Posted on 12/07/2013 10:15:41 AM PST by fifedom
Suffice to say I wouldn’t be seen again for a very long time. But police are entrusted with greater responsibility than myself, so I can understand why a slip-up (if that’s what is was) might be treated with more leniency.
I remember this case. I honestly think the officer who opened fire was going for a “shoot out the tires” moment. Given that the suspect had fled once, and an officer had been assaulted by the driver’s teenaged son, he probably thought he had to stop the matter from going further.
All that said, it was the wrong call to make, IMHO. In tv shows the cops can shoot out a tire without consequence, but in real life, nobody’s aim is perfect and bullets can go a lot of other places. The minivan had a family in it, and the police were on a crowded freeway with a lot of other vehicles speeding by. There could have been any number of passers-by and bystanders put at risk when he began shooting.
Now, I’m not excusing the behavior of the driver of the mini-van. She needs to do some serious jail time for her antics. And I think the other officers all acted appropriately - including the one with the baton who broke out a window to get the doors opened. But the officer who fired his weapon acted recklessly, and his firing seems to be the appropriate action here.
All IMHO and civilian opinion, of course.
You are correct.
Maybe I missed something. I saw the boy approach the officer while he was wrestling with the mother. The officer backed him off. I didn't see an assault unless that part of the video was cut.
IIRC a Border Patrol agent went to prison for shooting at an escaping SUV that had an illegal hidden in the back.
I’m not sure I understand what the mother was doing, but I remember something that happened years ago. Where we are from, it was (then, probably not now) customary when pulled over by a cop to get out and meet him at the back of the car. It was considered courteous.
On a trip to California, my brother was pulled over, and he got out like he normally would. The cop got frantic and started shouting at him to get down on the curb. My brother refused, and the cop started to get twitchy. I thought there was going to be a really bad outcome. The more my brother refused to get down, the twitchier and more frantic the cop became. Finally my brother went and stood on the curb, and the cop accepted that and calmed down. In the end he got a warning, no ticket. But I thought he almost got shot.
She got out of the van (which these days you should never do). The cop ordered her up against the van, which she didn’t want, she thought he was going to cuff her, so she went to get back in the van. He freaked out at that point and tried to pull her from the van, and it all went downhill from there.
These days cops have a habit of cuffing people who are not under arrest “for both of our protection”. If you are an ordinary citizen, not under arrest, that seems like an abuse of power. But it is becoming common procedure.
No matter how you look at it, the cop should not have fired at the tires of the escaping van. Bullets do ricochet.
A kid could have been hit. The gas tank could have been ruptured. Other traffic could have been hit. The driver could have been incapacitated and collided head on with another vehicle.
The driver, the kid and the cop all need to be held accountable.
Would any of this had happened if our race-baiter-in-charge and his willing accomplices Al, Jesse and the MSM had not worsened race relations?
“I respect police but I hate abuse of power and the overuse of something that the rest of us are increasingly not even allowed to have.”
That’s ok. We’ve been trained from childhood in Dewey’s Prussian inspired school system to respect authority unquestioningly, especially authority figures in uniform.
Which cop would be lynched? The baton boy or deputy doright? Now, does the mom and son get into trouble?
Holy cow. Before watching the video, having just read the article, I thought that the officer should be fired. Now, I feel differently.
I am guessing that he and his lawyer came up with this defense after reviewing the tape and seeing nothing that came even close to meeting Garner v. Tennessee criteria for deadly force. He knows he is going to get fired, but is hoping to avoid a civil rights charge and instead accept a civil lawsuit. He is still going to get crushed financially, but he doesn't want to go to jail.
Here is another incident that happened right around the same time up in Oregon. Starts with a routine stop for speeding through a marked construction zone.
http://youtu.be/q1gYEG1TzBk
That does not excuse the poor judgement and use of a firearm outside of policy and legal criteria. He still needs to be fired.
I would have been tempted to shoot her after the first five minutes.
Now assuming everyone should be treated equally, Muslims included, I’d say there should be no difference, the cop firing at the tires, the lady escaping, and the kid assaulting the cop should have consequences to pay.
But given the fact that Muslims are attaining a higher status in the US, and especially Europe, boy, it would sure be a toss up as to who would get preferential treatment.
One thing I’ve thought of, is what is in that cop’s rule book regarding firing of a weapon? IMO common sense says do not fire in such a situation, but what do the rules he is expected to follow say? I’m not trying to defend the cop, but if he was authorized to fire in such a situation then should the folks in charge of the cop be more accountable?
All I know is I would not want to sit in on a jury for a civil suit or charges against the cop or the lady. This Travon thing has politicized just about anything to do with race relations now days.
Good points. I honestly hadn’t considered any of that.
I know that is true. I would never get out now.
But years ago, back before things got weird, it was considered courtesy. And a meeting of equals. Now its much more an adversarial thing; the cop doesn't know if you're the one who is going to pull a piece on him. You keep your hands where he can see them. You wait til asked to go fishing in the glove box for something. Its different now.
A 9mm(or most common handgun rounds) hitting the steel tread area of a tire will not penetrate. Even if he managed to hit the sidewall there is not an explosion like on TV. The tire just deflates relatively slowly.
The 1985 SCOTUS decision changed the deadly force criteria to be only used when an officer feels lives or serious injury to others would occur without its use. These days you do see plenty of police shootings into cars, but those are usually where the driver has hit or attempted to hit people with the car. This woman hadn't done that.
Well, my sympathies are still with the police officer.
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