that you think so... merely pointing out that *NOT* obeying the instructions of some loser with a badge and a gun can get your ass shot, at which point you, or I ain't going to be a hell of a lot of use to ANY cause.

I live near here. The police in this area have shot people for less than reaching into their pocket.

What I see that the cop draws his gun at 2:14 and you don't see his hand until some time later...

If you think I'm defending this cop, you are wrong.

[dreamnightwind]

46. I live near here too

In fact I was in Rohnert Park today.

The guy did put himself at risk standing up to the police officer. I heartily applaud him for it.

The cop never explained his own actions, what was he doing there? Why did he bother this guy at all? There's no excuse for it.

The best way to stop this is by filming it and Youtubing it. Well done, Don McComas.

[The Green Manalishi]

50. Yes

I think we'll see some changes.

I sure hope so.

Andy Lopez was shot and killed for carrying a BB gun in the same fields friends and I used to play in.... that hit home.

[Le Taz Hot]

57. So, if a cop pulled out his gun,

pointed it at you and ordered you to fellate him, you'd do it?

[The Green Manalishi]

58. There is a line to be crossed, and I wouldn't

I kind of was thinking of including that proviso in my thread. Sure, there's a point at which death is preferable to dishonor; slippery slope and all that. But just because there is a 'slippery slope' doesn't mean you can't make judgments and plan accordingly.

But getting out of a car, keeping my hands in sight, not doing anything that would give someone who suspects I might be a violent and armed felon on the run a reason to shoot me (thinking = if I *WERE* a 'good cop', that is one just trying to apprehend criminals and protect citizens, AND I had someone who matched to description of a really bad hombre, what would cause me to use lethal force?), e.g., not running, physically resisting being put in a car, grabbing for the gun - yeah, no matter how pissed off I was (and I would be after their badge) I'd comply. I'd make a pretty shitty martyr, and that's the ONLY thing I would be good for WRT fighting The Power were I dead. YMMV.

[christx30]

59. Would you allow the cop to kill you

to prevent the fellatio? Would you scream at him? Would you attack him? Would you pull out your phone and call someone? When some crazy, abusive guy is holding a gun at you, how would you handle it?

[Le Taz Hot]

60. I'd felate him alright.

That way when he shoots me in the head he'll have to explain why he is missing a penis.

[christx30]

62. So you'll die with dignity.

But you're still dead.
Cops are great at lying, and can explain anything. Even when the evidence is firmly against them, and they are acting more like stormtroopers (Emperial, not Nazi), they can usually wiggle out of it. Not that they need this skill. Most prosecutors will find a way to excuse their actions or ignore evidence, because they don't want to rock the boat of people they have to work with every day.
But you'll be dead, and won't be able to tell your side of the story.

[Le Taz Hot]

64. Oh, ffs, I was joking.

What would I really do? Stand my ground and if he wants to shoot me I'd at least be falling down from a standing position. Fuck it. I'm 60 years old and have fought the good fight for 40 years. I'd rather die that way than on my knees begging some fascist for my life.

[CanonRay]

2. It's all about power

they want, and have, power over you.

[L0oniX]

4. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027044754

posted yesterday : http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027044754

[closeupready]

5. Thanks - didn't realize.

[L0oniX]

6. Didn't get much responce.

[heaven05]

30. well, I knew McConas was white

because he's not dead or in jail waiting to be murdered. And because the person accosted is of the privileged class and could tell the cop what he can't do, he will get a couple hundred thousand out of this no contact cop accosting.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

7. Rohnert Park Public Safety officer ????

He may need some training in Public Safety first.

[Sunlei]

10. They hate the cameras, even the Federal police 'guarding' federal contractors hate the cameras.

they'll hurt the people attached to the cameras

[uppityperson]

15. Here's the youtube vid, your link wouldn't play. ARGH

[closeupready]

16. Thanks.

[The Second Stone]

23. I feel like throwing up

that is tyranny. And that is not just a saying. That video makes me nauseous.


Outdoor security cameras are becoming a regular feature of my neighborhood, and I think that is for the best. Three on my cul de sac have them.

[Reter]

17. I think we need common sense middle ground on the police issue

Last edited Fri Aug 7, 2015, 12:02 AM - Edit history (1)

The police should quit acting tough for no reason, and to stop the brutality. There was no reason for this cop to get out of his car. With that being said, if a cop asks you to take your hands out of you pocket, take them out! What I see in that video are two jerkoffs.

[tblue37]

21. Right hand holding cell phone; left hand pointing at cop. THIRD hand in his pocket?

I suspect the cop was doing something like the "Stop resisting" chant or the "He's going for my gun!" shout that they use to justify whatever they do, even when the individual is not resisting or grabbing for the cop's gun.

[left-of-center2012]

18. Coffee with a cop canclled

The Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety is cancelling the "Coffee with a Cop" event scheduled for today from 8:30 to 10:30.

