I Watched a Public Execution Today

[#juan]

"The ONLY important thing is that YOU go home safely at the end of your shift"

I think it is important that everyone goes home safely. The above quote, is selfish in the extreme and not the doctrine I want our police officers to follow. They all took the job knowing there would be some risks. In this case, the risks could have been reduced to acceptable levels.

 

[Nascar_James]

Re: RE: I Watched a Public Execution Today

I'm sorry to sound horribly callous, but I have a hard time getting angry that the police killed a man with a knife threatening them AFTER trying pepper spray. If he didn't want to be shot by those cops he had ample opportunity to STOP THREATENING THEM WITH A DEADLY WEAPON! Police brutality is a legitimate issue, but shooting someone with a knife after trying to safely disarm them is not police brutality, it's common sense policy. When did people with violent intent suddenly have the absolute right to safety at the expense of cops'? maybe I was just raised differently, but I've always known you don't threaten cops with weapons unless you want trouble.

Anyone who thinks there are easy or safe ways to disarm someone with a knife hasn't tried before. If a man didn't react to pepper spray, I have a hard time believing a shot to the arm would stop him. Have you ever seen the results of pepper spray? My brother had to be pepper sprayed as part of their training. He's a big tough guy and he was down. The instructors took pictures of it so they would never forget how serious pepper spray is. If a man can withstand that without being affected, he's not going down from a simple flesh wound to the arm. It's easy to say what they should have done when it presents no risk to YOUR safety.

Absolutely, Tracy. Right On! I agree 100%.

 

[the caracal kid]

i agree with you ocean breeze.

shooting him is the easy way out. a bunch of cops that decided it was just easier to blast the fellow.

 

[Nascar_James]

On another note, officers did not know if this guy was on PCP. If I were one of those officers, and my pepper spray had no effect on an suspect carrying a knife, I would very likely have reacted in the same manner. Had these officers approached this guy mearly with their batons, and if this guy was high on some drug such as PCP, there very likely would have been greater casualties.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

On another note, officers did not know if this guy was on PCP. If I were one of those officers, and my pepper spray had no effect on an suspect carrying a knife, I would very likely have reacted in the same manner. Had these officers approached this guy mearly with their batons, and if this guy was high on some drug such as PCP, there very likely would have been greater casualties.

ya know......offering up worst case scenarios , Is a stretch. does not justify the action. and sure is a product of a paranoid society...

ONe can do the "what if" thing ad infinitum and still get nowhere.

5 against ONE. What this says.....is that the cops are trigger happy as usual. (shoot first, ask questions later).....and are not sophisticated in communication skills or dealing with people with knives. Sadly we will never know what the story was from the dead man's point of view...... and this is usually the case.....while the shooters defend, justify their actions and carry on as per usual.


( would this be called a "pre-emptive" attack/shooting??? seems to be gaining popularity in an overly aggressive society........that has been well indoctrinated by the likes of Dirty Harry, Charles Bronson , John Wayne etc. )

 

[the caracal kid]

yup,

the old "shoot first and ask questions later" mentality.

i for one find the "if you see somebody you don't like, shoot them" attitude frustrating.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

Re: RE: I Watched a Public Execution Today

yup,

the old "shoot first and ask questions later" mentality.

i for one find the "if you see somebody you don't like, shoot them" attitude frustrating.

yep.........and a little too lethal/terminal for my liking.. :wink:

 

[the caracal kid]

exactly.

you can also tell when a society is in decline when the old "ends justify the means" arguments start showing up.

there is an old saying about tolorance which i can not remember right now. The premise is that one's tolorance is not measured in how they treat those they like, but in how they treat those they dislike.

More of that needs to be seen here as we have so many so quickly jumping to the defense of 5 men shooting 1 man based entirely on their own tolorances.

