How To Really Deal With Police When You Are Confronted By Them

By Robert Wenzel

We have video of two more police killings (here and here) this week,

In both cases, the men appeared to be no serious threat to police, but they are both dead.

There are lessons to be learned from these killings on how to deal with police.

In the first video, it should be noted that the dead man is a big man, reminiscent of the NYPD killing of Eric Garner another big man.

What needs to be understood is that the police, when it comes down to it, are concerned about two things: 1. Not getting killed  and 2. Collecting their paychecks.

To the degree you put up any physical resistance to a cop, his concern becomes more focused on not being killed. They are taught to subdue threats. If the threat is even of the nature of a pullback and saying "Hey what are you doing man?" The cop sees that as non-compliance and therefore a threat. If you are a big man and just putting up mild resistance, the cops are trained to escalate to take you down.

There are some good videos out there about how to deal with police but they don't really say much about when a cop is roughing you up a bit.

The immediate response to a cop roughing you up (and even when he is not roughing you up) is physical compliance. Raise your hands, do what he says. Show him you are not a physical threat. Take that concern away from him, Take that part of the game away from him.

Given the training, and the equipment that a cop has on him, you are almost never going to defeat him in any kind of physical confrontation.

You want to de-escalate the physical. You want to end that game. You want him to start thinking about his paycheck and the slight chance you may be able to stop him from getting it.

The videotapes that tell you to never agree to a search are pretty good, but I have added a twist to this theory. If I am ever stopped by a copper who wants to search somewhere I don't want him to search, I am going to say, "You know my lawyers tell me to never consent to a search, so until I talk to them, I am going to pass on the search consent." Use the plural "lawyers".

Now, this may not be much but by not acting physically confrontational and bringing up my "lawyers," I have ever so slightly entered into the equation that I might be a threat to a copper's paycheck. I am bringing in an unknown where there is no upside for him if he messes up.

Of course, the idea is to appear James Bond cool, not threatening, but with the hint that you can bring down the entire Supreme Court on his sorry little career.

He will most likely be careful to follow procedure from that point on. The game is moving in your direction.

Now, if you do have cuffs put on you and thrown in the slammer, you should have a serious lawyer's phone number memorized.

I learned this from a money manager I worked with, who was a bit eccentric, to say the least. He used to have the major league law firm of Cadwalader,Wickersham and Taft on retainer for $10,000 a month.

I could never understand it. Month after month the checks went out to Cadwalader. They never did anything for him. Then one day he got himself in trouble that you could say was a notch above any Hillary Clinton scams. The lawyers came in and, like the true gentlemen they were, sat down with the government and made the entire "misunderstanding" go away.

Get to know who the good lawyers are and how to contact them in a pinch. And if you have serious money, like my money manager acquaintance, put some serious players on retainer. Consider it insurance against the police state,

Now, I have touched upon the physical confrontation situation and how to avoid it. Now, let's consider when you are carrying a concealed gun. You are then in a very serious situation when stopped by a copper. The media is playing the Philando Castile killing as a copper on black shooting, but it was really a copper in full escalate and "I don't want to get killed mode."

I have a friend who is president of a major private security firm. He conceal carries all the time. He also carries his permit with him at all times and a copy of the law that authorizes him to carry.

He is a white guy. He was pulled over for speeding once. He told the copper he was carrying. The copper went into full   "I don't want to get killed mode." He called back up. They had my friend crawl out of the car and lay on the ground and they cuffed him.

It was more than an hour that he stayed in that position before they let him go.

While he was in the car, when the copper was waiting for back up, he kept his hand on the steering wheel to de-escalate the situation to the degree possible.

Castile did not do this, According to his girlfriend, he was reaching for his driver's license in his wallet in his pocket---after disclosing he had a gun. Obviously, a bad move.

When dealing with coppers always de-escalate the view that that you could possibly be a physical threat to them. Change the game and act professionally in a manner that suggests you may know the legal game better than they do. Get them to start thinking ever so slightly that you are a legal threat to them-- a takeaway their paychecks threat. That can often do magic and it will keep you alive to fight with your team, i.e. your lawyers, if it comes down to that---and not be gun downed on the street where the coppers almost always have the upper hand.

Robert Wenzel is Editor & Publisher of  EconomicPolicyJournal.com and Target Liberty. He is also author of The Fed Flunks: My Speech at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Follow him on twitter:@wenzeleconomics