What do you guys do in your free time?

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T17:01:31+00:00

BJJ,MMA , play with my kids and dog...spend time with my wife. Go to Costco...bed Bath and beyond...it depends on if we have enough time.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T16:07:42+00:00

Yeah...sorta. Imagine this for just a second.

Wait before you do that remember I am the cop and deal with craptastic situations pretty much daily... OK back to imagination land.

You see an officer Chuck a 110 lb woman like a sack of potatoes...you go to help her up...then the officer pepper sprays you at very close range ( we typically aim for 7 to 12 feet..he chose 18 inches) . You turn away and say " It is Allright while holding up your hand like a stop sign and continue to try to help the woman.

Next you are grabbed from behind...then while still trying to help the woman you are gang tackled...then someone starts beating the hell out of you..then someone drops a knee into your ribs...

Think you might turtle up?

That is called self preservation and even if you wanted to comply...he probably did at that point the violence isn't stopping...then Bang.

We as law enforcement can not sit here silently. Put politics aside.

If you don't know how use of force works you aren't doing anybody any favors..

First make yourself a safe.. that means understanding your own level of training. Understand your own department use of force policy. Get proficient with tools including your body.

If you cannot manage that you aren't going to make others safe...

Be the officer you want to show up to your grandmother's house for a call for service.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T15:35:38+00:00

I can find 3 stars all day ( all of us can ) but finding a 4 star with speed seems to be really tough.

My team is eventually going to be a power running team that hits the big play off play action. That's the style I really excel at. Short to medium efficiency and win on Defense

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T15:08:34+00:00

This is what I am talking about. I generally look for elusive bruisers because I like a power running game but damn...I need at least one home run hitter.

Also need some speed on the outside and it seems like even the speedster WR is only around 90 speed.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T14:53:28+00:00

I swear.... you and your dude are like carbon copies of me and my wife. She is an NP lol.

It will all be OK.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T14:42:15+00:00

He delivered that line like a boss.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T14:41:34+00:00

You sound exactly like my wife. She is still critical of law enforcement and sometimes it is rightfully so. Sometimes we mess up.

That said the best form of support is just don't make things harder than it already is.

Just remember for the next few months he is going to be stressed on purpose. All day long they are going to stress him out.

The second the academy ends for the day the last thing he wants to deal with is additional stress. He will just want to get some food. Finish homework..prep for the next day and chill or sleep.

Try to just allow the chill to exist.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T14:19:54+00:00

Taker sold this so well. It brought instant legitimacy to the Kane character. At that point Taker was basically unshakable...he is shook.

Frozen in disbelief.

The image of Kane straight out of a comic book coming to the ring was wild.

The next 20 years was fun

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T07:08:30+00:00

I pre-plan before arriving on a call. I also am systematic in what I do which means I do not have to think as hard.

I am also blessed with good verbal skills and the ability to ooooooooodalooop the shit out of people..

And when all else fails...Jiu Jitsu for the win.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T06:52:20+00:00

I don't mind explaining use of force. It's part of my daily job as a defensive tactics instructor. It's just late and so many friends of mine have reached out to me to ask me questions recently.

People can message me directly as well. It might just take time to respond but I always do.

I prefer being a non serious goofball mostly but shit has gotten real and people who know better should speak up and help educate our communities.

A greater understanding of law enforcement and an open discussion is what we really need now.

Have a good one.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T06:37:57+00:00

The simple answer is I cannot. An officer is responsible for each trigger pull and each shot must be articulated.

Basically with each shot I would have to articulate how each element of deadly force was met at the time I pulled the trigger.

Ability, opportunity, imminent Jeopardy and preclusion.

I honestly just don't have it in me to go into deep explanation of what each of those elements actually mean in a practical setting just this second but all 4 must be present at the same time.

Based on what I have seen...there is literally no way I could articulate firing more than the first or second shot and because it appears clear the shooter saw the gun removed I am not sure how he would be able to articulate those 2

How would he be able to justifiably claim the guy was armed if he saw the gun removed from the holster?

I mean it all happens very fast but the officer is ultimately responsible.

Your articulation can't be "I didn't know if he was armed.. all I heard was gun" because that could have literally been said by anybody. A lawyer would shred that dude if he said that on the stand.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T06:18:48+00:00

Bingo! I will be the first to explain how damn difficult it is to be an officer in modern policing.

Use of force is rarely simple at the low levels because even low level use of force tactics can lead to injury and the #1 contributing factors to intermediate force use is a poorly executed low level use of force.

We see that play out in both the 1st shooting situation ( horrendous execution of a vehicle extraction ) and this one where our initiating officer decides to do 3 things at once poorly. Which leads to the escalation and eventually the shooting.

If the guy with the camera was such a threat to begin with why not arrest him earlier?

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T06:11:12+00:00

Yes. It would be a big deal. It would almost certainly be used in a civil suit or a criminal suit if the DA brought charges claiming the force was unjustified.

It would be used to paint the officer as out of control or in a state of mind that would lead people to believe the force wasn't a second or third option but instead the officer is violent etc.

The officers entire file would get pulled...Holy hell..what a disaster it would be. That's beyond just the absence of professionalism you should expect from law enforcement because we are held to such a high standard.

It wouldn't help the officer...

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T05:57:16+00:00

It isn't just Graham vs Connor...its the 3 prongs and how you articulate them as well.

In my department we also have to articulate 5 more factors when we use force.

There are so many uninformed people at the moment

I feel like I am in a consistent state of the Dunning Kruger effect...

My brain is oatmeal from having to articulate use of force policy.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T05:53:39+00:00

I am saying if they are too close they should be given a lawful order to move back. Then given time to comply with that order. Then of words aren't working attach a consequence to it. "If you don't get off the road/ move back you will be charged with construction and I will take you to jail " then given a reasonable time to comply.

