I believe you have identified the crux of the issue. Refusal to comply with an officer's request order command IS a threat -- to the officer's ego, and to the entire police state mentality and system.
"You WILL respect mah aw-thaw-rih-tay!"
Actually, no. The police officer has very little to no background on you (other than wants and warrants, and perhaps priors.) We were taught to treat every stop as a felony stop simply because we don't know what happened. You could have just murdered your entire family, we don't know. You may have decided that you want to commit suicide by cop, or that you've decided to kill as many cops (and/or other people) as possible. Or you may simply be not paying a attention when you rolled through the stop sign, or late to pick up your kids from soccer practice which is why you weren't just pushing the speed limit but ignoring it.
Plus everyone want to be the person that makes the latest and most viral youtube video ever, so there are a lot of people that will attempt to goad police into action. Then bitch about when it happens. Guess what? Keep poking the bear there snowflake, but don't act surprised or all butthurt when the bear pokes back.
We don't know. And it takes very little time for things to go completely pear shaped.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8oS1JuRxbQWhat we do know is that we have a job to do. And frankly De Selby, I am completely disappointed in you. I was taught that you argue your case in court and not by the side of the road. Sadly, in today's society it seems the entire special snowflake mentality has made it impossible for people to follow some simple directions for the safety of everyone. Why is that so hard? And it's only for a few minutes at the most.
Are there some egomaniac cops (and departments) out there. You betcha. And I believe that they should drummed out of police work and if appropriate prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And sadly, that doesn't happen.
The rule of law is pretty much dead in this country, it's just too stupid to fall over. A hard rain is gonna fall, but I can only hope that people realize what was lost and reclaim it again.