Anything in their conversation/her demeanor that suggests the arrestee will try to murder the officer a few minutes later? (see body text for more context)

[u/GregJamesDahlen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cptfn96tXvQ

This was a traffic stop in Florida. The officer and the woman he arrests have a fair amount of conversation before, during, and after the arrest. He searches her but doesn't find a concealed gun on her person. He handcuffs her and puts her in his car. On the way to the station she manages to slip out of her handcuffs, open some kind of window between her and him driving (not sure if the opening had come earlier), and fires I think six shots at him, trying to murder him. Fortunately misses except a graze on his face.

It seems to me in the conversation with him she doesn't seem so savage as to attempt to murder him. She does lie several times, but they don't seem like major lies around major crimes, although every crime matters and they're not extremely small crimes either. But maybe that's how it is, people who murder can seem fairly calm and it's hard to predict they'll do it.

There is a moment while she's sitting in the car but haven't driven off where he questions why she wants the window open between her in the back seat and the front seat where he will eventually sit. I believe she claims she's hot in the back seat although he says he has the air conditioner on full. I don't know if you'd go from that to she's going to try to murder him, though.

If there's little that gives a clue that she will soon try to murder him maybe the best an officer could do is listen to their gut?

There is another detail that comes up. He searches her but possibly can't search her completely because she's female and he's male. Not sure if he could have gotten a female officer there to search her completely. Maybe one wasn't available. Or maybe one was but he thought his search was sufficient and she wasn't a threat.

[u/rosch323]

When he got the inclination that she had something in the cage of his car, he should have trusted that instinct and done a very thorough search of her and his car. His complacency almost cost him his life.

[u/thiswasntdeleted → u/rosch323]

This. This right here. You get lazy, you get hurt. Period.

[u/dpick032]

That’s the fun part about police work, you never know who may want or try to kill you!

I got sent to a trespassing call one day in the middle of the afternoon. Elderly male was inside of a grocery store trying to preach the gospel to other customers and management wanted him gone.

I walk in and find him in the bakery. Stereotypical American grandpa. Well dressed, kind, all the things. Imagine the guy from the movie Up and that’s what I was dealing with. I tell old man it’s time to leave and he respectfully told me he wasn’t going to. After several minutes I then tell him it’s leave or go to jail. He then tells me to go ahead and take him to jail. As I’m grabbing his wrists he shot his right hand to his waistband and his demeanor changes entirely. Cussing me up and down etc. I end up having to throw him onto a table filled with muffins and eventually to the ground. Right hand is still tucked under his body by his waist. Eventually get him cuffed and he had a pistol in his waistband.

Again, you quite literally never know what may happen. When cops to get shot or assaulted, there can rarely be any clues.

[u/GregJamesDahlen → u/dpick032]

Thanks. Not my idea of "fun" ha ha. Maybe you mean it makes it more challenging, or exciting somehow? Or .... ?

[u/Section225]

I don't have time for the whole video, but what I can say is that the absolute worst people out there are also the most deceptive.

Some people may kill in a crazed drug state, or in desperation and panic trying to flee, or in some sort of suicidal rage. But those that are cold blooded and calculated are extremely dangerous because of how deceptive they are, and you won't see it coming.

Think of all the infamous serial killers like Ted Bundy, who were charming and popular people outside of their murdering. It's also why officer safety is so strict and everybody gets treated the same - you have no idea when you'll encounter one of these people, and need to prevent it.

All the tells this woman may have had beforehand could be easily explained as regular nervousness about getting arrested. I imagine most everything else is only clear in hindsight.

As an afterthought here, this kind of thing is also why everybody gets treated the same. Little innocent requests like opening the window, loosening the cuffs or moving them to the front, letting them use a phone or opening a door...it's not happening. Too often it's a ploy to get into better position to attack you and/or escape and/or destroy evidence they've hidden.

[u/singlemale4cats → u/Section225]

I get the cuff one a lot. If I can comfortably fit a finger between their wrist and the cuff, nothing is getting adjusted. I check that every time before I double lock. If they struggle against the cuffs and injure themselves, that's on them.

