Appropriate use of force by police

[jtb1127]

Nothing surprising.
I always said that American cops (or maybe NOT ONLY American, who knows) are TAUGHT to be aggressive.
The thread about school shooting is of the same idea - they first kill, then think.
It's not self-defense, it's almost murder.
Good snipers (shooters? whatever you call trained gun-users?) MUST be able to disarm a thug with a gun WITHOUT killing him.
Or at the least TRY to do so.
But "no person, no problem", or rather, no proof of "over-reacting".
That's the modern society with all its "respect" for human life.
Yeah, RIGHT...

Didn't the kid have a realistic bb gun that he refused to set down?

 

[civ2]

contre
I didn't know you had problems with DIABETES?
Poor you.

 

[civ2]

OK, let's drop it.
I understood the story quite differently, also THIS topic still proves me right - the kick was way unneeded.

 

[emzie]

contre
I didn't know you had problems with DIABETES?
Poor you.

No, I have problems with diabeetus.

 

[civ2]

contre
So tell it to them then.

 

[Zelig]

If you're pro law enforcement you should hate cops like this. No one should be defending this guy other than his lawyers. Cops like this waste money on lawsuits, they tarnish the image of the police, and ultimately they make the streets less safe for the police thanks to citizens seeing stuff like this and (rightfully) losing trust and faith in the cops.

Including other cops.

 

[LucyDuke]

He was wrong, but she should have been convicted of assaulting a police officer.

I agree! Charged with, anyway.

I don't think kicking her in the face was the right thing to do, but if she had managed to trip or kick his leg out he could have take a nasty fall. Surely though there must have been a better way to make her stop doing that.

Stepping back would've done it.

I agree. It was unnecessary (and funny) but I really don't think it's that big of a deal. She did attack him first. If he does this stuff repeatably that would probably deserve to be punished, but if he only did that I would just let him off with a warning.

How is unnecessary violence by a cop ever not that big of a deal?

 

[Mango Elephant]

How is unnecessary violence by a cop ever not that big of a deal?

A cop is playing frisbee with his family, his brother catches the frisbee, the cop tackles his brother. Unnecessary violence and not a big deal.

It would be a big deal if she hadn't kicked him first, but she did. The article didn't say if she was injured badly, so I'm going to assume no, she wasn't injured badly. Therefor, it's not a big deal. The cop was retaliating against her kicking him first and he didn't even hurt her that bad. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

 

[illram]

I don't think it takes a doctor to look at that video and think that kicking her in the face hurt and was totally unnecessary.

 

[LucyDuke]

A cop is playing frisbee with his family, his brother catches the frisbee, the cop tackles his brother. Unnecessary violence and not a big deal.

That's a really pathetic example of violence.

 

[NYHunter]

It is unacceptable behavior. And I will not lower my standards just because she assaulted him first. This is not a bar fight.

 

[emzie]

A cop is playing frisbee with his family, his brother catches the frisbee, the cop tackles his brother. Unnecessary violence and not a big deal.

It would be a big deal if she hadn't kicked him first, but she did. The article didn't say if she was injured badly, so I'm going to assume no, she wasn't injured badly. Therefor, it's not a big deal. The cop was retaliating against her kicking him first and he didn't even hurt her that bad. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

We hold cops to a higher standard than two high schoolers. We expect them to use force to diffuse dangerous situations, not to go tit-for-tat with some idiot.

As I said earlier, I found the cop's reaction hilarious and have absolutely no pity for the woman. But his actions are unbecoming of a police officer and because of that, he's unfit to be a cop.

 

[say1988]

Good snipers (shooters? whatever you call trained gun-users?) MUST be able to disarm a thug with a gun WITHOUT killing him.

Nobody should ever shoot a gun without intending to kill someone. You shouldn't even point a gun without being willing to kill someone.

Totally unacceptable behaviour from both parties.

It is a big deal, not because of hurting her, but for tarnishing the reputation of the police force which is of significant value to society as a whole.

 

[bathsheba666]

Nobody should ever shoot a gun without intending to kill someone. You shouldn't even point a gun without being willing to kill someone.

This seems to be stated as if an obvious truth. It is anything but.

 

[NickyJ]

Excessive and he shouldnt have done it, but at the same time I dont feel the slightest bit sorry for her.

It was excessive, but I laughed so hard.

He was wrong, but she should have been convicted of assaulting a police officer.

Agreed with all of the above.

I don't think it takes a doctor to look at that video and think that kicking her in the face hurt and was totally unnecessary.

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to calculate that kicking a police officer's leg is going to yield bad results.

While I do think it was excessive and unnecessary, I'm not going to shed tears over her learning a valuable lesson in life: Don't kick police officers.

 

[IglooDame]

So we're all agreed, she acted idiotically and was in the wrong for kicking (at) the cop, and his reaction was unbecoming of a police officer and whether or not criminal charges came up, he deserved to lose his job?

 

[Zelig]

While I do think it was excessive and unnecessary, I'm not going to shed tears over her learning a valuable lesson in life: Don't kick police officers.

Why is that a valuable lesson, because the police officer will assault you?

 

[IglooDame]

Why is that a valuable lesson, because the police officer will assault you?

Because the police officer will either (illegally) assault you, or (legally) charge you with assault. Either way, not an action that is known for good results.

 

[say1988]

This seems to be stated as if an obvious truth. It is anything but.

It should be, the idea of "shooting to disarm/wound" is ludicrous. There are enough variables that killing always has a significant probability. And if they are dangerous enough to warrant being shot it is stupid to risk missing of failing to incapacitate the target.

It gets slightly more complexy with things like less lethal ammunition (but even with rubber bullets you better be willing to accept fatalities).

So we're all agreed, she acted idiotically and was in the wrong for kicking (at) the cop, and his reaction was unbecoming of a police officer and whether or not criminal charges came up, he deserved to lose his job?

Without knowing mroe about the situation and his record, I won't say he deserved to lose his job. he definitely needs to be punished, but not sure exactly what.

 

[emzie]

This seems to be stated as if an obvious truth. It is anything but.

It is. A firearm is a lethal weapon and should only be aimed at someone if you're willing to use lethal force. There are many less-than-lethal alternatives like pepper spray, a taser, or a baton that can be used to subdue someone.