We have information that individuals from outside the community have voiced an interest in using this event to cause a disturbance, potentially putting our community and citizens at risk.

We are sorry for any inconvenience and will notify the community when the event is rescheduled.

https://local.nixle.com/alert/5468450/

[ladjf]

24. The civilian was not using good judgement. He could have been shot by that cop

and the cop would not have been prosecuted. Why didn't he take his hand out of his pocket?

[exboyfil]

26. His third hand?

[ladjf]

27. I didn't notice that his hand was not in his pocket. nt

[1monster]

28. Because it wasn't in his pocket to begin with? As stated several times above,

his one hand was holding the cell phone camera and the other hand was photographed by the same cell phone camera pointing at the police officer.

[ladjf]

41. Well we agree on a more important issue, politics.

I am a strong supporter of Senator Sanders. He is the best politician we have.

About the hand in the pocket: There are two tapes on the thread. The first one at the top is different than the second one.

I watched both. Neither clearly showed to me that he was holding the phone in his right hand. It was implied by the fact that somehow he was pointing and photographing at the same time. Yet, the policeman was clearly asking him to remove his hand from his pocket. My guess is that he had his camera either hung around his neck, or clipped onto his clothing. If you will notice how steady the picture was, it seemed that would have been difficult to hold the camera steady in one hand while gesturing and talking.

Anyway, I'm sorry I posted. All I got for my troubles was a several insults. That's why I don't post much any more.

Around where I live, it isn't a good idea to argue with a cop who has a gun on you. If you feel that your rights are being violated,
stay alive and hire a lawyer. Try to settle it in a less hostile situation.

[1monster]

45. I wasn't insulting you... But the cop was in the wrong right from the get go...

He had no cause to confront the man in the first place.

[ladjf]

49. I don't disagree with that.

However, there might be some prior family problems with the police that would account for why the cop was checking out the tag number. But, regardless of the right or wrong of the policeman's behavior, the person who lived there could have gotten shot due to his combative tone. That's all I had to say in the first place. I was focusing on the odds of getting shot.

[1monster]

54. Combative? He sounded terrified to me. But perception is different for different people.

Point of view, our previous experiences, etc., colors our perceptions.

Once, my husband and I witnessed the same incident (which had me running into a nearby store to call 911).

What he saw was a woman who was out of control being restrained by a reasonable man.

I saw a woman who became completely hysterical with outrage and fear when the man picked her up and carried her forcibly across the parking lot to a car.

I'm not sure if either of us had the correct understanding of what happened.

[olddots]

37. the civilian wasn't using good jugement ?

are you a civilian ?

[ladjf]

40. I don't understand your question.

I used the term civilian to make it clear which of the two guys I was referring to.

I agree completely with your post "now we are making progress".

My original post about the young man's judgment was suggesting that he was far too aggressive with the cop , even up to the point of baiting him. The cop had a gun on him and apparently was unsure about what appeared to be his hand in the pocket.

Now, there were two tapes on the thread. One lasted 5 minutes and the other only lasted two. There were didn't details on each.

Several posters have stated that the video clearly shows that one hand held the camera and the other was pointing. I didn't see him holding the camera and pointing. I guess that the inference is that how could he have been photographing the cop and pointing and holding his hand in his pocket? The cop in the 5 minute tape clearly said several times to take his hand out of his pocket.
Why would the policeman continue to ask him to do that if his hand wasn't in his pocket?

Another thing, I don't think it's illegal for the cop to run a plate on any car at any time. Why would it be?

I am most definitely not siding with the cop. I was offering advice on how to stay alive in a dangerous situation if questioned by a law officer who has drawn a gun on you. If he doesn't agree with my advice, that's certainly OK with me.

[tblue37]

63. Why do cops chant, "Stop resisting!" when the person is clearly

not resisting? They do it as a CYA move when they are being observed or videotaped--or if they think they might be observed or videotaped. They also will shout, "He's going for my gun!" when the person is not going for the gun, buecause that will justify the beating or shooting, at least for the police chief, DA, and grand jury if it comes to that.

[ladjf]

65. You are totally correct about the cops moves to justify shooting someone.

On this particular OP, there was some confusion about which tape we were seeing, why the cop plainly asked the man to take his hand out of his pocket. Yet, most people who posted felt that he had the camera in the right and pointed with the left, therefore no hand in pocket. Yet, the policeman continue to order him to take his hand out of the pocket.

Is it your impression that the cop knew that the hand wasn't in the pocket but was saying what he said as an excuse for shooting the man?

Here's my impression of the incident. I never saw an image of the man holding the camera in one hand and pointing with the other.
Two things led me to believe that the iphone was either hung from his neck or clipped on to his clothing and the fact that the cop continued to ask him to take his and out. One other thing is that the images of the policeman were very steady throughout the encounter. Had the camera been in his right hand while he was gesturing with his left, I think that the picture would have been less steady.

Another thing, the man alluded to the fact that other members of his family had been involved in some type of transactions with the police department. There was some sort of back story in addition to the encounter we saw in the clip.

