missile said:
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".
I don't know whether this was justified or not. I didn't see the video.
But I am going to play the Devil's advocate.
We are taught that a young man in average condition can cover 25 feet in 1 1/2 seconds. Bullet proof vests, believe it or not, do not stop knives. So, our training is, if he has a knife, is within 25 feet of us, and is threatening, shoot him. Until he is no longer a threat.
One NEVER shoots to wound. You shoot to stop, which means centre body mass.
These things are unfortunate, and I didn't see the video, but I understand that people react how they are trained to react, and police are trained to take no risk.
Mind you, they do have night sticks and pepper spray, options we do not have.