Doesn't Take A Genius

So locally, we have yet another kerfluffle with law enforcement and the public.

The facts, as they have been presented in the news media for some months now, are that one Ricky Cobb was driving a motor vehicle when pulled over by Minnesota State Highway Patrol officers.  It was determined that Cobb had active felony warrants out for his arrest.  Cobb remained in his vehicle when the officers asked that he step out of the vehicle at least fifteen times.  He then tried to speed away with officers hanging on to the passenger and driver sides of the vehicle.  One of the officers fired his weapon into the car, ending Cobb's life and stopping the car.

Now, when we get to the genius part, recently elected Hennepin County Attorney decides to hang her hat on a conviction of said officer, a white male, for shooting Mr. Cobb, a black male.  That is, she decided that the officer, who had a full year and a half on the job when this event occurred, had done wrong by ending the driver's attempt to escape after failing to exit the vehicle when being told by three officers to do so, as was documented on their body cam footage, at least fifteen times.

As noted here and in the historical versions of this site, I ain't no genius.  I may be smarter at some things than your average bear, but I am not an attorney.  However, I do consider myself a predominantly law-abiding citizen.  Which means I have very little experience with the rear seat of a police vehicle.  I've been there once, due to a confusing misunderstanding between my wife and I, which had resulted in my driver's license being suspended, and I didn't see the notice in the mail.  My net total of "detention" time was about 20 minutes, the Burnsville officer permitted me to use my cell phone to call my wife and tell her I was not able to pick her up at the bus stop as planned, she should get a ride.  This was done while the officer was driving me over to my children's then-daycare to meet them.  

Yeah, a cluster-doink on my part, I fully agree.  I did tell the officer that I did have a pocket knife on me, in my front right pocket, along with several multi-tools and some loose change.  He removed it and placed it in a basket in the front seat while I rode in the back.  A whole whopping month later I had my license back for limited driving, which was good as I'd just managed to pull down a new job, so that worked out.  

But I've never, so far as I know, been the subject of a felony warrant.  If I am, well, given that I haven't left home for much of anything for the last five years, well, if they haven't found me by now, it must not be too serious.

But here's the thing.  If I am told to step out of the vehicle, like I was back then, I damned well do.  Several reasons.  The first being I am a law-abiding citizen, and if I need to exit the vehicle, I am obviously doing something wrong, I'd like to not do that again.  So I look at it as a learning opportunity.  I cannot say that I've never driven while intoxicated, I can say that I was able to reach my destination without violating enough traffic laws to be pulled over by either one of the police officers who followed me that evening.  I also had enough of whatever I had in me scared out so that I will never attempt that ever again.  I'll avoid the booze in total, or I'll walk home.  It's just that simple.

But if I have two police cars, three officers telling me to get out of the car, and I don't, well, there's a pretty fine line between right and wrong in that situation.  If my ass is still in the car seat, I am in the wrong. Period.  And then full stop.

So the fellow who thought the officers were just kidding when they told him to step out of the car, or felt it was his duty to escape, no, I'm not going to give him the benefit of a doubt.  He tried to escape after being told he needed to get out of his car, and the police were attempting to remove him from the car.  

So the County Attorney decided to charge the officer who fired his weapon and killed the driver.  After about a year of back and forth in the media and I am sure via various internal channels, she filed charges.  Then she decided that her office wasn't going to be able to prosecute the case properly because, well, I dunno, but she found a million dollars in her budget to hire an outside prosecutor from Washington, DC, to do her dirty work.  

Yes, the dead man's family was upset.  Instead of pointing their anger at the fellow who committed the alleged crimes to get the warrant issued, they're upset with the police for doing their job.  Because of course their baby boy could do no wrong.  

Look, I'm a father.  I raised two children to adulthood.  They have both encountered law enforcement on both good and bad occasions.  That is, moments where they needed the services of law enforcement, and moments where they were violating the law.  Yeah, I know, it sounds pretty terrible, but show me an adult under 30 who has never gotten a ticket and has driven for work along with getting to and from work, yeah.  We almost all make stupid mistakes.  I have had, through my entire life, a net total of six speeding tickets in my life, the most recent one last year on the way back from Florida and my son's wedding, when a speed trap camera says I was doing 75 in a 65 mile zone just inside the Iowa border.  Prior to that, it was ten years, and prior to that, it was even longer.  

But I get wanting to stick up for your kids.  My kids, however, know, just like I knew, from my own parents, that if they are guilty of doing some sort of law-breaking thing, they will get the benefit of the doubt from me - I know my kids are good people.  But if there's ample evidence - say police body cam showing them trying to drive away from police officers who have told them 15 times to get out of the car, well, as my wife says, they had better pray for jail, because if I get my hands on them, they'll be sorry.  No, I'm not going to physically abuse them.  I don't need to.  As their father, I installed proper respect and understanding in them, and I will simply point that out - and I will tell you that simple punishment for my kids is going to be a thousand times worse than any jail time.  They're both good kids who would not want to disappoint me or their mother.  

Which is where I have to ask if this is really a court case, or just showboating.  Because yesterday, when the County Attorney did a rather quick about-face and said she was dropping charges, well, that's a pretty obvious indication that someone was pretty sure they were doing something wrong.  In her words, based on new evidence - that is, evidence from the training courses the officers took that advised that firing at moving motor vehicles was discouraged, but not prohibited, given that there are times when deadly force is required.

Seems to me that, before launching the charges on these officers into the media, the County Attorney should have done her research and discovered what the training told these officers.  Failing to do so is, I suppose my wife, the pre-law major, might say was "damned poor research."  But what the heck do I know.  I'm so stupid that when an armed officer tells me to get out of the car, you can bet that I will move with my hands in plain sight, not slowly, but cautiously, so I can leave the vehicle and keep BOTH of us safe.  

I have known, and still know, more than a few officers.  Some are former Scouts of mine.  And I am and have been related to many law enforcement professionals - and attorneys.  We all just want to go home to our families at the end of the day - and I'm sure the fellow who died in this situation wanted the same.  Unfortunately in his case, his failure to obey the commands of the officers and instead attempt to flee while they were hanging onto his vehicle turned out to be the very last dumb decision we'll ever learn he made.  It's simple.  Obey the law, obey the officers, and behave yourself.  It improves your life expectancy, if you like that sort of thing.  If not, well, there's a good bad example for ya.