My wife brought me a Willamette Week from her trip to Stupidtown this weekend. There was a story about the police shooting that I mentioned last week. Details are somewhat different than what I discussed.
It is actually much worse for the cops in my opinion. All the high tech weapons and all procedures and science and training are worthless when you have cops running on adrenaline and an affirmative action hire as an on the scene commander.
If you care... read the story in Willamette Week.
The problem is not the skin color. It is politics, policy, training, and a lot of this whole "us vs. them" idea that every person is a nutcase with a gun.
In this case the fellow in question had gun convictions on his record and he was suicidal.
One officer was talking to him on the phone and trying to get him out of the apartment. The office in charge was talking to someone more important. The cop with the M-16 was providing "lethal cover" which I guess is a nice way of saying, he was waiting to blow his brains out when he got the chance.
Problem is that the fellow comes out in response to the cop with the phone, then the cop with the gun doesn't know what is going on and naturally feels threatened or whatever they call the justification to shoot someone who they think has a gun-before he gets the gun out. So he shoots the guy.
Then they put the dog on him.
Then of course they wait for the SWAT team.
Look, you know it, I know it, everyone including the cops-know it, they don't really care.
1. The guy has a criminal arrest record. So what if they shoot him.
2. There is no communication they were all running on nerves
3. Cops have no way to tell if someone is mental, on drugs, crazy, depressed, or just a criminal and they are not going to risk their lives on a judgment.
4. If you got your finger on the trigger of the M-16, it is just such a little bit of a pull, and you are just so jumpy and it is all a big video game anyway and there is no real penalty if you are wrong...
5. Poor on the scene leadership. That is really what went wrong. Officers were acting on their own while the commander was talking to the brass...
Bottom line, if the cops are called and they are standing outside your door, they have real bullets and dogs and whatever happens it is going to hurt...
Posts
Things may be a little different south of the border but we do have similar incidents here in the frozen north. I generally come down on the side of the law even if they have to take extreme measures. I view them as the thin line that protects me from the type of people that would try to separate me from my worldly goods.
ReplyDeleteRalph, The problem I see is that regular folks like us can find ourselves on the wrong side of the law. Sometimes cops get the wrong address in a drug raid. Sometime in the future you and I may find ourselves in trouble over some environmental issue. There are gun laws, child rearing issues, employee issues, false accusations, and the probability of strange laws being enacted in the future. I think everyone should be treated fairly but also firmly. So, I'm in favor of cops but think they should be "professional."
ReplyDeleteJust remember, the real reason for the Second Amendment was to protect us from the government. Cops are part of the government, they just have better aim than most senators. I don't let it bother me like I did when I was younger, though. The Lord will straighten it all out soon enough, and he doesn't need any of my help.
ReplyDelete