 

[Nascar_James]

( would this be called a "pre-emptive" attack/shooting??? seems to be gaining popularity in an overly aggressive society........that has been well indoctrinated by the likes of Dirty Harry, Charles Bronson , John Wayne etc. )

Ah ... John Wayne. Now there was a classy figure. He was a no-nonsense individual both on and off the screen.

 

[no1important]

RE: I Watched a Public Ex

Well that's the police force that beat up an old black guy, attacked a camerman while the cop on horse was trying to hide it. Pricks. That police force should be didbanned and have the state police take over.

 

[zenfisher]

On the News this morning ,I saw a group of New Orleans policeman ,lined up with guns aimed at a Black with a small knife in his hand. Did they try to disarm him? Or use their guns to wound him? no,they fired en masse into him until he died.This was totally unnecessary, as there are many methods to take a knife away from a suspect without the use of lethal force, and just another example of the brutality and racism of that city's "finest".

This happened to someone I worked with. The police were embarrassed when they found the suicide note in his pocket.

I can understand shooting the body in theory. The chance of a stray bullet hitting another officer or an innnocent bystander is there. it is a high probability as well. However, I find it unbelievable that five trained officers ( they undergo martial arts training) could not disable him without deadly force....What if he had been wearing a vest ? Wouldn't that suddenly make the shoot for the torso kind of silly ? How did they manage to get close enough to pepper spray him without getting stabbed?

 

[Papachongo]

Odd I don't know of even one fool proof way of disarming a knife weilding individual without there being risk to the officer.

 

[missile]

There were at least 12 police officers at the scene,so the greatest danger to them was that they might shoot each other

 

[Jo Canadian]

I wonder then how the scenerio would unfold if Tazers were used instead of Guns?

 

[missile]

Personally,I would have fired one round into the guy's gonads. Surprising how quickly that takes the fight out of a man But,using the Tazer there is also a great idea.

 

[Nosferax]

I wonder then how the scenerio would unfold if Tazers were used instead of Guns?

They did a test once at CNN... Even after 2 shot of tazer the guy made it to the journalist..

 

[Andygal]

RE: I Watched a Public Ex

I took a little karate, and we were taught as beginners how to block a knife attack and disarm the guy in the process. If I know how you can bet the police knew at least one techinique for disarming somebody with a knife without hurting them.

But they were *****s and they decided to shoot him, got on national TV and nobody in the US said a word about it, why? Cause the guy was black. If it had been a white guy people would be screaming for those officers' immeidate firing.

 

[Colpy]

Re: RE: I Watched a Public Ex

I took a little karate, and we were taught as beginners how to block a knife attack and disarm the guy in the process. If I know how you can bet the police knew at least one techinique for disarming somebody with a knife without hurting them.

But they were *****s and they decided to shoot him, got on national TV and nobody in the US said a word about it, why? Cause the guy was black. If it had been a white guy people would be screaming for those officers' immeidate firing.

So you took a little of the ancient Japanese art of karate, and they taught you how to disarm a guy with a knife.

Ever done it?

Try it sometime, and I bet you wind up cut, unless you are very advanced.

The New Orleans cops practise the ancient American art of Shu Ting. Much more effective.

 

[MMMike]

Re: RE: I Watched a Public Ex

I took a little karate, and we were taught as beginners how to block a knife attack and disarm the guy in the process. If I know how you can bet the police knew at least one techinique for disarming somebody with a knife without hurting them.

But they were *****s and they decided to shoot him, got on national TV and nobody in the US said a word about it, why? Cause the guy was black. If it had been a white guy people would be screaming for those officers' immeidate firing.

OK Andygal... they shot him because he was black. The fact that he was waving a knife around had nothing to do with it. Next time the police have a knife-waving lunatic on the street, I guess they should call you to deal with him, as you are far better trained. :roll:

 

[Andygal]

RE: I Watched a Public Ex

they didn't have to shoot him, there are non-lethal ways to disarm somebody with a knife, and I find it hard to believe that cops aren't trained in such methods.