Citizens need to be compliant with police

When I hear the all too frequent stories of police-involved shootings, I am amazed how frequently the shootings were the direct consequence of lack of necessary compliance on the part of the victims. Of course I'm saddened at the unnecessary demise of the civilians.

My earliest memories taught me and my brothers to freeze when approached by police. Nowadays I see video after video of victims putting themselves at heightened risk by disrespecting legal and necessary officer commands. Officers don't know victims' intentions when their instructions are disregarded. Officers become immediately suspicious and prepare to draw their weapon for their own safety.

It's so tragic for both officer and victim, and so avoidable if only the victims would have frozen and complied with each lawful directive. Instead we see victims arguing, fighting and making suspicious moves that were interpreted as a threat.

Who can tell the difference between a pellet gun and a 9 mm in .25 second? Time to put much of the responsibility back on the victims. There's only one way to be safe — follow the commands and go home safe.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Citizens need to be compliant with police."