1) So I've watched the video of the Army LT being "pulled over" by the cops about 5 times. Some personal observations. You probably won't agree with all of them, and that's fine. Initial pursuit wasn't terrible, he didn't pull over for a mile. It was dark, windows appear tinted.

2) Initial reaction by the cops wasn't terrible, they didn't know what they were dealing with. This isn't a commentary on whether or not they should have pulled him over, just observations of the incident that actually took place.

3) Once it was clear that he was not a threat they should have holstered their weapons and de-escalated. At that point it becomes a normal traffic stop. They did not do this. The LT clearly had his hands up and was not a threat at all.

4) When the cop told him he should be afraid to get out of the car all bets are off. That's bullshit. I wouldn't blame him if he hit the gas pedal and called 911 at that point. Now let's break down the difference between the two cops. Cop 1 is the older cop, Cop 2 is the younger.

5) At first they are telling him to put his hands out of the window. He complies. Cop 1 keeps yelling at him. Cop 2 realizes that this is going south and attempts to de-escalate. He clearly says work with us and we'll work with you. Cop 1 ignores Cop 2 and continues to yell.

6) Cop 1 then tells him to get out of the car. Is this a conflicting command to keeps your hands where we can see them or is it a subsequent command? Open to interpretation tbh. I feel like it's subsequent but the LT may have felt like it was conflicting. Understandable.

7) Cop 1 is still acting like an ass, threatening with a taser before switching to pepper spray. If the situation had been properly de-escalated it would have never got to this point. Cop 2 is not cool with what's happening, look at his face. He's looking at Cop 1 like WTF.

8) More evidence that Cop 1 is the douche, Cop 2 went to help the LT with his seatbelt after he was pepper sprayed and Cop 1 stopped him. Dick move. LT was CLEARLY not a threat at this point and just keeping his hands up out an abundance of caution. I don't blame him.

9) Once his seatbelt was undone and he was out of the car there was absolutely NO reason to put him on the ground. He was absolutely no threat. That is obvious to the most casual observer.

10) The issue, as I see it, is that Cop 1 ESCALATED the situation even as Cop 2 made an attempt to DE-ESCALATE. It appears to me that an abuse of power took place. Once he was clearly not a threat the situation SHOULD have calmed down. It didn't because of Cop 1.

11) Conclusion: Cop 2 tried but was intimidated by an officer who outrank him but Cop 2 clearly was not down with his partners action. Cop 1 made the situation 10x worse. This is what I mean when I say training needs to change. Everything is a nail when you're a hammer.

12) A solid training program rhat includes de-escalation would have prevented this LT from getting pepper sprayed and put on the ground when it clearly wasn't necessary. There is a time for defensive tactics, but this wasn't it. )END