Discussion: Most Police Shootings Don't End With Prosecutions

[system1]

Discussion for article #230550

[richardinjax]

“A police officer is not like a normal citizen who discharges their weapon. There is a presumption that somebody who is a peace officer, and is thereby authorized to use lethal force, used it correctly,” said Lori Lightfoot

Well perhaps Lori can cite the law that supports her claim. That mindset, that cops are “super people”, is the problem. As long as cops can shoot and then claim they “felt” the need to do so people are going to die needlessly. It’s amazing that even though shooting and killing a citizen is anathema to the purpose of a cop folks are OK with it.

That’s sick. In the Ferguson shooting the office had options other than shooting. We all know that. It’s unlikely he actually felt threatened by a young man running AWAY from him. But the “Lori Principal” prevails and this man sworn to protect and serve the public shoots and kills a member of that public. I do hope Wilson lives in fear and loathing for the rest of his life. He knows what he did. Thank God he will have to live with it everyday for the rest of his life. And all he need do is look at the streets today. That anger is waiting for him. The community “feels threatened” by him…and I guess will have to act out of that fear.

[ifeveroheverawiztherewas]

I am sure there are good cops and good priests. Unfortunately it seems these positions of authority and trust have become hidey holes for social misfits

[thepsyker]

“He may not do (his job) well, and he may have made a mistake, but it’s not like he woke up in the morning and said, ‘I’m going to go out and kill someone,’” Alpert said.

Most people who kill someone through “not do[ing their] job well” would be facing charges for manslaughter or something similar, even if they were eventually acquitted, regardless of it being a “mistake.” If the police are going to be entrusted with the powers and authority that we, as a society, grant them they should be held to a higher, not lesser, standard.

[hoppy]

Most killings are not done by people who wake up in the morning and decide to kill someone. Policemen are just people with a job that authorizes them to carry guns (in this country, but not all countries). Very few of us carry guns, so very few of us can make a decision, while on the job, to kill someone and actually do it. Anyone who has that power has to be held to a very high standard of behavior. The fact that police in some countries don’t carry guns, but still do their jobs very well, means that a good policeman doesn’t have to shoot anyone. When there are options to shooting someone, all of those options have to be used first, and shooting has to be the last thing to be tried.

I believe that a significant percentage of people who choose to be policemen do so in order to exercise power over others. It is that attitude that leads to them killing people.

[srfromgr]

I can’t help feeling that laws written intentionally with loose language like the word “reasonable”, are often the most dangerous and misguided types of laws, which do little to define the necessary specifics in a law. It leads to a wide range of responses, subjective in nature, which predictably gives way to so much malfeasance and abuse when employed, or used in service to what most likely is a crime. All those “Stand Your Ground” laws seem to use the same language of “reasonableness”. Its a weasel word, replacing evidence based accountability. “Reasonable” is always in the eye of the beholder. Meanwhile, it would seem obvious that a dead person cannot tell their side of the story, leaving all reasonableness as a one-sided affair. How can what is “reasonable” be an objective standard for holding people accountable for their actions? Its too subjective and fraught with misinterpretation and over-interpretation imo.

[trippin]

“Most Police Shootings Don’t End With Prosecutions”

but virtually all of grand jury hearings end with the determination the district attorney intended.

[bromeando]

Unless you have a video for support, forget about it.

[Beth]

Yes, it is true. The police officer did tell the suspect, “Don’t shoot. Put your hands up.” And the 300lb man proceeded to attack him anyway. The Protest signs tell it all. The 300lb man did not want to be arrested peacefully and would not surrender and put his hands up. Instead, he punched the officer. Did anyone take pictures of the attackers knuckles?

[silvrfox]

I think a big part of the problem with policemen shooting people is that there are now so many armed people in this country. Decades ago cops didn’t have the expectation that everyone they stopped might have a gun. Now they do.