dnewton3
Staff member
Read the storyline and watch the video. Again - I admit potential bias as a cop up front, but I also think I have the ability to describe and define WHY things happen in accordance with LEO training and case law decisions.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/22/das...sing-his-hands/
In various manners, between telling the subject not to move, to show his hands, to not get out of the car, warning his partner of a gun, the officer probably made about 20 verbal commands to warn and command the suspect.
But the suspect wanted to get out of the car. I can only guess as to why; probably to run or attack; those are the only logical reasons he would not comply with the officer's commands. The suspect had been incarcerated previously for shooting at cops, had multiple arrests and was likley going to fight or flee. The suspect was known to the officer; he had been involved in previous arrests and knew of the history of the felon. The suspect had a gun in his immediate possession (SCOTUS case law defines this as the safety bubble for officers; if you can reach it, you can be considered a threat). It is reasonable to believe that more than one weapon was either in the car or on his body; certainly not inconvievable, and therefore just because one gun was removed from the car does not mean the threat of more didn't exist.
The shooting officer was black; so was the suspect. That is the only reason this will not explode into racial tension. Ironically, the black officer followed the same protocol that any well-trained officer would. Had the roles been reversed and the white officer would have shot the black man, Sharpton would have already been down there.
Lesson to learn here? Not unlike what I tried to show in the New Mexico officer death video, cops face uncertain risks.
Do what a cop tells you; no more and no less. Don't make your interpretation of what you think the cop is telling you and then try to adjust for your own convenience or comfort. DO EXACTLY WHAT THE OFFICER TELLS YOU TO DO.
I am NOT advocating for a uber-Police state. As a citizen and a parent and a husband, I don't want my life to become a quasi-facist state and be afraid of government.
But at the same time, stupidity has a way of thinning the herd. If you're a known felon with a history of shooting at cops, and you have a gun within your reach and a cop tells you repeatedly not to move and to show your hands, don't get too upset when you chose to disobey and then are shot for non-compliance.
And yet there is going to be an outcry as to how unjust some feel the cop's actions were. They will say things like:
- they took the gun away, where was the threat? (it exists in the potential for other unknown weapons present)
- he had his arms up; he was surrendering (except that he was never told to exit, and was in fact REPEATEDLY TOLD to NOT get out, and so raising one's hands could be the precursor to striking the head or neck of the officer, gragging the officer's gun, etc)
- they should have used a Taser (the situation had already gone up the "Use of Force" scale to deadly force when the gun was found within reach of the felon. Police training does not teach us to respond to leathal force with non-leathal means. That is not a realistic response to the existing threat. Would YOU take a Taser to a gunfight?)
The moment the felon was present with a firearm discovered within his reach, it became a deadly force situation. Once the suspect failed to comply, and actively moved towards the officer after repeated directives to not do so, he was shot. The facts are pretty much evident. Although I suspect some will try to make this into a topic of excessive use of force.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/22/das...sing-his-hands/
In various manners, between telling the subject not to move, to show his hands, to not get out of the car, warning his partner of a gun, the officer probably made about 20 verbal commands to warn and command the suspect.
But the suspect wanted to get out of the car. I can only guess as to why; probably to run or attack; those are the only logical reasons he would not comply with the officer's commands. The suspect had been incarcerated previously for shooting at cops, had multiple arrests and was likley going to fight or flee. The suspect was known to the officer; he had been involved in previous arrests and knew of the history of the felon. The suspect had a gun in his immediate possession (SCOTUS case law defines this as the safety bubble for officers; if you can reach it, you can be considered a threat). It is reasonable to believe that more than one weapon was either in the car or on his body; certainly not inconvievable, and therefore just because one gun was removed from the car does not mean the threat of more didn't exist.
The shooting officer was black; so was the suspect. That is the only reason this will not explode into racial tension. Ironically, the black officer followed the same protocol that any well-trained officer would. Had the roles been reversed and the white officer would have shot the black man, Sharpton would have already been down there.
Lesson to learn here? Not unlike what I tried to show in the New Mexico officer death video, cops face uncertain risks.
Do what a cop tells you; no more and no less. Don't make your interpretation of what you think the cop is telling you and then try to adjust for your own convenience or comfort. DO EXACTLY WHAT THE OFFICER TELLS YOU TO DO.
I am NOT advocating for a uber-Police state. As a citizen and a parent and a husband, I don't want my life to become a quasi-facist state and be afraid of government.
But at the same time, stupidity has a way of thinning the herd. If you're a known felon with a history of shooting at cops, and you have a gun within your reach and a cop tells you repeatedly not to move and to show your hands, don't get too upset when you chose to disobey and then are shot for non-compliance.
And yet there is going to be an outcry as to how unjust some feel the cop's actions were. They will say things like:
- they took the gun away, where was the threat? (it exists in the potential for other unknown weapons present)
- he had his arms up; he was surrendering (except that he was never told to exit, and was in fact REPEATEDLY TOLD to NOT get out, and so raising one's hands could be the precursor to striking the head or neck of the officer, gragging the officer's gun, etc)
- they should have used a Taser (the situation had already gone up the "Use of Force" scale to deadly force when the gun was found within reach of the felon. Police training does not teach us to respond to leathal force with non-leathal means. That is not a realistic response to the existing threat. Would YOU take a Taser to a gunfight?)
The moment the felon was present with a firearm discovered within his reach, it became a deadly force situation. Once the suspect failed to comply, and actively moved towards the officer after repeated directives to not do so, he was shot. The facts are pretty much evident. Although I suspect some will try to make this into a topic of excessive use of force.
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