By Police1 Staff
A gunfight is a sure-fire way to get a cop’s attention, and our most watched videos of the year reinforce that notion. Over the course of 2011, time and time again it was the gore that got your attention, and maybe rightly so. There’s officer safety reminders to glean from any encounter involving blood and bullets - especially the story of Jared Reston’s unwavering will to win. Reston refused to stop fighting when a suspect fired at him after a foot pursuit, and his interview with Dave Smith got more views than any video we’ve ever posted.
Take a look at this year-end reflection that’s not exactly warm and fuzzy, but will surely get you thinking about what could lie ahead in 2012.
 | A suspect with no criminal history shot Officer Jared Reston — and kept shooting — after a foot pursuit at a mall. “I knew I’m hit, but I’ve got a job to do. I’ve gotta end this, and I’ve gotta end it now,” Reston said. |
 | Great police response to ‘open carry’ activist Officer Matthew Lyons attends to his own safety first and foremost, securing the individual’s weapon and making sure it’s unloaded and cleared. He engages the subject in a very smooth verbal exchange. |
 | Intense scene after SF police kill man One of multiple cell phone videos that captured the aftermath of a shooting shows a suspect who fled a transit fare inspection move in a pool of blood. |
 | Suspect lunges at Ind. cop before slashing face Officers shot a suspect seven times after he bolted out of his car and slashed a cop in the face using a large knife. |
 | Searching female subjects: Do it ‘right’ every time Just as you visually and physically confirm that a firearm is safe, you have to visually and physically confirm that a person is “safe.” |
 | Utah cop shoots, kills golf club-wielding man The Salt Lake Tribune released a video of an officer-involved shooting “to show the public exactly how the events unfolded.” |
 | Tenn. police release suicide by cop dash cam Officers fired 40 rounds and struck a suspect with 13 of them.
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 | Ark. courthouse rampage footage released |
 | Officer knocks out unruly casino patron Patrick Poisson, 38, says he was “attacked” by the officer in an “unprovoked” assault at the U Me Drink club casino.
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 | Cops kill robbery suspect, hostage lives A Maryland bank robbery suspect died after being shot when he slipped and fell on snow and lost hold of a hostage.
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