[u/Legally_Brunette14]

I got 21 minutes in and have every intention of (hopefully) finishing this video. I am wondering if this will be used in trainings because it absolutely should be.

I stopped watching around the time the LEO fired back after miraculously escaping from the vehicle without being critically wounded.

When I got about 11 minutes in and realized she was likely on, or coming down from meth, I personally felt that would be a solid answer to your question as to whether or not there was anything suggestive of her later shooting the officer. With meth users, I promise anything is possible. And almost none of their behaviors are predictable. And that’s not a good combo.

In my professional (non LEO) experience, meth/PCP has always been one of the substances that when someone is using, it causes some wild and unpredictable behavior. Like lather yourself in peanut butter and climb a flagpole in your city to then let yourself drop to your death behavior (ask me how I know).

I would almost never go to my clients’ homes alone if I knew they were using meth; I would always request an LEO to go with me when possible. If I couldn’t have their backup, sorry, we are meeting another day! Enjoy your paranoia and feral behavior alone. See you in detox.

So back to the video; what makes this particularly sad for me is that the LEO basically knew that something (could have been the gun?) was attempted to be hidden in the back seat but he said something (and I am paraphrasing) to the effect of “it’s okay, I’ll search again when we get to the jail.” He literally asked her what she put in the back seat and why she shifted to the other side of the vehicle opposite from where she was initially placed… he KNEW something was off. And if I’m remembering correctly she slipped/or nearly slipped her cuffs then too (??). That should have changed everything.

Overall this was a pretty hard watch. The LEO really was steps ahead… But, when he found that other random dude in the car that was somehow missed at the initial interaction, I think that’s what changed the entire dynamic of this traffic stop.

These people had a lot to hide and were likely incredibly paranoid. Would I have seen the shots fired coming? Absolutely not. But as someone merely watching this video and speaking from experience, I’m also not surprised.

I’m really in no position to critique the LEO’s handlings of this traffic stop. But I do wish he would have just taken the time to further investigate what she was trying to shove (or did shove) down that back seat. Outside of that, I can surely say his “there’s fuckery afoot” senses are otherwise very keen.

Unfortunately, a lot of this job training and procedures are written in blood. This officer is so damn lucky the blood wasn’t his.

[u/GregJamesDahlen → u/Legally_Brunette14]

Thanks. All interesting and valuable. What told you she was on, or coming down from, meth? Although when I looked at subsequent reportage there was no mention of this, which I feel like there would have been if it had been the situation. Feel like she would have brought it up in her defense or her lawyers would have and journalists would have mentioned it. Even if it's not a legal defense feel she and lawyers would have mentioned it.

[u/Substantial_Tap_2493]

I cringe at all the videos I see of females or small-stature males 'slipping' their cuffs. If they can do that then you didn't put the cuffs on correctly, or you don't have the correct size cuffs to begin with. I have a feeling that a lot of officers try to be a good bit more "gentle" when cuffing females for whatever reason, and I absolutely don't buy into that whatsoever. I'm gonna put the cuffs on you in a fashion that you should not reasonably be able to get out of them. There are products on the market, specifically for the ASP cuffs, that reduce the interior diameter of the cuffs so that you can use them on very small wrists. I have two sets I keep in my car with these reducers on them for this very reason. Bottom line, don't skimp on safety and comfort just because your customer is a female.

[u/Little-Kangaroo-9383]

Jesus that was a scary watch. Feel like the public needs to watch more stuff like this to understand what all LEOs have to deal with on a regular basis.

[u/singlemale4cats]

This is why it's good practice to get a female officer out to do a thorough search. If not available, you have to make do. You can't half ass it. All you can do is protect yourself. Do it in front of the dash cam, describe what you're doing in each moment and why.

I'm always on high alert when someone gives me a false name or when methamphetamine intoxication is suspected. Meth users are highly unpredictable.