I know a lot of people who complain about how paranoid the police are. It seems like police officers always assume the worst about the people they pull over, and many officers are apparently very trigger happy. For example, an officer shot this man because he exited his vehicle while holding his wallet, which the officer mistook for a gun.
Because of stories like this, I understand why some people are so nervous around the police. But try putting yourself in an officer's shoes. Every day they have to deal with countless strangers, some of whom might be willing to do anything to avoid going to jail, such as shooting at them before making their getaway. It happens all the time. Now it's true that being a cop isn't the most deadly job out there, but it's still very dangerous.
If you don't want a trigger-happy cop to shoot you, it's really simple: Stay in the car until they tell you to get out, and keep your hands on the steering wheel until they ask for your license. If the man with the wallet had done that, he wouldn't have been shot. (I'm not saying the officer is completely blameless, I'm just saying…)
But what if you have a firearm in the car? How should you handle that? In the video below, TheYankeeMarshal tells you exactly what to do.
