Scared Cops Are Scary

Townhall.com ^ | Dec 13, 2017 | Jacob Sullum

[SmokingJoe]

The key words in my post being “law abiding citizens”. For example, I have never even ever talked to a drug dealer in my life, let alone have a drug dealer point a gun at me, but like almost everyone else, I have had some interaction with the police. That is why the police need to exercise great caution. With great power comes great responsibility.

[suthener]

Did anybody ever say what the victim was reaching for? He was so determined to reach behind his back he must have had something.

Yes, he was reaching to pull up his shorts, which anyone with half a brain could have seen. When the first shots are fired his (empty) hand is already in plain view. This poor guy was scared out of his mind, drunk, and absolutely no threat to those officers. Five cops were there. Why did only one shoot? Because the others had common sense.

[Gay State Conservative]

Just wondering - did you watch the video?

Yup...extreme foolishness on both sides,dead guy *and* cops.The dead guy didn't intend to get killed and the cops didn't intend to kill anybody.

Lesson for young guys: Don't get drunk and start waving guns around.Not even toy guns.Also,listen *very* carefully to a cop who has a rifle pointed at you.

Lesson for cops: think carefully when deciding how to handle certain situations.That one could have handled much better...and that's true even if nobody had died.

[null and void]

JBT Ping list

Could go either way...

You have some control over which way...

[Emmett McCarthy]

This cop is a punk who set up his little game of “Simon Says” until he got his chance to pump 5 rounds from his AR-15 into the guy.

[JayAr36]

Scared Cops Are Scary

Any one that does not feel fear is a fool!

[Gay State Conservative]

That is why the police need to exercise great caution.

Very true.But there are certain situations where too much caution can get a cop killed.I recall one youtube video of a cop wearing a camera while responding to a "domestic".The cop was talking very calmly to the guy trying to defuse things.At one point the cop said to him,very calmly,"look,I just have to check you for weapons".The guy then put his hand in his pocket and shot the cop in the head...twice.

Turns out the killer had major convictions so being caught with a gun would have meant prison.

[Gay State Conservative]

Here's a video of the incident I mentioned...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQcmAi6OV1I

[Celerity]

I read 51. And I still stand by it.

Read what I posted. The cops aren’t the whole problem. The problem is the SOP. The problem are the people who stand behind the cops.

Cops THEN become a problem because they have been trained (And in many cases, bred) to regard us as the enemy.

So no, I don’t call 911. Ever. Are you kidding me ? No way.

Never ever do I even think of calling cops. I have to do it during a car accident or whatever but that’s begrudgingly. I call 911 for fire and ambulance - that’s all.

So see post #52.

[TexasKamaAina]

That one could have handled much better...and that's true even if nobody had died.

Yes - I think that's about the only thing everyone could agree to. Some time ago I stopped giving cops the benefit of the doubt. I know they have to put up with a lot, but the way they handled this is an example of why, if the situation is questionable, I am no longer automatically inclined to give credence to the cop's story.

[BlackbirdSST]

What planet do you live on, Planet Gestapo Boot Licker?

Check out his tagline. I've never in my 58 years seen a sheepdog go belly up at the mere site of wolves.

[TADSLOS]

Power mad cop playing God. There’s simply no reason whatsoever that this murdered man could not have been handcuffed by his partner. So, an innocent man is dead and a killer cop got away with murder.

[Mr.Unique]

This cop is a punk who set up his little game of “Simon Says” until he got his chance to pump 5 rounds from his AR-15 into the guy.

From what I've read, the shooter was NOT the one shouting commands. It was a sergeant.

In the video, he even screams out confusing instructions to his own men. He screams his head off at the cop securing the female.

[righttackle44]

I know that what happened is terrible, and the family is understandably extremely distraught, and the policeman will probably be a wreck for the rest of his life, however.

You haven't been paying attention, have you?

A wreck for the rest of his life? No, Brailsford is strutting and arrogant. He was exonerated for murdering a man who was trying to conform to Brailsford's conflicting orders. You can hear those orders on the video tape, not seen by the jury until after the verdict. This tattooed thug-police officer believes he did the people of Mesa, Arizona a good thing for killing an unarmed man trying to crawl while his boxer shorts were slipping down, and he couldn't move forward. Brailsford ordered Mr. Shaver to crawl with his ankles crossed. He ordered a man to do something impossible. And I think he did it so he could shoot Mr. Shaver.

Brailsford's job performance was rated as substandard by superiors evaluating him. He was a cop on the job who had NO reason to be there. Furthermore, investigating officers have said they saw no reason that Brailsford and the other officers could not have simply handcuffed him.

I think it's so very vile to say of a situation in which a cop who executed a man who was trying to comply with the cops orders, "I know what happened is terrible."

I think it's also vile for someone to preach that policemen have guns, so don't argument with them, but argue with a judge and lawyer.

But there is not ONE iota of argument on the tape by Mr. Shaver with Brailsford. Mr. Brailsford didn't get the opportunity to get to see a judge, did he?

I support police officers, and I am pro law-enforcement. But this guy Brailsford deserved to be strapped to a table and lethally injected.

[Mr.Unique]

The cop threatened to shoot him if he made a wrong move over and over again…

Agree that the cop/shooter is all you say, however, the person shouting out the orders was the sergeant on scene.

[wbarmy]

My sincere apologies for bothering all of you.

Please feel free to act in whatever manner you deem when faced with one of these situations.

I will do what I think is necessary to survive and fight when the odds are not so overwhelming. But I have survived, and the ones trying to get me are not around.

As for the cop, I really do not know his mental state, all I know is that police I know of who had to kill in the line of duty were never really at peace with themselves afterward. So if my statement about him is wrong, I again apologize.

[wbarmy]

After inviting two other hotel guests to his room for a drink, he showed them an air rifle he used for work, at one point sticking it out a window to demonstrate the scope's range.

[Mr.Unique]

Cops are civilians.

[MD Expat in PA]

OK. Fair enough:

Portillo said she and a male co-worker met Shaver about an hour before he was shot in the hallway of the hotel. The three of them were all there on business and were staying in separate rooms, but Shaver invited them up to his room for a drink. Once inside, the two men started admiring one of the pellet rifles Shaver had with him.

Portillo said she warned the guys as they passed the rifle back and forth and pointed it out the window of the fifth-floor hotel room, checking out the scopes.

"I was like, 'Hey, you guys, don't be so close to the window. People may get the wrong idea,'" said Portillo.

Shortly after, the Mesa police officers were called to the hotel.

http://www.azfamily.com/story/36985863/ex-mesa-police-officer-who-shot-killed-unarmed-man-found-not-guilty-of-murder

I can’t find the link but I seem to recall that the testimony at trial of the one of the people in the hotel hot tub who called the police, is that they actually didn’t see a “gun” pointed out of the hotel window but only saw the silhouette of a man standing at the window who appeared to be holding a gun.

But the fact remains that Shaver was unarmed when he was killed, shot 5 times while begging for his life.

You may not want to watch the video but you may want to read this:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/11/opinions/daniel-shaver-shooting-opinion-gagliano/index.html

[freeandfreezing]

Actually the nurse was staying very still and speaking calmly, appealing for the police to calm down. They opened fire anyway. The only reason the autistic kid survived was that the nurse got hit instead due to the poor shooting skills of the police. And he was just plain lucky.

To me is seems obvious that better training is required for police so that they can respond better in situations where normal people wouldn't be ready to draw a firearm, much less start shooting.