There's a lot of talk about Alton Sterling being shot by the police. Was he murdered or was it justified? From what I've seen and I'm speaking from personal experience, this was justified.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina Houston was flooded with New Orleans refugees. A lot of the criminal element came as well, turning some parts of Houston into a literal war zone.
I am a Commission Security Officer in the state of Texas and at the time I was working for Blue Moon Security, a company who thought they were a private police force. I, however, did not follow orders well, because I would have to remind my fellow officers that we are SECURITY and not police officers.
I was assigned to one of these war zones and on my second night there we had a bad encounter.
My supervisor, a former police officer who had been fired from his department, showed up to walk around with my partner and myself. We went straight to one of the "hot spots" and sure enough a local dealer was dealing.
The dealer knew that if he stood on the street then he wasn't on our property and legally we couldn't arrest him. This little detail escaped my partner and supervisor.
They stepped into the street and stood on both sides of him, with me staying on property, blocking him from coming onto our property.
Words were exchanged, tempers flared up by all three of them, and an audience was beginning to form.
"Sarge, he's not coming on property, let's just call the cops and report him so we can keep patrolling."
My request fell on deaf ears. The dealer shoulder checked my partner as he attempted to walk away and the fight was on.
My supervisor joined in, trying to take the dealer to the ground. I seen someone else start toward the three and I blocked him.
"Everyone stay back," I shouted as the three fell to the ground, rolling around in the street.
The rolled to the other side of the street and I walked over, watching like a wrestling referee, making sure no one else jumped in.
I was not going to get involved because these idiots over stepped their boundaries. But I also wasn't going to let something bad happened to them either.
I saw something that made me end the fight. I pulled my gun and put it to the dealer's head and shouted, "Don't fuckin move, drop it!"
Everyone froze and my supervisor said to put my gun away but I held it to his head and yelled, "I said drop it!"
At that point the dealer opened his hand and my partner's gun fell to the ground. During the struggle he was able to grab the handle and pulled the gun almost all the way out and my partner or supervisor didn't know it.
The point is he was pinned to the ground but his arm was still free enough to grab a gun. I'm thankful I didn't have to pull the trigger.
Just because someone is pinned to the ground on his back doesn't mean he is subdued. He was a threat and could have killed both officers. The same is true of Alton Sterling. It's easy to judge from the comfort of your cell phone but having been in this situation I can say it's not always so cut and dry.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina Houston was flooded with New Orleans refugees. A lot of the criminal element came as well, turning some parts of Houston into a literal war zone.
I am a Commission Security Officer in the state of Texas and at the time I was working for Blue Moon Security, a company who thought they were a private police force. I, however, did not follow orders well, because I would have to remind my fellow officers that we are SECURITY and not police officers.
I was assigned to one of these war zones and on my second night there we had a bad encounter.
My supervisor, a former police officer who had been fired from his department, showed up to walk around with my partner and myself. We went straight to one of the "hot spots" and sure enough a local dealer was dealing.
The dealer knew that if he stood on the street then he wasn't on our property and legally we couldn't arrest him. This little detail escaped my partner and supervisor.
They stepped into the street and stood on both sides of him, with me staying on property, blocking him from coming onto our property.
Words were exchanged, tempers flared up by all three of them, and an audience was beginning to form.
"Sarge, he's not coming on property, let's just call the cops and report him so we can keep patrolling."
My request fell on deaf ears. The dealer shoulder checked my partner as he attempted to walk away and the fight was on.
My supervisor joined in, trying to take the dealer to the ground. I seen someone else start toward the three and I blocked him.
"Everyone stay back," I shouted as the three fell to the ground, rolling around in the street.
The rolled to the other side of the street and I walked over, watching like a wrestling referee, making sure no one else jumped in.
I was not going to get involved because these idiots over stepped their boundaries. But I also wasn't going to let something bad happened to them either.
I saw something that made me end the fight. I pulled my gun and put it to the dealer's head and shouted, "Don't fuckin move, drop it!"
Everyone froze and my supervisor said to put my gun away but I held it to his head and yelled, "I said drop it!"
At that point the dealer opened his hand and my partner's gun fell to the ground. During the struggle he was able to grab the handle and pulled the gun almost all the way out and my partner or supervisor didn't know it.
The point is he was pinned to the ground but his arm was still free enough to grab a gun. I'm thankful I didn't have to pull the trigger.
Just because someone is pinned to the ground on his back doesn't mean he is subdued. He was a threat and could have killed both officers. The same is true of Alton Sterling. It's easy to judge from the comfort of your cell phone but having been in this situation I can say it's not always so cut and dry.
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