If the cop was , in fact, recording a tag number, it could have related to some earlier encounters.

The policeman seems nervous about the man's intentions, thus the drawn weapon. If that was really the case, there were other
prudent moves he could have made without endangering either party physically. No use to go into that at this point.

My advice to the man or anyone was to do what you can to safely disengage from the policeman with no physical harm done.
That would have included allowing the policeman to say whatever had needed to say, ask whatever questions he needed to ask.
But, instead, the man actually interviewing the policeman, asking him what he was doing, and hardly allowing the policeman talk.

Fortunately, the incident ended with no violence or arrests.

[tabasco]

39. Yes, such terrible judgment

Minding his own business ON HIS OWN PROPERTY.

You apparently would lie down if the country became a police state.

[socialist_n_TN]

35. What's really strange about this thread.........

is that, what? Three posters have said that he should have taken his hand out of his pocket when the vid clearly shows he doesn't HAVE a hand in his pocket. What's strange is that they AUTOMATICALLY believed the cop until they saw the video. That automatic belief in what a cop says has to change.

How do you know that a cop is lying? His lips are moving. DON'T EVER BELIEVE A COP. MAKE them prove it before you believe it.

[The Green Manalishi]

43. No one I know believes cops

I sure don't.

My point is that you don't see his hand until AFTER the cop draws his gun.

And that the cops around here don't need all that much excuse to draw and shoot; I live 6 miles north of RP; they shoot developmentally disabled people with "deadly" broom sticks and 12 year old kids with BB guns around here. Maybe in fucking Mayberry you'd have 10 seconds to argue with the goon with badge and gun, I know around these parts the Sheriffs office investigates shootings by city police, and vice versa- guess what the results are.

You and one other poster don't seem to get it- *NOBODY* is defending the moron cop; anyone who thinks *I* am is an even bigger idiot than the one with a badge in the video. OTOH, trying to make a moral point against a cognitively impaired, armed bully is a fool's errand, unless someone wants to play martyr.

[olddots]

36. this is progress

We have progressed into a police state where the police consider all non police to be the enemy .
Hoe long before we non police consider all police to be our enemy ?

[The Green Manalishi]

56. Depends on where you live

White, suburban America, and upper middle class America are starting to *SEE*, thanks to cell phone cameras what POC have been saying for centuries.

[The Green Manalishi]

44. A local update

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/4310834-181/attorneys-to-bring-civil-rights

And one a little earlier

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/4299394-181/video-captures-rohnert-park-police

[closeupready]

51. Good - McComas hit the lottery in filming this incident.

After he wins a massive judgment, THEN people - including Republicans - will change their authoritarian tone, at least with regard to civil rights, and how American citizens live in a FREE society, NOT a police state or dictatorship.

[The Green Manalishi]

55. Nah

The City of Rodent Puke will just pass the costs on to taxpayers, the cop will be rehired elsewhere, if even disciplined, the Thin Blue Line will close ranks and if they do replace him they'll just hire another bully with authority issues.

Hell a cop killed a 12 year old last year who was playing with a BB gun and he's STILL ON THE FORCE.

That's why I have been so fucking cynical on this thread regarding just do what the cop tells you - the reality is white, black or other, male, female or GLBT- when one of the police in a city shoots someone the Sheriff's office investigates; when a Sheriff's deputy shoots someone they form an investigative task force from - guess where? - the city police agencies... Does anyone need to guess the outcomes?

Yeah, it's a heavily Democratic, even progressive area, very GLBT friendly (although very white it is changing rapidly) but the cops are still cops as much as in the middle of the biggest and ugliest cities and we are 'civilians' to them.

[dreamnightwind]

47. The officer's name is Dave Rodriguez

I thought that should be posted here. It was not in the initial articles or the video as far as I could tell. Seems like those of us that live in this area should know his name.

[HeiressofBickworth]

48. Police are creating impossible choices

Leave your hand in your pocket = get shot
Take your hand out of your pocket = get shot looking like you are pulling a weapon

Bottom line is that if police want to shoot you, they will conjure up justification for doing so.

[procon]

52. The 'hand in the pocket' was just a standard cover up ruse

in case the cop decided to shoot the guy later. Then he would just claim that he thought the man was going to pull out a gun so he had to shoot him in self defense. It's SOP. It's what they do.

[tabasco]

53. Exactly. Just like a previous poster noted, "Stop resisting," as an excuse to beat the shit out of

somebody. Cunning cops know to be out of camera range but inside audio range.

[sendero]

61. Oh yeah..

.... the police are going to check and see if one of THEM did something wrong. Nothing is going to change regarding the police until there are civilians that decide when they need discipline or prosecution. The only time the police will police themselves is when there is public evidence that is of the incontrovertible variety.

[smiley]

66. "what're you...

...one of them constitutionalists?"

This was said by the cop. He should lose his badge for that statement alone.