Another incident with black men getting shot by police

[Drowsy Emperor]

It should have said man in the title. Anyway

 

http://news.sky.com/story/1412586/video-police-shoot-unarmed-black-man

 

Look at these imbeciles going all commando on an unarmed man

Edited January 23, 2015 by Drowsy Emperor

[Malcador]

Time to send them to fight ISIS. 

 

 

Officer Days shouts at Mr Reid not to move, but the passenger door opens and he gets out of the car with his hands held at shoulder height. The officers then fire at least six shots.

 

Ahhh hah! He disobeyed an order to not move.  Cops felt their lives were in danger, can't risk it in a situation like that.

Edited January 23, 2015 by Malcador

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

NB4 apologists for cop ****ups.

[Valsuelm]

Videos of cops unjustifiably assaulting or even killing people pop up a at least a couple of times a month on average. And those are just the ones made public.

 

Think of all the times this happens when there's no video....

 

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-kill-citizens-70-times-rate-first-world-nations/#FzLw3mAbGfiu1yQB.99

 

http://www.killedbypolice.net/

 

Edited January 23, 2015 by Valsuelm

[Gfted1]

Pepperspray, is there anything it wouldn't fix? They could have easily neutralized the situation with pepperspray. Maybe we can replace the metal slug of a bullet with a pepperspray projectile.

[Blarghagh]

A taser could have been fine. Can't fire a gun if your muscles can't move.

 

On the one hand, this guy had a history of shooting at cops and "appeared" to have a handgun (the article was unclear to me, did the officers imagine it or was it actually in the car?) so I understand why the cops would be threatened.

 

On the other hand, even if he had a handgun, thousands of americans have handguns and this guy's history was over a decade ago, so I can't understand that they would be that threatened. Can't read this as anything else but an extreme overreaction by cops whose paranoia and fear (whether racially motivated or not, though pretending race wasn't a factor is just denial) caused the death of a man for running a stop sign. At worst a horrific sign for equality in the US, at best a warning sign for US cops' obviously declining mental health.

 

Either way, looks to me that the right to bear arms only makes life more dangerous for you if you're black.

[Gorgon]

You could just view it as a logical result of an armed populace. The police don't shoot anyone in countries where beat cops don't carry guns, and that statistic goes both ways, cops are safer on the job when it isn't a well stocked warzone. 

 

I'm not suggesting US cops be disarmed, it's too late for that. Maybe those shirt cameras should be mandatory for every police interaction. Make it part of the chain of evidence/custody. 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Pepperspray, is there anything it wouldn't fix? They could have easily neutralized the situation with pepperspray. Maybe we can replace the metal slug of a bullet with a pepperspray projectile.

Pepperspray drones.

[Drowsy Emperor]

A taser could have been fine. Can't fire a gun if your muscles can't move.

 

On the one hand, this guy had a history of shooting at cops and "appeared" to have a handgun (the article was unclear to me, did the officers imagine it or was it actually in the car?) so I understand why the cops would be threatened.

 

On the other hand, even if he had a handgun, thousands of americans have handguns and this guy's history was over a decade ago, so I can't understand that they would be that threatened. Can't read this as anything else but an extreme overreaction by cops whose paranoia and fear (whether racially motivated or not, though pretending race wasn't a factor is just denial) caused the death of a man for running a stop sign. At worst a horrific sign for equality in the US, at best a warning sign for US cops' obviously declining mental health.

 

Either way, looks to me that the right to bear arms only makes life more dangerous for you if you're black.

 

The cop that shot the guy is black as well. But he was far too tense, to the point of being hysterical in the clip. Even though in the beginning he supposedly removed a gun from the glove box.

 

He also knew the guy as well so there could have been some unresolved issues we don't know about.

 

Regardless, as Sean Bean would put it: One does not simply go around shooting unarmed people because they might do something or other.

Edited January 23, 2015 by Drowsy Emperor

[Blarghagh]

I saw that he was black. It's possible for blacks to be unintentionally racist against other blacks.

[Nonek]

Are rubber bullets not a thing anymore?

 

There does seem to have been a spate of over-reaction by the police lately, a friend of mine who had just finished bitter divorce proceedings was recently ambushed at work by armed police, his ex wife said that he was carrying a "cowboy" pistol and so six cars full of armed response police turned up to arrest him. This despite him having no previous criminal record at all, and there being only one witness to him supposedly carrying this weapon, his bitter ex wife. After a full search of his property, a body search and a night in the cells he was released on bail that stopped him working for a fortnight, as he's a security consultant.

 

He was released from bail and the charges dismissed, but one has to wonder why a local Bobby didn't just drop by and ask him a few questions, the gentleman is large and rather brutish looking but there was no cause to suspect him of any crime, and this was surely an over-reaction and definitely a waste of money and resources.

[Valsuelm]

Either way, looks to me that the right to bear arms only makes life more dangerous for you if you're black.

 

I'm white, dress in a manner most consider well, and drive a nice car. I've had the experience of police pointing a gun at me at a routine traffic stop. I've also personally seen cops assault and beat down two different people on two different occasions, one was a black guy, the other a white guy. The latter was even filmed by a friend, but the local TV station didn't want anything to do with it (despite the fact that the person who brought it to them was an intern there; it did however help the guy with his lawsuit against the city). This was before the days of Youtube though, so it never got posted to the internet.

