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A comment on What life is like after police ransack your house, then the charges are dropped. Parent comment

Re:What life is like after police ransack your house, then t... by CyberDildonics on Thursday March 31, 2016 @02:49PM (#11399561)
This is a good reminder that when something is happening that feels out of control, turn on your camera and record.
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Re:What life is like after police ransack your house, then t... by coldtea on Thursday March 31, 2016 @03:32PM (#11399914)
Which in sometimes can get you killed ("he was holding something we thought was a gun").
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Re:What life is like after police ransack your house, then t... by CyberDildonics on Thursday March 31, 2016 @08:52PM (#11401797)
That seems a little niche, let alone the fact that your phone camera probably has a light on it.
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Re:What life is like after police ransack your house, then t... by nkurz on Thursday March 31, 2016 @11:19PM (#11402329)
A light might not help you. The police might think that it's a laser sight, and be even more likely to shoot you:

The officers claim that the Taser projected a red light, which they assumed was the laser sight of a handgun, and feared for their lives. At 7.18:43pm, Schiff and Sawyer began barraging Nieto with .40-calibre bullets.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/21/death-by-gent...

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Re:What life is like after police ransack your house, then t... by bfuller on Saturday April 02, 2016 @01:00PM (#11412229)
Flashlights are also commonly attached to firearms.

In fact, it would be hard to distinguish between someone holding a phone with a light on or someone holding a gun with a light attached.

I'm not defending police brutality, but these are often difficult situations.

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Re:What life is like after police ransack your house, then t... by coldtea on Thursday March 31, 2016 @09:04PM (#11401846)
Well, people have been shot with far less obvious things on their hands mistaken (or "mistaken") for guns.

Besides, what phone camera has a light on it that's visible?

None that I can think of in day/noon/afternoon time. Some have a focus assist light and/or flash at night time -- but taking out of one's pockets and pointing a small object at a US policeman at nighttime, and especially in an aggressive scenario as the one we're discussing, that I would advise even less.

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