Cops shooting unarmed man
- Thread starter thedoc46
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We do know he pulled him over for not wearing a seat belt, and that his first interaction was to ask for a license. You don't request paperwork if you believe someone to be an immediate danger.
And ordering someone to do something (show licence), and then shooting them for doing it is probably not very fair.
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Soldato
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*Requisite "'MURICA!" post*
And that is the point really.
You (And everybody else) have the advantage of being able to view the situation more objectively and multiple times from a position of total safety! The Cop only got to watch it the first time with his life very much on the line!
If the driver had been going for a gun and the policeman had hesitated, even for a second, then this would likely be a story about an Officer killed in the line of duty!
(Something that happens more than once a week across the USA. I am actually surprised the figure isn't higher, but then If Policemen took more "Care" in situations like this then perhaps it would be!
)When you have less than a second to make a decision on which your life might well depend it is difficult to see how anybody would be prepared to wait and see!
(A quick goggle suggests that not only is Columbia right near the top for crime rates in USA cities, but that while the area where this event took place was a relitively low crime area of the city it was immediately adjacent to some very high crime areas so I can imagine that the cop might well have been a bit more jumpy than normal!)
For my part, If I were confronted by a US policeman I would be very polite and move very slowly! (And then, only when I was told to do so, keeping my hands in view at all times!)
Diving into the car was a bad move and he is lucky to be alive!
i watched the video of this incident earlier. this was almost as shocking as the op
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com...-Officer-Richard-Jouppi-fired--264052001.html
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com...-Officer-Richard-Jouppi-fired--264052001.html
Devil's advocate. Ever heard of it?
I won't lie it might be a fair point but surely they're taught more passive ways to deal with these kinds of situations? Even in a split second instance like this one there must have been more options. Whether he had a gun or not. And that's ignoring the fact that these kinds of decisions must be fairly common.
While we don't know the officers exact thoughts it wouldn't be surprising if race did play a part. There's definitely stereotypes against the black man in America and if you feel your life could be threatened you do crazy things. The officer is clearly in the wrong though with hindsight.
I'm sorry but in no way does it look like the guy 'dove' into the car....he had just been asked for his license, so he turns round and reaches into the car....a perfectly normal response...
And the police officer shot 3 times, the third when the guy had already backed off and had his hands in the air.
I fail to see how the policemans actions can be defended at all, they are trained to react in dangerous situations, and they aren't trained to react like that....well, I should hope not!
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It's not about being politically correct - in fact I often think people are too sensitive. However, in this case I don't see race as being relevant. For example, recently we had another thread title about a gay man being being attacked with a hammer - the fact is that the reason for the attack was because he was gay (his housemate was making disparaging remarks about his sexuality) so it was perfectly relevant in that instance.
In this case, I just don't see how the race is an issue - we don't know for a fact that it was - we can suspect it was, but then that is what the OP can explain rather than making it the title and leading opinion before objectivity can be applied. It's more of the fact it is down to negligent or poor policing.
If you think I've got the wrong end of the stick then I'll happily amend the title back, however, I'm quite keen to keep the forums as neutral as possible without diluting individuality and forced censorship, and for this reason I think the title was misleading and unnecessary.
I think the OP could mention that he was black and that in your opinion is the likely reason why the shots were fired, but your title almost made the point that he was only shot because he was black, which I think taints the flavour of the thread a little unfairly.
I'm open minded enough to accept I may be wrong in this instance, so bear with me - happy to be challenged in fair and constructive way, without a toys out of the pram argument of PC stuff. I'm not a fan of excessive mollycoddling but at the same time I don't want the skew to be complete anarchy either - I hope you understand my reasoning.
Soldato
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Could be he fired the gun accidentally in a panic. Clearly incompetence, but not intentionally done to harm or kill. Maybe he just didnt like black folk, or people who don't wear their seatbelt.
I'm sure the truth will come out. Either way, it is poor policing, whether that is solely down to the officer, or partly down to poor training will be settled in court no doubt.
I'm sure the truth will come out. Either way, it is poor policing, whether that is solely down to the officer, or partly down to poor training will be settled in court no doubt.