In any instance, someone stopped by police is better off having his or her day in court rather than using the street as the venue to resolve their complaint either by assaulting police or forcibly leaving the scene, Whitton said.
“Pulling away from a police officer during an arrest is resisting arrest,” said Sgt. Chris Whitton, who led an Aug. 26 presentation at West Chester Activity Center.
Whitton, a 21-year police veteran who has served with West Chester Police Department for 17 years, also emphasized that an individual should be open minded when examining any use-of-force situation.
“Nothing is ever what it seems,” Whitton said. “There’s more to the story. There’s way more. Never make a decision based on one piece of evidence alone.”
That’s especially true of video evidence, which rarely shows all angles of an arrest, he said.
“The camera doesn’t show everything,” he said. “It never does. There’s always more than what you see in a video.”
During any use-of-force situation, there’s also a myriad of circumstances for an officer to consider, including how fast a subject can get a round off before he or she can even counter by firing their own weapon.
Whitton also explained the numerous ways officers are trained to deescalate a situation before things go awry.
Offered as part of the West Chester University series, the presentation was part of the police department’s community outreach efforts and was sponsored by the Allergy and Asthma Specialty Center, Islamic Center of Cincinnati, Tarif and Cathina Hourani, the Southwest Ohio Pain Institute and Caring Community Collaborative C3.
Greg Huntington, of West Chester Twp., said he was interested in the seminar in light of what happened at the University of Cincinnati this summer.
Huntington said he was most affected by “the sheer amount of risk” police officers undergo when they pull someone over for what might be considered a mundane traffic stop and their reaction time potentially not being fast enough to counter a suspect with malicious intent.
“It (the presentation) helped me get a more balanced view of these high-risk confrontations and how much risk a police officer faces, especially when they don’t know the person inside that care,” Huntington said. “It makes you respect that, yeah, if I were that officer, I might do everything that I can to be ready to react faster, like have my hand on the gun or have it unlatched from the holster in case I need to protect my life.”
Cathina Hourani, of West Chester, said it was important for her to sponsor the event because it was important for the community to hear police perspective.
“I don’t believe they have a platform,” Hourani said. “I think that the media does not give them a chance to present their side.”
Hourani said the public needs to learn about the amount of training police go through and why they do what they do.
“The public needs to take responsibility and to own the things that they do,” Hourani said. “If you feel that your rights are violated by that particular officer, take it back to the department afterwards. There’s a process. Use that process. The street is not the place to settle that.”
Lonnie Tucker, of West Chester, said the presentation and similar community-based events show the department, unlike some others in the region, is sincerely interesting in connecting with and listening to the community.
“I feel that our police chief here is ahead of the curve because of the kind of training that our officers get,” Tucker said.
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