Is "Cop Baiting" An Effective Method Of Educating The Public?

[SR40c]

I agree with you here, but I also realize that open carrying a rifle is not a "normal" behavior for somebody walking around in the city. It is definitely unusual and there should be an effort made to see why that person is walking around the city with a rifle.

Imagine if somebody called 911 as they saw the Aurora theater shooter walking around the theater parking lot with his AR-15 and the dispatcher said "open carry is legal, we're not sending police". Do you really need to wait until there are shots fired to contact a person doing something outside of the norm?

It may be legal, but it is unusual in today's society and as long as rights are not violated, I have no problem with police checking out the sitatuion and contacting the person. The person probably wants to be contacted in the first place because they know open carrying a rifle in the city is a provocative behavior.

You are absolutely right and make excellent points. Where is line drawn? I honestly have no idea. I have no problem with the police contacting the subjects to a point. While the officer in the video originally posted in this thread was courteous, in others I have seen, they have acted like Gestapo stormtroopers. Where I get a little concerned is when it's obvious that the subject is harmless, yet the authorities get all indignant with the subject start treating the guy like a felon.

Like anything else I guess, every situation is different.

[Firefighterchen]

I believe cop baiting for public education is a waste of time only because the public is so unintelligent they would not understand what was going on. I feel cop baiting to weed out bad cops is justified, or more so, than as DUI/traffic check points.