Former La Crosse police dept. training officer weighs in on Castile verdict

Dan Marcou didn’t think Yanez should have even been tried in shooting.

There are lessons in the just-released dashcam video of the police shooting-death of Philando Castile in a St. Paul suburb last year.

Dan Marcou is a former training officer for La Crosse’s police department, and he suggests the key lesson is to do what police tell you.

“Do you want to know what to do when an officer stops you?” Marcou asked on WIZM Tuesday afternoon. “Be courteous. If you can’t be courteous, be cooperative. 

“If you can’t and won’t be cooperative, you better comply when they start telling you what to do, especially if they’ve got a firearm in their hand.”

The video below, released yesterday, shows officer Jeronimo Yanez shooting Castile seven times – hitting him five times – after Castile announced he had a gun.

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“Obviously, if they’re pointing a firearm at you, their reality is different from your reality, and you better understand that or someone could get hurt,” Marcou said.

Marcou said he agrees with last week’s verdict, finding Yanez innocent of all charges in the shooting. Marcou added that Yanez never should have been tried in the first place.