Officer Quincy Smith: Quincy Smith was convinced he would die on New Year’s Day, 2016.
The 28-year-old, a police officer in small-town Estill, South Carolina, had been dispatched that morning to investigate a suspicious man dressed in a camouflage hunting gear attempting to rob a convenience store.
Officer Quincy Smith : 28-year-old, A Police Officer
Smith attempted to confront the alleged robber, who remained mute as he strolled by, his smartphone pressed against his ear. Smith threatened to tase him if he didn’t stop, so his right hand stayed hidden in his jacket.
The man exposed a 9mm pistol with a single sweeping move and shot. Smith’s neck was pierced by one of the bullets, and he fell to the ground. His left arm had been fractured as well. Smith dashed back to his cruiser, pleading for assistance.
J. Tompkins, a bystander, noticed Smith fighting to breathe and tried to calm him down while giving dispatch further information about the officer’s condition.
The horrifying incident is one of several documented in Investigation Discovery’s (ID) docuseries “Body Cam,” which takes a closer look at police officers’ daily lives around the country.
The show attempts to highlight the perilous scenarios and confrontations that law enforcement officers endure while seeking to protect the public by using actual body camera footage.
The series is billed as “the ultimate ride-along” for viewers interested in the real-life perils of police employment, according to the network.
Smith’s glasses, which have a camera built in, captured the terrifying incident. Smith can be heard asking for aid as he bleeds excessively before telling a dispatcher, “Tell my family I love them,” as he bleeds profusely.
Smith admitted, “I did think I was going to die.” “I knew I’d been hit in the neck, and I knew that’s a dangerous region to be shot in.” Particularly when you have a large artery in your neck. That’s what I thought he hit.
I was convinced I was going to pass out at any moment. Yeah, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to visit my family. That’s why I wanted to send that message to my dispatch, just to let them know I was thinking about them.”
Smith said that reliving that day for “Body Cam” was challenging. Smith said he was taken aback when the intruder shot him without saying anything.
“When you try to talk to someone where I work, they really don’t want to talk,” Smith remarked. “… It didn’t occur to me at the time that something serious was going on. So no, I didn’t notice anything unusual at first.
That was nothing new to me. You’re used to folks ignoring you and walking away… When I approached him, I tried to persuade him to stop… When his hand was in his pocket, I didn’t process what was about to happen as quickly.”
And when it came to the dangers of law enforcement, Smith wasn’t exactly a newbie. Gwendoyn Smith, his mother, is a retired NYPD officer. After learning of her son’s shooting, she drove 13 hours nonstop to South Carolina to be by his side.
Smith began his professional career in 2013 at the University of South Carolina, where he attended the police academy. In 2015, he moved to Estill, a sleepy village of roughly 2,000 inhabitants. Smith reportedly spent $30 on his glasses, which he found on Amazon.
“When I initially started at the job, my boss warned me, ‘Look, be cautious what you say and do out here.’ People have a proclivity for whining.’
As a result, I assumed it might assist me in some court situations, such as minor traffic violations. That’s why I stocked up on them… And there isn’t much going on here.
Every now and again, we get a few serious calls. However, I spend the most of my time on patrol. I’m enforcing traffic laws in a little way. It’s not a large city where we have a lot of crime like other large organisations.”
Smith said his recovery included arduous hours of agonising physical therapy and many operations to repair his fractured arm.
Smith testified in court against his shooter, 29-year-old Malcolm Antwan Orr, nearly two years after the incident, according to The Dayton Daily News, and the body camera footage was used as evidence.
Orr was convicted guilty of attempted murder and having a firearm while committing a violent felony by a jury. He was given a 35-year prison sentence.
Smith claimed he returned to work on Nov. 6, 2017, and that the tape is now being used to teach other cops. Smith admitted that the decision did not sit well with his family, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He explained, “I adore what I do.” “I am grateful for everyone’s help. This job, however, must be done by someone. I believe it runs in my family. My family has a long history of working in law enforcement… It’s just something I’ve always done and can’t see doing anything else.
[The incident] is always on your mind, especially if you work in this industry. To make the best of any situation, all you have to do is rely on your training and whatever resources you have at the time. That is the task at hand. Please don’t let that happen again.”
Smith is well aware that body cams are a hot topic these days. Wearing body cams had no statistically meaningful influence on the number of use-of-force incidents and civilian complaints recorded, according to a comprehensive research released in 2017. Smith still wears his glasses, which he considers to be “very necessary.”
“Body cameras, in my opinion, are quite beneficial,” he stated. “People will be able to watch exactly what happened from beginning to end.” I feel it will be extremely beneficial in major cases.”
Finally, Smith believes that “Body Cam” will allow viewers to experience the benefits of these technologies for themselves.
He remarked, “I hope people get a lot of information.” “They’ll get to see what truly happened up up and personal, and they’ll understand what we go through as cops on the job every day.”
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