Officer runs over person but its hard to see it as a cut and dry situation. Street races are illegal and for good reason as people can get hurt (drivers and others). While a street race is not the major issue, the swarming of the car and eventual injury is concerning and indicative of the times.
A number of officers have been targeted over the past year and I suspect they are likely on edge. While I believe in beneficial police reform and universal justice putting officers into a threatening situation is going to be dangerous for everyone involved. You can see from the video the driver tried to back up and then punched it forward.
It takes a lot of training to not react to situations that seem dangerous. Perhaps he could have went slower but fear often takes over the nervous system and the officer may have defaulted to fight or flight reactions.
Before one can really overcome automatic reactions they must understand where the feeling of panic comes from, how it influences the body, and then shortcut the response to slow down the nervous system to avoid tunnel vision that limits proper choice making. Thus, one must cut the nervous loop and purposely not react until they take a few seconds to assess all the options and pick the one that leads to the most options and best outcomes during a fluid situation. You can read more about the neuroscience of it all HERE.
I wouldn't be quick to judge on guilty or innocent (or in between) until the details come out and witness statements, video, police statement, bullet proof windows, etc..are collected and assessed. If the officer truly felt threatened and a reaction was necessary based on realized threats then it would be difficult to assess blame. I wish the injured person injured has a speedy recovery.
What do you think? If you don't have all the details it is often best to wait to make a judgement.
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