In the footage -- which was captured on Bristol Police Department body cameras on July 19 -- you can see D.J. left a residence with his arms in the air ... and urged cops who had surrounded him to fire on him.

More than four times, he told them "shoot me" ... and at one point, as he continued to walk toward the officers with what appeared to be a water bottle in one of his hands, he shouted, "I'm not armed, but shoot me."

Cops ultimately did not shoot D.J. ... though they did tase the 37-year-old former Division I football player.

As he was on the ground, D.J. told cops who were putting him in handcuffs, "No one listens. I don't do this s***" ... before he added, "I need your help."

Cops then assured them they were there to provide him that assistance ... before they took him away from the scene.

According to police documents, cops had initially come to D.J.'s residence after several people had told them he had been acting erratically and sending threatening messages. Cops also said they were told those close to D.J. had feared he had been planning school shootings at UConn and Brown Univ.

D.J. was ultimately booked on charges of threatening and breach of peace following his arrest ... and he's currently still in jail, being held on a $250,000 bond.