Milford Police Release Video On How To React When Approached By An Officer
MILFORD (CBS) - "At this point, you're under arrest for driving with a suspended license." Those words come from an officer acting out a skit in a video posted on the Milford Police Facebook page. It instructs the public on how to react when approached by a police officer.
It's meant to be a proactive "how-to" at a time when headlines about officer involved shootings dominate the news.
"I think it's natural to have some nervousness. Nobody wants blue lights in the rear-view mirror, because nobody wants a ticket," says Chief Thomas O'Loughlin. "I get that, but the other side of that is communicating."
O'Loughlin believes much of the tension between the public and police is based on surprisingly simple miscommunication. The video is aimed at clearing that up. It advises people not to reach for the registration or license until after an officer asks for it.
If you're armed and have a license to carry a gun, do not take it out, the narrator says. Instead, tell the officer you have it. The video also advises people not to resist arrest, and to save arguments for court.
Chief O'Loughlin acknowledges there have been problems across the country, in which police officers have unfairly confronted African Americans, but his advice is the same for everyone. "The only way that you're going to deal with those types of barriers is communicating," he says.
