Cop confrontation goes viral. What is your reaction to this video?

I currently work with law enforcement as a gate guard (Auxiliary Security Force), and can see where the police officer is coming from, however I still think he was overreacting.

In law enforcement, we are told to expect and prepare for the worst. We are instructed to tell people to take their hands out of their pocket, because they may have a weapon. Now this is where discretion comes in. We are intelligent beings (most of us are, at least), and the guy clearly wasn't a threat. It was a bit over the top to draw his gun on this civilian just because he wouldn't take his hands out of his pockets. Sure, it was stupid of the man to not take his hands out of his pockets when told to, but it was excessive of the police officer to draw his weapon.

Unfortunately problems with crooked cops is becoming a bigger and bigger issue, and more often then not they are starting to be backed by the court system. Soon enough they'll be coming to take away your 2nd Amendment right. Be ready for that day, I know I will be.

Wow! Where do i begin? This is the type of behavior that gives cops a bad name. And it makes me wonder how this LEO could even think this type of behavior is okay unless it is trained behavior from superiors in his agency. Confronting the guy taking the video was inappropriate. Drawing the weapon on him was not only inappropriate, it was unlawful. Accusing the guy of being a "Constitutionalist", as if that is something nefarious just shows the wrongheadedness of this cop. What a ass clown!

OK, not QUITE what I expected--my bet was that the cop would look as if he was on steroids. (Semi-common problem here in San Diego. Bulked-out cop with a big cranial vault a la Barry Bonds--your stop is going to suck no matter what.)

For starters, we'd have to know a great deal more about what led up to this incident before passing judgement. However, I know the tone of the civilian concerned grates me to the core. I'm guessing the officer was responding to a call about a potential stolen boat...maybe it's noon on a Tuesday and some concerned citizen found a young-ish gent pulling a boat out of someone's yard during the workday a tad suspicious. Officer arrives, sees this guy filming him and get's brassed off. Common sense would tell me that no boat thief with a weapon and intent to use it is going to take the time to film me...that might have been a good thing to consider before pulling his sidearm. Still, all this individual needed to do was show his hands, ask what the problem was, and take it from there. True story-Had some neighbors get into a drunken frenzy which resulted in the police being called. As the cruiser pulls up, Your's Truly (who didn't know someone else had called it in) is confronting one of the less cordial of them. I back off, show my hands, shut my mouth...ten minutes later, the drunks are back in their house, and I'm swapping sea stories with the deputy. These guys are living on the front lines of a war zone, and a little bit of respect goes a long way.

Officer Who Pulled Gun on Man "Eager" to Tell His Side of Story ...

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/rohnert-park-officer-pulled-gun-leave-attorney-response-321084531.html