The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Martinus]

I deliberately refrained from posting a judgement. Though you do seem to have a bit of a trend going on there.

[Eddie Teach]

What color was the gun?

[Martinus]

What color was the gun?

Black?

[Eddie Teach]

Can't really blame the cop if it looked like a real gun.

[Martinus]

Can't really blame the cop if it looked like a real gun.

Possibly. I'm just saying there is a trend of kids being shot in situations where, objectively speaking, they shouldn't have been. And in each case the kid being shot is black.

Now this could all be within the realm of probability and statistics of "honest mistakes" or it could be statistically significant of something troubling.

[Martinus]

Btw, there is a witness account that people at the scene told the cops the gun was most likely fake.

[Syt]

If the initial reports are correct, I don't think I'd fault the cops on this. It was an air pistol, btw.

The gun wasn't readily recognizable as a replica. The boy had it tucked into the waistband. When the cops told him to put his hands up, he reached for the gun.

[mongers]

If the initial reports are correct, I don't think I'd fault the cops on this. It was an air pistol, btw.

The gun wasn't readily recognizable as a replica. The boy had it tucked into the waistband. When the cops told him to put his hands up, he reached for the gun.

So do they still shot to kill if it's an 11 year old, or a 9 year old, or maybe a 7 year old gets a pass?

[DGuller]

Btw, there is a witness account that people at the scene told the cops the gun was most likely fake.

Well, if the witnesses were very confident that it was most likely fake, then it's another matter.  You shouldn't shoot if civilians on the scene think there is no need to do so.

[Syt]

I suppose it would depend on the circumstances of each situation. In this one, if you tell the kid to put the hands up and instead he reaches for the gun, then you have to make a split second decision of whether or not he will try to shoot you.

What would you have done?

[Syt]

Btw, there is a witness account that people at the scene told the cops the gun was most likely fake.

Well, if the witnesses were very confident that it was most likely fake, then it's another matter.  You shouldn't shoot if civilians on the scene think there is no need to do so.

You will also have to rely on the judgment of the civilians who may or may not be familiar with guns.

Again, I'm usually one quickly to caution against excessive force when dealing with situations, and there's a lot of cases where I disagree with its application or think that cops overreact, but in this case I find myself siding with the cops, unless there's additional detail I'm missing.

[Neil]

If the initial reports are correct, I don't think I'd fault the cops on this. It was an air pistol, btw.

The gun wasn't readily recognizable as a replica. The boy had it tucked into the waistband. When the cops told him to put his hands up, he reached for the gun.

So do they still shot to kill if it's an 11 year old, or a 9 year old, or maybe a 7 year old gets a pass?

Why would they give a pass to anybody pulling a gun on them?

The unfortunate part about guns is that they allow anyone, no matter how small, to kill.  The cops aren't killing all these kids because they're racist, or evil.  They're killing them because American society was divided by racism for a very long time, and the attitudes towards police are very different in blacks vs. in whites.  When you add to that the barbaric laws and attitudes towards pistols, you get a real problem, where police are always on edge in certain areas.

At this point, there really is no solution to it.  You can't change peoples attitudes when American law enforcement commits a new atrocity every week, and you can't take the firearms out of the equation, for both political and technical reasons.  It'll just get worse and worse as the years roll by.

[CountDeMoney]

I suppose it would depend on the circumstances of each situation. In this one, if you tell the kid to put the hands up and instead he reaches for the gun, then you have to make a split second decision of whether or not he will try to shoot you.

What would you have done?

Everybody always fucking knows better.

[Martinus]

I suppose it would depend on the circumstances of each situation. In this one, if you tell the kid to put the hands up and instead he reaches for the gun, then you have to make a split second decision of whether or not he will try to shoot you.

What would you have done?

I don't know. I am not a trained cop. I would imagine police would be trained to disable (rather than kill) children, even if they appear dangerous.

[CountDeMoney]

I don't know. I am not a trained cop. I would imagine police would be trained to disable (rather than kill) children, even if they appear dangerous.

The gun is the determining factor, not the child. So you'd be wrong, which is what happens when you're not a trained cop.