For the FTP's amongst us

Stop with that shit. Refusing to back off my position doesn’t make me loopy. This shit is entertaining.

 

I get that, but I see this incident a little differently.

I’m not thrilled with the cop’s willingness to resort to deadly force. Maybe he was trying to hit the cop, maybe not, but why not give him the benefit of the doubt? Backup was already arriving.

I feel like the police have a duty to avoid using deadly force at all costs, even if it means it makes the job more dangerous for themselves. This officer did exactly the opposite, shooting when he wasn’t in imminent danger instead of getting out of the way. The icing on the cake was moving himself into a dangerous position when he didn’t have to and shooting again. I believe this officer fired out of anger, not fear. He was mad that the guy refused his orders and was attempting to get away, so he manufactured a situation to seemingly justify deadly force.

I would have much preferred that the cop do as his policy directed and get out of the way. The swarming backup would have boxed the car in. At that point, the suspect would have probably realized the odds were against him and given up without a fight, but if he’d didn’t and tried to use the gun he had in the car, they’d have been completely justified in shooting him.

 

So this was my fortune cookie at lunch today. Fuck that shit, I’m going down with the ship!

 

Ummm...yes there is. Just because you are the proximate cause of your own demise (he did it to himself) does not mean you deserved it.

 

Because you have reached an untouchable level of wrong.

 

How dare I disagree with the WERA Dungeonites!

 

What would be the harm in the cop holding his fire, getting out of the way, then his buddies apprehending the crook?

 

You dare quite well, but you need to up your game if you hope to win any converts.

 

What part of he didn't deserve what he got did you miss? Sure it could have come down differently. It didn't. Do I condone what the cop did? No. But if you want to apportion blame based on the level of stupid, the guy in the car wins in a landslide. The only thing he needed to have done to be alive today is stop.

 

I misread that. Or more accurately, I didn’t go back and read the post I quoted in the post you quoted for context.

My point though, was that criminals are stupid so we should expect them to do dumb things and act accordingly. The tolerance for stupid on the part of the cop is much, much lower.

So say the criminal’s level of stupid is 95, and the cop’s level is 20. The cop gets a “you should have known better” multiplier of 5, bringing his stupid level to 100 and out-stupiding the criminal.

 

Nobody converts in here. The best you can hope for is that the other side gives up.

 

How's that working out for you?

 

I think you missed a decimal point.

 

They say they’ve given up but they keep coming back!

 

Jokes aside, do you see what I’m getting at?

 

Oh I've seen your argument all along, I simply disagree with your conclusions and the billy badass approach to dealing with armed LEOs. No one's manhood is going to be damaged by complying with the instructions of an office with a gun drawn, right or not. Your rights don't mean squat when you have assumed room temperature.

 

I never said you should refuse to comply, I questioned the need for gunpoint and ultimately deadly force. The only time you should refuse is if you’re certain you’re going to be shot either way. At that point you have nothing to lose.

Everything else was a more general argument about police and the cj system’s roles. I personally feel that, due mainly to the WoD and WoT, police have become far too aggressive, militarized, and powerful. That power is intoxicating and we’ve been complacent in protecting our liberties, giving up more freedom in the name of safety and order.

 

I have had the opportunity to speak with some older retired former Texas Rangers. It is their opinion is that one of the biggest problems with today's police force is that they don't have street smarts. They patrol in their cars employing mobile data terminals and rarely interact with the people in the areas they are charged with policing. They don't get to know them. It is a cliche, but the old beat cop (yes I know some were corrupt) was generally considered a positive force. They got to know their community and were looked at more as a force of good that an adversary. The old policeman as friend image. He was much more detailed in his description, but he said he would take street smart over criminal justice education almost every time.

 

The answer is community policing but that is hard to do in big cities.

When an officer lives among the people they police it gets much more personal than working all day on the south side and then returning to their north side home.

 

As I have said before...they need a little less Stormin Norman and a little more Andy Griffith in their approach. That would go a long way.