Plainclothes Chicago police officers fired nearly 100 gunshots over 41 seconds during a traffic stop that left one man dead and one officer injured, according to graphic video footage a police oversight agency released Tuesday.

Five officers from a tactical unit who were in an unmarked police vehicle surrounded an SUV last month driven by Dexter Reed, allegedly for failing to wear a seatbelt. Video shows the 26-year-old Black man briefly lowering a window and then raising it and refusing to exit the vehicle as more officers arrived, yelled commands and drew weapons.

  • stringere
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    8 months ago

    He fired at a group of dudes in civilian clothes driving regular vehicles telling him they were cops. Guess what more than tripled from 2019 to 2021 and continues? Car jackings and armed car jackings.

    They allege this was for a seatbelt. Weapons drawn for a simple traffic stop?

    Plainclothes officers, especially, should not be approaching people with a weapon drawn.

    • squozenode@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      This is exactly why the “defund the police” movement is so popular.

      Traffic cops do not need to be armed.

      • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        Traffic stops should also be initiated by marked cruisers. If needed, plainclothes cops can assist, but they shouldn’t be the first contact.

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I’m not stopping for an unmarked without being on the phone with 911 to make sure they’re a real cop.

          Growing up, we had a string of assaults in a podunk city that was perpetrated buy some guy(s) who bought some blue/red lights and a siren. Hell, for a while even the cops were saying not to stop outside of a well lit area at night…

      • x0chi@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Specially traffic cops on a ego trip thinking they are playing Miami Vice

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      civilian clothes driving regular vehicles

      The vehicles had lights and sirens, and the officers were wearing body armour that identified them as police.

      The idea that he thought this was a carjacking just isn’t feasible.

      • Soggy@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Plainclothes police and unmarked cars should not exist (outside of, potentially, planned and warranted sting operations)

      • x0chi@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Not so feasible that even the 60 minutes show not so long ago did a episode/piece just about a wave of robberies that their method was using police cloths, sirens on their vehicles bought on Amazon… This must be common enough for 60 minutes show to do a piece on it, and I bet people who seen it sure think it’s a thing that is happening. Not that I’m blaming 60 minutes, just saying that it’s common enough for a national tv show to pick on it for a piece.

        • FilterItOut@thelemmy.club
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          7 months ago

          Maybe… I still remember the national news piece about D&D being evil, and the national furor over satanic cults existing inside of day cares that had plenty of news coverage. Fearmongering isn’t a new millennium thing, it’s just gotten prolific due to the ease of the internet.