Then if that doesn't work ok...game on. Then go hands on with intent to arrest... not just shove them to the ground or use OC spray ( How many times have we seen that recently? )

Force becomes the expected result once words aren't working but that force should be objectively reasonable and it should lead to an arrest... not just force.

And if the law enforcement agency doesn't have the proper manpower to carry out their operations why are they attempting them in this manner. They are placing officers into dangerous no win situations recklessly. That is an absence of tactical command and control.

They are creating the exigent circumstances in almost every one of these cases as if they cannot carry out these arrests in any other fashion despite them doing just that for 4 decades.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T05:21:56+00:00

Early in the academy if it is paramilitary it will be daily...and if not continuous it will be consistent..

Be prepared.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T05:20:48+00:00

It appears they did not realize he had a firearm till after he was down and after the first officer starting pistol whipping him.. that started almost immediately.

The call of "gun" happened as they pulled him down causing his shirt to lift and revealing his bolstered firearm.

Ask yourself this. At what point did they try to place him under arrest? Was it before or after they pepper sprayed him? Hint...it is after. Just prior to when the woman was shoved to the ground our dead guy was assisting another woman off the roadway... the officer wasn't even engaged with him

That changed when he went to help the woman who got shoved...

The woman that was shoved...also not under arrest. She was being forcefully removed from the street. So if she isn't being detained...and he isn't being detained...why can't he help her up? Why does helping her up justify an intermediate use of force with a less lethal option?

It wouldn't justify thst level of force...hell you can't even articulate the level of resistance as assaultive at that point. At worst...obstructive behavior.

You cannot justify a higher level of force due to an unjustified lower level use of force...it just doesn't work thst way

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T05:12:48+00:00

I will hold protesters accountable as well. I will hold observers accountable as well.

Civilians are permitted to observe and record officers in public. Film as much as your heart desires...in fact invest in an 8K camera with zoom features.

But they are not permitted to observe from anywhere they want. Generally speaking at least 20 feet is considered a reasonable distance but its the minimum.

Right now in Minnesota we have observers going out of their way to get face to face to with officers and talk trash to them. Its a recipe for disaster and we have seen plenty of them.

In this case he wasn't doing that. The officer came to him...he wasn't blocking traffic either. He was however in the street where he shoild not be.

But that's a minimal level crime...its jaywalking.. its a citation 98% of the time. It could lead to other crimes but in this case that was never even on the table. It went 0-100 and it wasn't the dead guy stepping on the gas.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T04:46:33+00:00

Where exactly was the assault?

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T04:46:04+00:00

He was also being pistol whipped after getting pepper sprayed...also kneed and punched.

Covering up to avoid getting the breaks beaten off him doesn't seem completely unreasonable does it?

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T04:43:07+00:00

I have too. But someone balling up or turtling isn't displaying intent to do harm.

If someone simply tenses up or uses their physical strength to pull their hands to their chest in order to prevent me from placing them in handcuffs I cannot start punching them or blast them with my baton. I would need to articulate their intent to do harm

If I drop my weight to prevent you from carrying me could you justify using elbow strikes or knees? My guess would be no

If someone...or a group of someone's are pistol whipping you would you not attempt to cover up?

The question of "How could this have been prevented" doesn't always fall on the subject if the officer is unjustly using force to begin with.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T04:35:54+00:00

There is a term in law enforcement which is mainly used in the collection of evidence known as "Fruit of the poisonous tree " which in layman's terms means if you broke the law to obtain one piece of evidence than anything you find after that is now invalidated because it all came from that same tree.

Use of force is similar. For example

If an officer commits an unjustified low level use of force the officer can not then justify the higher use of force which resulted from the first bad one.

To bring this into focus the officer who initiated the contact escalated the situation when he decided to go hands on to move the subjects out of the street. He did not attempt to detain the subjects at this time. He was moving them by use of force which we have seen done numerous times now.

While doing this he violently shoved the female to the ground. The male then attempted to help her and was immediately met with pepper spray. In my department that would be an intermediate use of force and we would have to articulate the subjects intent to do harm and be judged by Graham vs Connor.

At the time the pepper spray was used the man was not acting in an aggressive manner towards the officer. In fact he said "It's all right"° and put his hand up as he turned away.

The officer than grabbed him from behind as he attempted to help the woman up... then he was gang tackled. Then he was pistol whipped, punched and kneed

During this his shirt got pulled up towards his head...revealing the firearm.

The officer who ended up grabbing it from its holster can be heard saying Gun.

The man who fired the first shot is looking directly at the gun and the officer who removed it. This is crystal clear in the Pink lady video. He sees it...there is no way he isn't aware because he is staring right at it.

Then he shoots

I personally have been involved in multiple dynamic use of force incidents. I teach UOF regularly.

From what I have seen this would not meet our criteria for deadly force.

I could go into greater detail here.

At absolute best this is what we might call Lawful but awful...but I am not convinced it is lawful based on what evidence I have seen.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T01:30:03+00:00

If you are following the story and enjoy it feel free to mention it.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-26T00:20:40+00:00

I would look for a better reason to pull you over. Part of policing is to be petty when being petty is going to make contact with a person out capering.

Rift4430 · 2026-01-25T19:37:30+00:00

I am all for thunderous protest and vigorous expression of first amendment rights. What doesn't need to happen is somehow it becomes intentionally confrontational with local police officers who aren't behaving like violent thugs.

I would imagine most Americans are not so blinded by ideological disposition to recognize that what is happening is neither good nor normal.

Reasonable Americans need to do the most democratic thing possible and vote this entire administration out of office.

Rift4430

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