A Texas sheriff's office released bodycam video nearly a week after deputies allegedly shot a woman, mistaking her for an intruder, after she forgot her keys and broke the glass to get into an apartment.
Okay, fair enough. To counter, officers typically have to make split second decisions that can mean life and death. They don’t want to die, just like you and me. They go to the home, it’s clear someone broke in. They announce themselves, 15 minutes later, someone comes walking to the door holding a gun. Now, how SHOULD have the cops handled the situation? Again, it’s SO easy to say “well, they should have done this…or that…” when it’s not you constantly worried about whether or not you’re going to die every time you put on your work uniform.
“Shoot anyone they want” is a exaggeration. There’s over 1 million police officers in this country, over 30,000 police departments… how many would you say are just “going out and shooting anyone they want?”
Far too many for my comfort. The problem isn’t just that a lot of them do, it’s that when they do, they almost always get away scot-free. I can count the number of cops that I’ve seen actually get punished for murdering someone on one hand. I wish the number of innocent people they’ve gotten away with killing was so small.
Now, how SHOULD have the cops handled the situation? Again, it’s SO easy to say “well, they should have done this…or that…”
Here’s the thing…I don’t have to provide the answer to this question. I am not a “trained professional” that is paid specifically to handle these kind of situations.
What I can say without a doubt is there is zero excuse for this woman being shot. If officers are not able to go through their workday without shooting an innocent person then either they shouldn’t be a cop or they shouldn’t carry a weapon. Period.
A police officer’s discomfort or cowardice does not supersede an innocent citizen’s rights.
I’ll provide an answer, then. The cops should handle it the same way the rest of us already do, which is to positively identify your target and what they’re doing before bucking off. It’s pretty easy to figure out! Even Cletus the beer-swilling deer hunter can do it. It does, however, require manning up and overcoming your paranoid little fears about every scrap of shadow being a scary oogie boogie man out to get you… Which one would hope (ha!) that a competent policeman has already been trained to do. As part of, you know, being a policeman.
If anyone can’t handle the heat, they should get the hell out of the kitchen. I hear there’s a shortage of janitors, if motherfuckers want to do some good in the world.
You know, us regular people have to do this in every situation and also have to have robotic encyclopedic knowledge of all relevant self defense and firearms laws at federal, state, county, and municipal levels at all times, plus be able to have a photographic eidetic memory to be able to recount the exact sequence of events down to the nanosecond without the slightest hint of contradiction by any outside source no matter how irrelevant, and to be able to explain to the cops, judge, and jury with airtight millimetric precision exactly why we were justified in even drawing a weapon on someone, let alone firing it, or else we’ll get prosecuted and locked up. It seems to me while private citizens are expected to always and unerringly be able to clear this incredibly high bar at the drop of a hat in any given life-threatening situation, it shouldn’t be too fucking tough for a bunch of “highly trained” policemen to be able to achieve the same performance. Right?
I bartend. Bad neighborhood, no security. When I work, it’s just me behind the bar. Same with my coworkers. There have been plenty of times over the years when shitheads have come into the bar looking to start problems, plus the usual nonsense that happens with a room fun of drunk people. I’ve never shot anybody over it. Neither have any of my coworkers.
Look for another job if you can’t handle the stress of your current one? Don’t just unload your lethal weapon at the slightest hint of potential threat?
No other western democracy has such well armed and yet poorly trained police as those found in the USA.
Name me another “democracy” with over 300 million people, from 1000’s of different cultures and backgrounds…who’s doing it right? The point is, you all seem to make it sound like it’s so easy… there’s not another country on the planet in a similar situation as the US.
Thousands of deaths per year at the hand of police is inexcusable. “It’s too hard” is a shit response to “why can’t you do your job without routinely murdering people”.
So, what are you proposing? The United States just stop getting involved in everyone’s business? Isn’t that what Trump was about? Yet, here we are… damn if you do, damn if you don’t.
It’s an order of magnitude more dangerous to get in your vehicle and drive somewhere than it is to be a cop. Is this how you’d defend someone who committed vehicular manslaughter due to negligence?
Remove upper limit on IQ for cops for all precincts that have one.
Cops should be trained for longer than a hairdresser.
No more Killology seminars.
Personal liability, including criminal liability for egregious shit like locking prisoners in cells covered with feces or burying corpses behind the HQ.
Its impossible to distinguish a combatant from a noncombatant by the mere presence of a gun. Half of households have a gun. Even if an intruder was on scene how would you avoid murdering the home owner if you shoot first and ask questions later. You communicate and take the risk of harm to yourself in order to ensure you don’t shoot innocent people or you turn in your badge like the pussy bitch you are.
For clarity why do you think its hard to say wait for the door to open and say drop the gun while pointing your guns at the person. Note if they freeze like deer in your headlights in fear you may need to repeat your response and wait for compliance.
Okay, fair enough. To counter, officers typically have to make split second decisions that can mean life and death. They don’t want to die, just like you and me. They go to the home, it’s clear someone broke in. They announce themselves, 15 minutes later, someone comes walking to the door holding a gun. Now, how SHOULD have the cops handled the situation? Again, it’s SO easy to say “well, they should have done this…or that…” when it’s not you constantly worried about whether or not you’re going to die every time you put on your work uniform.
Pizza delivery drivers die on the job twice as often as police. Should they be able to shoot anyone they want without real repercussions?
