A conversation on policing in America

: I get your overall point but I feel compelled to point of that you are legally obligated to comply with police orders immediately and without resistance.

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A response to a previous post … And no, no you're not.

The "what ifs" jump off the page. What if an officer demands you strip naked and walk down the street? What if an officer demands sex? What if an officer demands a bribe?
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There are all kinds of situations in which officer orders do not need to be complied with easily and docilely.
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But let's take this a step further. Officers are obliged to link means to alleged crimes. They do not get to shoot people for jaywalking. They do not get to beat people for asking questions. They do not get to choke hold people for selling single cigarettes in the black market economy.
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Police officers have the right to protect themselves. They DO NOT have the right to insist that every encounter is a near death experience that allows them the absolute power of life and death - or even absolute compliance with their will - on the grounds that anything less is a profound threat to their safety.
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What, after all, was the real world consequence from walking away from Eric Garner? Virtually nothing. The police chose to escalate that incident for no good reason. Eric Garner is dead as a consequence.
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Which is why that is a failure of policing, not citizenship.

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