If you’re tired of stories about interactions with cops that go ‘horribly wrong’, here’s one that goes very, very right.
What kind of a fine line do cops have to walk these days to properly do their job? This interaction in Florida puts the issue in fresh perspective.
The whole situation began with a vague eyewitness report to a burglary.
Police were told to be on the lookout for “a black male with a beard who was wearing a white tank top and dark shorts”. You might think that was pretty specific, right?
Hold that thought to the end of the story.
When they were patrolling the neighborhood in question they came across a guy who happened to be jogging.
For someone with a victim mentality like Al Sharpton or ‘the Squad’, keen on jumping to conclusions that ‘All Cops Are Bastards’, that fact alone would be proof positive that the man featured in this story is targeted for ‘jogging while black’, or whatever the line would be.
The bro clearly wasn’t thrilled about what was about to go down, but he didn’t do anything to make the situation worse, either.
The patrol officer approaches him with absolute respect, apologizes for interrupting his day, explains the situation and the description that he was given. Explains that he isn’t a suspect at this point, but states that this officer needs to do his due diligence and will be detaining him for long enough to detain that he isn’t a match for the guy they are looking for.
Did we mention that the dude, Joseph Griffin, was a former Military Policeman, and currently works as an RN?
He had every reason to be offended, angry, or indignant at the very idea that he might be the guy they were looking for. Instead, he let the cops do their job and rule him out as a suspect like they’re supposed to.
Griffin was even live-streaming the interaction and they helped him by holding the phone at points where he could not do so himself.
“Just bear with me, because you fit the description. I’m not saying you’re guilty, but my Sergeant is telling me to detain you.”
‘It’s just a lot going on today,’ Griffin said, referring to the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake and the death of George Floyd who died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.
…More than 12 minutes later, the deputies released Griffin while also apologizing for the discomfort they may have caused.
They also thanked him for keeping calm through the ordeal.
Following the incident, Sheriff Chitwood released a statement commending the deputies for their handling of the encounter.
‘Witness descriptions are never perfect, and these deputies did an outstanding job given the limited information they had about a call in progress,’ Chitwood said.
‘To each and every deputy who was involved in this response, I am extremely proud of your hard work and dedication. This is exactly the kind of effort that has allowed us to cut down the crime rate in Deltona,’ the sheriff wrote.
‘Likewise, Mr. Griffin was calm and cooperative even though he had reason to be frustrated with the inconvenience. To Mr. Griffin, I appreciate your cooperation with these deputies, and I’d like to invite you on a ride-along sometime in the future.’
Chitwood also revealed that he would be happy to train and hire Griffin as a deputy.
‘Mr. Griffin is a military veteran and a medical professional, and I told him we’d train and hire him as a deputy in a second if he ever wants a new job,’ Chitwood told WSAV. —DailyMail
We promised a ‘plot twist’, and here it is:
For those who would have assumed the worst, the video includes an extra portion at the end. An arrest for the incident in question WAS eventually made.
Remember the description they were working from?
Here’s the guy they nabbed:
Beard? Check.
Dark shorts? Check.
White shirt? Check.
Not only were they doing their job… they did a damn fine job of it.