…Actually, food service workers specifically should get one free kill a year
“Shoot anyone they want” is a exaggeration. There’s over 1 million police officers in this country, over 30,000 police departments… how many would you say are just “going out and shooting anyone they want?”
Far too many for me to have any kind of faith in the embarassing joke that is our police force.
Far too many for my comfort. The problem isn’t just that a lot of them do, it’s that when they do, they almost always get away scot-free. I can count the number of cops that I’ve seen actually get punished for murdering someone on one hand. I wish the number of innocent people they’ve gotten away with killing was so small.
Approximately 3 or 4 every day assuming none of them go for a double kill.
The average drunk driver drives thousands of miles before actually killing someone. Shall we ignore the dead children next?
Here’s the thing…I don’t have to provide the answer to this question. I am not a “trained professional” that is paid specifically to handle these kind of situations.
What I can say without a doubt is there is zero excuse for this woman being shot. If officers are not able to go through their workday without shooting an innocent person then either they shouldn’t be a cop or they shouldn’t carry a weapon. Period.
A police officer’s discomfort or cowardice does not supersede an innocent citizen’s rights.
I’ll provide an answer, then. The cops should handle it the same way the rest of us already do, which is to positively identify your target and what they’re doing before bucking off. It’s pretty easy to figure out! Even Cletus the beer-swilling deer hunter can do it. It does, however, require manning up and overcoming your paranoid little fears about every scrap of shadow being a scary oogie boogie man out to get you… Which one would hope (ha!) that a competent policeman has already been trained to do. As part of, you know, being a policeman.
If anyone can’t handle the heat, they should get the hell out of the kitchen. I hear there’s a shortage of janitors, if motherfuckers want to do some good in the world.
You know, us regular people have to do this in every situation and also have to have robotic encyclopedic knowledge of all relevant self defense and firearms laws at federal, state, county, and municipal levels at all times, plus be able to have a photographic eidetic memory to be able to recount the exact sequence of events down to the nanosecond without the slightest hint of contradiction by any outside source no matter how irrelevant, and to be able to explain to the cops, judge, and jury with airtight millimetric precision exactly why we were justified in even drawing a weapon on someone, let alone firing it, or else we’ll get prosecuted and locked up. It seems to me while private citizens are expected to always and unerringly be able to clear this incredibly high bar at the drop of a hat in any given life-threatening situation, it shouldn’t be too fucking tough for a bunch of “highly trained” policemen to be able to achieve the same performance. Right?
I bartend. Bad neighborhood, no security. When I work, it’s just me behind the bar. Same with my coworkers. There have been plenty of times over the years when shitheads have come into the bar looking to start problems, plus the usual nonsense that happens with a room fun of drunk people. I’ve never shot anybody over it. Neither have any of my coworkers.
Well you might actually face consequences, so that’s understandable.
Look for another job if you can’t handle the stress of your current one? Don’t just unload your lethal weapon at the slightest hint of potential threat?
No other western democracy has such well armed and yet poorly trained police as those found in the USA.
Name me another “democracy” with over 300 million people, from 1000’s of different cultures and backgrounds…who’s doing it right? The point is, you all seem to make it sound like it’s so easy… there’s not another country on the planet in a similar situation as the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_annual_rates_and_counts_for_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers?wprov=sfla1
Thousands of deaths per year at the hand of police is inexcusable. “It’s too hard” is a shit response to “why can’t you do your job without routinely murdering people”.
All of western Europe can do just fine and on net they are as big and as diverse collectively as us.
That’s fair right? Compare a lot of small, independent countries to the United States…
Yeah, because the US attacks and destroys anyone who tries.
What happened to Salvador Allende? What happened to Sukarno? What happened to Patrice Lumumba?
There’d be more successful mutliethnic democracies in the world if America didn’t hunt them down and destroy them.
Name me a country that has destroyed more democracies than the US.
So, what are you proposing? The United States just stop getting involved in everyone’s business? Isn’t that what Trump was about? Yet, here we are… damn if you do, damn if you don’t.
Trump assassinated an Iranian general.
Pizza delivery driver is statistically a more dangerous job then police, stop spreading copaganda/ apologia
It’s an order of magnitude more dangerous to get in your vehicle and drive somewhere than it is to be a cop. Is this how you’d defend someone who committed vehicular manslaughter due to negligence?
Some proposed changes for your consideration:
Remove upper limit on IQ for cops for all precincts that have one.
Cops should be trained for longer than a hairdresser.
No more Killology seminars.
Personal liability, including criminal liability for egregious shit like locking prisoners in cells covered with feces or burying corpses behind the HQ.
“Who’s doing it right?” Not us, my dude.
If you feel you need to UNLOAD your weapon at the slightest hint of anything amiss Then don’t become a fucking cop. That’s a choice anyone can make.
Now fuck off, you apologist piece of shit.
Why don’t you join your local police department, show everyone how it’s supposed to be done?
Its impossible to distinguish a combatant from a noncombatant by the mere presence of a gun. Half of households have a gun. Even if an intruder was on scene how would you avoid murdering the home owner if you shoot first and ask questions later. You communicate and take the risk of harm to yourself in order to ensure you don’t shoot innocent people or you turn in your badge like the pussy bitch you are.
For clarity why do you think its hard to say wait for the door to open and say drop the gun while pointing your guns at the person. Note if they freeze like deer in your headlights in fear you may need to repeat your response and wait for compliance.
What split second? They emptied their entire clips. That’s like a 30 second decision.