Albemarle Tradewinds July 2017 Web Final

Firearms and the Law
by Joe Forbes
The shooting death of Philando Castile focuses our attention
on interactions between police and concealed carry
permit holders. The dash cam footage shows that the event
was highly stressful on all involved. Hopefully, we can learn
from it to prevent a similar tragedy in the future.
When Mr. Castile informs the offi cer that he has a weapon,
the officer’s stress level goes up. It can be heard in his
voice. The offi cer tells Castile not to “pull it out”, but Castile
apparently reaches for something. (The inside of the car
is not visible on the video.) The officer yells several times
for Castile not to pull it out, but the situation escalates to
where the offi cer shoots Castile several times, resulting in
his death.
Castile may have been reaching for the weapon, his ccw
permit, or something else. We may never know. It doesn’t
make sense that he would reach for the weapon after 1)
warning the offi cer that he had it, 2) knowing that the offi cer
was on alert for a weapon, and 3) being told not to reach for
it. The only thing that is certain is that the rapid escalation
of the situation and the stress on both sides is what triggered
the fatal shooting. If the escalation and stress were
eliminated, then the outcome would have been different.
There has been much discussion criticizing both parties
in the encounter, with much of it oversimplifying the issues.
True, Castile would be alive if he had simply not reached for
whatever it was he reached for. But the officer didn’t handle
the situation calmly either. His instructions were for Castile
not to “pull it out”, not “don’t reach for anything”. Given the
chance, both would have handled the situation differently.
On any traffic stop, the officer is naturally on alert, because
he likely doesn’t know who he is stopping, even if he knows
from the license plate who owns the vehicle. For all he
knows, the driver could be a violent prison escapee. We all
get nervous upon being stopped by the police. When the
offi cer learns that there is a weapon, his stress goes up further.
Police officers are trained to look for nervousness as
a sign of something suspicious, so stress begets stress. No
one is immune to it, and stress makes people do irrational
things, on both sides of the encounter. We cannot control
what the offi cer does, but we can control what we do. The
key is to deescalate the situation.
Take a deep breath, slow down, and do things very deliberately.
Keep your hands on the wheel and do not move them
unless told to do so by the offi cer. Be polite and respectful.
Keep your voice at a calm, conversational level. Tell the
offi cer early on that you have a weapon and where it is. Do
not reach for anything without clearly telling the offi cer what
you are going to do, and getting his consent to do so. Make
all movements very slowly, even those directed by the offi -
cer. Ladies with a weapon in a purse may want to consider
giving the entire purse to the offi cer, and letting him retrieve
your ID and ccw permit. (You don’t want to get shot while
digging through the purse trying to fi nd them.) The same
rules apply when being approached by an offi cer on foot.
Finally, be conscious of the situation where you are not
carrying a weapon on your body, but may get so close to
one that it could be considered to be “about your person”.
For instance, I was surf fishing in waist-deep water, and my
fi shing license was in my vehicle. When approached by the
fi sheries offi cer, I had to go to the vehicle to get it. I had a
weapon in the vehicle, which I made sure I disclosed to the
offi cer.
Communicate. Cooperate. Live to tell about it.
Joseph H. Forbes, Jr.
Attorney at Law
A local Attorney with over
3 Decades of Experience
Personal Injury Civil Litigation
Wrongful Death DWI & Traffic Offences
Aviation Law Workers Compensation
When you need a Lawyer....
Just Call Joe!
252-335-5568
FAX 252-335-4876
joeforbeslaw.com
joe@joeforbeslaw.com
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