My perceptions may be skewed by what I see when arrests turn into executions, but it seems like no one gets arrested by simply putting them in the back of a police car, or even my handcuffing them while they are standing up. No, it looks like the prefered method of detention upon arrest is to put the detainee face down on the ground with his arms behind him. And not just violent suspects, I've seen this with what appeared to be compliant and cooperative arrestees, even children.
The first time I became aware of this was during the Occupy protests in the early 2010's. Once a decision was made to clear out an Occupy encampment, occupiers were not just evicted, or simply rounded up and arrested, but the whole face down on the ground & handcuffed arrest seemed to be the norm. It's become the norm since then.
Police know that they are given the benefit of the doubt when they can claim that someone who they are attempting to restrain is resisting arrest. Of course some extra roughness and aggression is called for if a suspect is violently resisting an arrest - or so we are led to believe. But where is the line? What is the definition of "resisting" that can be used to determine if an arrest needs to escalate physically?
In most situations people try to avoid discomfort. In ordinary life we try to find the most comfortable position in a chair, make sure our shoes and clothes fit comfortably, and don't walk barefoot on hot sand or sharp gravel. Much of our comfort-seeking is unconscious. As I have typed the last few sentences I have changed position in my desk chair several times. What about when someone is lying face down on the asphalt, with their arms wrenched behind and a knee digging into their spine while a cop tries to handcuff them? Not to mention their face pushed into ground and their neck twisted into an unnatural angle? I imagine that would be, not merely uncomfortable, but painful. Wouldn't that cause one to unconsciously try to shift position into one that is less painful? Squirm one's body so that it's not so contorted? Meanwhile, the 200 pound man on your back is screaming at you to stop resisting while causing you more pain and discomfort.
It sure seems like the police in these situations are looking for an excuse to escalate, looking to set up a pretense for them to get a beating in. The most recent killing by cop in Memphis even included the victim being told to show his hands, then being maced in the face, which of course caused him to protect his face with his hands, which the cops characterized as "failing to comply". These are no-win scenarios for someone who is stopped by police who are looking for trouble.
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