Racism? Can't tell. The Constable might have just been a quick trigger or a moron. The first thing that occurred to me which seemed "off" was the officer firsts asks the driver, "What's up man, you in a rush," which, to me, is an indication that he's been pulled over for speeding. The driver answers, "No, the speed limit was 45," likely knowing he wasn't speeding (or not by much). The officer responds by stuttering a little and saying, "Oh, I gotcha. You were going a little left of center over there on Sunset." Hmmm. Is that @MyNameIsDarren pulling him over, changing/spinning the whole thing midstream? Felt like it. Note: this is not the Constable* who fired his gun.
Secondly, I disagree with any notion that a human being, police officer or otherwise, should be disallowed by policy or statute from shooting at a moving vehicle. In human vs. vehicle interactions, the human is going to lose 100% of the time every time. That said, the Constable who fired shots here was very near the vehicle when it took off in reverse, however, he did not draw and fire his gun until he was 8'-10' from the car and moving backwards away from it. This will be tough to defend. He did hit the driver, but it was a flesh wound and he was out of the hospital a day later.
*A Constable in South Carolina is a volunteer officer who tags along with an actual police officer. They receive just 85 hours of training and then have to achieve a certain number of ride-along hours each year to remain a Constable. That is less than 20% of the training a police officer completes. Constables can carry a firearm, but they have no arresting authority. WTF?? Is this a way that politicians reward wannabe cop big donors or something? Seems like a terrible idea, even without this video evidence.