 

You can find videos out there of cops assaulting and killing white people too. The issue is rarely racial.

[Blarghagh]

Oh I don't doubt that white people get the receiving end of it too - although your anecdotal evidence doesn't translate to any defined facts so if you have better sources, I'd love to see 'em. It just seems to me (and keep in mind once again, I don't actually live in America so all I have is what the media and people on the internet tell me, so I may be wrong) that it happens to black people more. Part of it could be media bias and the divide may be smaller than it appears to me but I highly doubt there isn't one since racial profiling is a very real thing and often feeds the paranoia of cops such as this.

[Gfted1]

[Orogun01]

A taser could have been fine. Can't fire a gun if your muscles can't move.

 

On the one hand, this guy had a history of shooting at cops and "appeared" to have a handgun (the article was unclear to me, did the officers imagine it or was it actually in the car?) so I understand why the cops would be threatened.

 

On the other hand, even if he had a handgun, thousands of americans have handguns and this guy's history was over a decade ago, so I can't understand that they would be that threatened. Can't read this as anything else but an extreme overreaction by cops whose paranoia and fear (whether racially motivated or not, though pretending race wasn't a factor is just denial) caused the death of a man for running a stop sign. At worst a horrific sign for equality in the US, at best a warning sign for US cops' obviously declining mental health.

 

Either way, looks to me that the right to bear arms only makes life more dangerous for you if you're black.

The gun in the glove compartment most likely belonged to the person driving the car, whom could have a weapons permit and be allowed to legally carry it within his car. The cops completely mishandled the situation, the victim didn't make any move that could be considered aggressive. The cop spent a few seconds trying to force the car door open all while telling the victim to get out of the car but threatened him when he tried to open the door (Classic erratic cop behavior of giving conflicting orders) and shot him as soon as he got out of the car.

 

I do wonder how many cops would pass a mental health check.

[Darkpriest]

The problem appears there because of 2 factors.

 

USA has a high populace (324mln)

 

That population has a very easy access to various guns

 

If I would be a police officer in USA I would also be more trigger itchy than I would be if I was an EU police officer. You need to realize that in many cases if the real gun would be involved, the policeman would be able to verify in 100% if the suspect has a gun or not probably at the moment when the other person would be already aiming it at the officer and was about to pull the trigger, leaving obviously the police officer at the disadvantage, because he would generally have to pray that the first shot or burst is inaccurate.

 

You won't be able to change the regulations for the police in US until the moment you change the laws regarding access to fire arms and then remove the guns from the vast majority of the population.

 

In EU, even though it is around 500mln ppl in populace, you see such accidents less frequently, but the population of EU is not armed to the teeth as if the world war just ended.

[Drowsy Emperor]

 

Looking very dangerous in that apron

[Darkpriest]

Oh I don't doubt that white people get the receiving end of it too - although your anecdotal evidence doesn't translate to any defined facts so if you have better sources, I'd love to see 'em. It just seems to me (and keep in mind once again, I don't actually live in America so all I have is what the media and people on the internet tell me, so I may be wrong) that it happens to black people more. Part of it could be media bias and the divide may be smaller than it appears to me but I highly doubt there isn't one since racial profiling is a very real thing and often feeds the paranoia of cops such as this.

 

another 2 things....

 

There is much higher crime rate among the "black" populace

 

Such accidents hitting on "black" populace get super fast and high attention of various medias, because "racism"... if it happens to whites/latino/chineese etc. it's usually an accident, and not so hot for media.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I blame the patriarchy.

[Malcador]

 

I do wonder how many cops would pass a mental health check.

 

 

Probably not a lot.  I guess job stress for the most part.  Well unless they have issues before that are just amplified.

[Nonek]

As others have stated here one has to wonder how much training armed police recieve, specifically of heavily stressful environments, because if it is just a mandatory course once per year or so then (with a few exceptions) anybody might panic and react in a similar situation. A calm head and a professional approach in such a situation is from what I have heard, a prerequisite. One has to train weekly and preferably with a familiar, coordinated team in simulated hazardous environments to grow accustomed to such situations, or be of a naturally calm and fearless disposition, which is a rarity.

 

With less police on the streets interacting with the public, more paperwork, an increasingly hostile attitude towards authority figures and less money for training (that should be compulsory) due to the poor economy, well I see such tragedies as being increasingly likely. The selection process for the police may also complicate matters, with individuals being chosen whom have no experience of conflict, the areas they patrol or how to deal with people.

 

This is all speculation however.

[Gfted1]

I do wonder how many cops would pass a mental health check.

I cant speak for the accuracy of this website but apparently ~90% of US law enforcement agencies screen their applicants.

 

Psychological Exams and Screening for Police Officers.

 

Also, this makes me lol so hard:

 

 

[Hurlshort]

They actually do a bunch of psych evaluations for cops.  But like most tests, passing just means you were prepared for the test, not that you are actually competent.

 

edit:  The police departments in my area are constantly training.  Something like half of their on duty time is spent in training.  

 

Edit 2:  Looked it, up, my local PD does 60 mandatory hours a year, and then a bunch of optional training depending on task forces.

Edited January 23, 2015 by Hurlshot

[Gorgon]

You laugh, untill it's you at the other end. 

[Gorgon]

Uniform says 'Policia' Maybe it's the LAPD. My first sligthly racist joke. ?/10  ?.