'Don't Threaten To Shoot Someone': Haverhill Police Take To Facebook To Give Tips

SALEM, MA —This week when Haverhill Police made a stop near Monument Square it caught more than a person who allegedly shoplifted from a nearby store, it caught some attention from many a passerby. After a windfall of comments on social media regarding the stop, many criticizing police for overreacting, noting guns were drawn, the Haverhill Police took to Facebook to explain. With a little bit of feistiness, they told the story of what happened and offered tips to avoid such a situation including, "don't threaten to shoot someone."

The department said it wanted to show the steps involved that got the police to the point of making the felony traffic stop, including what it said were errors in judgement by the person they stopped.

Here's the full post:

"The incident last night, as shown in the pictures below is what is known as a Felony Traffic Stop. Now there can be many elements involved that can lead to a traffic stop of this nature, but let us use the example of last night to show the steps (errors in judgement) that a person can decide not to take, and that way avoid having this type of interaction with the Haverhill Police Department:

1. Don't attempt to walk out of a store hiding items under your clothing. Just because the line may be long does not excuse you from having to provide payment.
2. When confronted by the management of the store, the response should not be to threaten to shoot the store management with the gun that you have in your pocket (A FELONY in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), followed by running to your vehicle and driving away from the area.

Now, it is the second element that is especially important to avoid, because if you are located, for the safety of yourself, the general public, and the officers, you will be exiting your vehicle in the manner that the gentleman did last night. Thankfully, the pattern of poor lifestyle choices did not continue, and the instructions provided by the officers were followed without any issues.
So to wrap things up with some helpful tips:

1. When you go to a store to get your favorite beverage or snack, make sure you have some form of payment for said items.
2. Don't threaten to shoot someone.

Thank You"

Photo via shutterstock