Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE.

A simple traffic stop turned into a desperate struggle for survival for one Georgia police officer Wednesday after the suspect he had stopped attempted to flee.

“At 5:55 p.m., members of the RCSO crime suppression team initiated a traffic stop on a white four-door sedan on the corner of Wrightsboro and Augusta West Parkway,” Richmond County Sheriff’s Sgt. William McCarty said of the incident.

“During the course of that stop, the suspect attempted to flee the traffic in the vehicle, unfortunately dragging the deputy through the parking lot. That deputy was eventually thrown to the pavement.”

That deputy wound up suffering critical injuries. The suspect, Kaylon Smith, 29, meanwhile managed to flee, though he was apprehended after an extensive search that reportedly involved helicopters taking to the skies and officers blocking off roads.

The deputy was later identified as Keith Inman, a 4-year RCSO veteran who works on the department’s crime-suppression team.

While it’s unclear why he’d stopped Smith, the stop has been described as “routine.” Moreover, Smith has been outed as a longtime criminal.

According to local station WFXG, he was arrested, charged and placed on probation in 2008 for driving with no license and commiting a hit and run.

The following year, he was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and intent to distribute. He wound up being sentenced to five years in prison.

Five years later in 2014, he was fined for driving without a license again and placed on probation for an additional year.

Four years later, he was again arrested for possession of cocaine (and marijuana as well) with intent to distribute. This case remains pending.

And now, thanks to his latest actions, he faces a new set of charges.

So why is any of this relevant given as it’s a local story? Because it provides an example — one of many — of why entrusting professional policing work to untrained, unarmed civilians could be catastrophically dangerous.

Yet plans to defund and/or abolish entire police departments and replace them with so-called “community policing” squads are already in motion across the country in Democrat-controlled communities like Minneapolis.

BREAKING:

The Minneapolis City Council just unanimously passed a resolution to replace police with a “community-led public safety system”

Isn’t “community policing” gone wrong what led to the death of Ahmaud Arbery?

🤔

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 12, 2020

The Democrat leaders pursuing such policies are under the delusion that policing is safe, easy work, and that any situation can be deescalated with just the right words.

Tell that to Deputy Inman …

As former House Rep. Trey Gowdy bluntly declared three months ago, “Defunding the police is the single dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.”

“Who is going to process crime scenes, arrest bad people? Who is going to enforce any law, child sex abuse, homicide? Who is going to do it if it’s not the police?” he asked at the time during an appearance on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.”

Better yet, who, like Deputy Inman, will put their lives at perpetual risk to protect their communities and uphold the law?

“[O]n the whole it’s much more dangerous to be a police officer than not to be a police officer. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ occupational fatality statistics back this up: police and sheriff’s patrol officers suffered 13.7 job-related fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2018, compared with 3.5 for the U.S. workforce as a whole and 0.7 for those of us in professional and related occupations,” Bloomberg notes.

Moreover, policing work has grown even more dangerous in recent years because of a rise in anti-cop sentiment.

“Not only are their lives in jeopardy every time they make a stop, but when they are forced to take a combative suspect into custody, they face the possibility of prosecution. The dangers of policing are increasing due to the false narrative that cops are racists, indiscriminately killing minority youths,” retired police Lt. Randy Sutton wrote in an op-ed 5 years ago.

“This is advanced by political leaders, negative media coverage and “activists” hungering for their 15 minutes of fame. It’s exacerbated by the abuse of social media. That was illustrated by the recent events in Baltimore, when high school students were directed via social media to attack police, causing injuries to multiple officers.”

See scenes from that infamous attack below:

Policing is neither safe nor easy work, as Deputy Inman can attest to, though that’s certainly likely not something you’ll hear coming from some sectors of the country.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Vivek Saxena

Senior Staff Writer
[email protected]

V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

Latest posts by Vivek Saxena (see all)

• Trans HS student arrested after disturbing manifesto comes to light: ‘This gun is going to change lives tomorrow’ - April 20, 2024
• Former Letitia James intern among those arrested at anti-Israel protest: report - April 20, 2024
• ATF agents not wearing bodycams during shootout with Clinton airport executive director, Republicans demand answers - April 20, 2024

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.