'A recipe for being shot:' Law professor reacts to video of motorist's arrest in Centre Co

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WJAC) — 6 News spoke with Professor David Harris, with the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, to get his reaction to the arrest video of Dereck Raimey.

Professor Harris has a background in criminal procedures and evidence and has done extensive research on police and community relations.

On Wednesday, he shared his concerns with the way Mr. Raimey's situation was handled.

"They're telling you, ‘Let me see your hands,’ and then you're going to move your hands toward your body. That's a recipe for being shot."

Professor Harris says he see's several issues with the way Dereck Raimey was treated when he was taken into custody after a high-speed pursuit in Centre County in December of 2023

“Police are trained that any traffic stop could be dangerous, but at that point, everything has come to a stop, his vehicle is boxed in, so he can't go any further. He's got the door open, his hands outside the vehicle. Nevertheless, they're screaming at him, 'get out and let me see your hands,' now he can't move his hands away from where they are, where he's showing them to unlock his seatbelt, without violating the commands 'show me your hands.' So, he's caught.”

The video then appears to show Mr. Raimey being assaulted by one of the troopers, according to his attorney.

"When he doesn't move, two officers put themselves into the vehicle and try to pull him out, and we can see on the video that he is strapped in and can't do anything about it. Because if he does do anything about it, he has to move his hands. The police respond to this with further physical escalation. He’s simply being punched because he can't do what they're screaming at him to do without violating another order that they're also screaming at him,” Professor Harris says.

According to a transcript of Raimey's preliminary hearing, Trooper Shane Eichelberger testified that Raimey "passively resisted" their commands for him to get out of the vehicle.

"He certainly isn't actively resisting, not in any way. I think what's happening is as he's being struck and pulled very roughly and thrown to the pavement. The natural inclination is to cover one's vulnerable areas, like the face.”

We asked Professor Harris if there is there a difference between protecting yourself and resisting arrest?

“There can be a difference between protecting yourself and resisting arrest. To resist arrest is to not comply with commands being given to you that you can comply with,” he responded.

"All of that was police use of force in a way that seemed grossly disproportionate to what the situation called for. There's no attempt at de-escalation. That's the easiest way to look at what we saw."

Now, we found on the state police website a department directive, sent out by PSP Commissioner Christopher Paris, with the subject line: “FR 9-1: use of force.”

In this directive, dated July 19th of 2023, de-escalation is outlined as, “Members and enforcement officers shall attempt to mitigate the nature of force required to control a subject or stabilize an event when they reasonably believe it is safe and practical to do so.”

This directive also lists commands and warnings, verbal persuasion, and tactical repositioning as some of the ways to de-escalate a situation.

Again, we asked the state police to comment on the video or situation but were told no comment and that it’s under internal review.

ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLS4xK2rnqpdma6quNhoo5qvXaW%2FsLLErKqoql2nsqKv06Kmp2WmnrGmu4ympq2nop7Atb%2BMmqmrnaOpeqSxza2pnmWTpMKvwNhmp6ikmZiybrzSqWStqp%2Bkvaa%2BjJqrraeio7K6