In 2004, Rapper and Entertainer Snoop Dogg released the song, “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” The song was an instant hit, with its beats, and lyrical delivery. While the phrase, “Drop It Like It’s Hot” had been used in several songs since the 1990s, Snoop Dogg’s usage of the phrase took it to another level.
One of the lyrics in Snoop Dogg’s song goes “When the pigs [police] try to get at ya, park it like it’s hot, park it like it’s hot, park it like it’s hot,” which is a relevant message we share with the community. There are several meanings for the phrase “Park it.” Essentially, and for ACRB purposes, “Park it” means, drop it, get rid of it, stop what you are doing, and literally, park it. We’ve all seen TV shows and social media where an officer responds to a scene, a person is holding a weapon, and the officer says, “Drop it!” We feel tension rise as the person tries to decide what to do next.
The phrase “Drop it,” said by a police officer, is a warning. From our experience, those words are an indication that in most situations, an action will occur. Unlike TV shows with its tension-fueled music in the background as the person decides whether to drop the weapon or aim it at the officer, the person is shot in the arm or leg. Real life provides a different outcome in most situations.
Officers are trained to terminate a threat to themselves or others. They are trained to aim for the center mass of a person and shoot until the threat is terminated. Movements of the hand holding the weapon that appear to be moving in the direction of the officer or others present a threat and can provide an officer with an objectively reasonable basis for using force.
The safest and most effective way to protect yourself in a situation while holding a weapon in your hand when an officer says, “Drop it” is to “Drop it, like it’s hot.” Drop it like it is ready to burst into flames. Everyone who can protect your interest and care about justice can do a better job fighting for you when you are alive to tell your perspective. “Just Drop It!”