Basically, the policeman didn’t want to be the next Darren Wilson or Ray Tensing.
A Birmingham, Alabama, police detective who was pistol-whipped unconscious last week didn’t shoot a motorist later accused of attacking him because of the headlines and outcry surrounding the recent spate of police shootings, the head of the local police union said Thursday.
Fallen officers: Separated by thousands of miles, united by similar dangers
“He hesitated simply because of what’s going on in society right now,” said Heath Boackle, a sergeant with the Birmingham Police Department and president of the city’s Fraternal Order of Police. “We have officers walking on eggshells because of how they’re scrutinized in the media.”
“We should be thanking the good Lord because he could be dead right now.”