That is why they yell taser, taser, taser, before deploying the taser so the person about to be tasered will know it is not a firearm.
This plays into a larger question I have had for several years. Frankly, it kinda scares the crap out of me--you'll see what I mean in a moment.
How does a citizen's specialized knowledge play into things?
Lemme give you some examples of what I mean by specialized knowledge:
The Four Rules of Firearm Safety.
Police academy training on firearm safety.
Videos showing police yelling "stop resisting" at an arrestee who clearly is not resisting.
A couple videos, and plenty of articles where a cop mistakenly fired his pistol when he/she meant to use their taser.
Lethal force training in the military; self-education on justified lethal force (video, books, etc.)
I don't mean for that to be an exhaustive list; just some stuff I thunk up off the top of my head.
Now, lets say that because of my military guard-duty training on batons, lethal force, and baton strikes above the shoulders, and self-education on justified lethal force (Mas Ayoob on this point, if I recall), I know that a bludgeon or baton strike to the head can cause grave bodily injury or death. Now, one day I see a cop beating the stuffing out of someone with a baton--I see the whole thing from inception, enough to know the whole story as to whether lethal force by the cop is justified--and I see those baton strikes move from torso to head. Now, what do I do? Shoot the cop? Draw and command he stop, and risk getting shot by his colleagues? Or, shot by him when he turns and sees my gun at low ready?
Now, lets say I see a cop point a gun at someone, but his finger is inside the trigger guard? I know danged good and well they got trained on the Four Rules in the academy. Just per the Four Rules, his finger inside the trigger guard means that cop is about to fire that gun. If I know to a dead moral certainty the detainee/arrestee has done nothing to justify receiving lethal force, what do I do? Shoot the cop? Yell, "finger!!" like an IDPA match? Or, "get your finger out the trigger guard!" Do I get arrested for interfering?
So, turning back to your comment about "taser, taser, taser!!" Given the number of accidents where the cop used his pistol by mistake, and the number of times I've seen cops yell "stop resisting" for the benefit of witnesses when the detainee/arrestee was clearly not resisting, the last thing I'm going to do is actually take the cops' word for it that he is only going to use his taser. I have to assume there is a reasonable chance I am about to be shot. Of course, in this case, if the warning is being yelled at me, compliance with orders is the simplest and most survivable solution. But, what about somebody else? I guess there isn't really much I can do except hope and pray the cop grabs the right tool.
Lets assume for the moment that Scott
was murdered. What if I witnessed Slager drawing and launching lead at Scott? Stand around and let an innocent guy be murdered?
None of the above paragraphs leaves me with a warm, confident feeling about outcomes. And, that's just the immediate outcomes; that is before considering the longer-term legal outcomes. Now you know what I mean by "scares the crap out of me."
ETA: Question answered. See posts #27 and #29 below.