The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[CountDeMoney]

Giving two teens shit for walking in the street?  You fucking kidding me? 

You come across a couple of guys walking in the middle of the street and obstructing traffic and you just drive by? Why aren't you a cop anymore again?

Because I couldn't work with asshole cops that let something as trivial as two kids walking in the street get them all torqued up into niggerknocker mode.  Assholes like that get you in trouble, like getting you roped up with them in a shooting.  OH WAIT

It's a fucking city, people walk in the street.  Burp the siren, they move out of the way.  They always do.  But obviously Ferguson PD doesn't have enough calls for service, they can waste their time with that sort of nonsense, jawing with noodleheads.   

[Razgovory]

Well it's not much of a city, only about 50k.  Actually asking the kids to get out of the street would have been the right decision, as it would lead the officer to a robbery suspect.  Can't say about the next decisions, obviously something went wrong.

[Valmy]

Also, some people have been calling the incident at the convienance store "shoplifting." In Washington at least, shoplifting (theft in the third degree) is a misdemeanor. What this guy did, on the other hand, would be robbery in the 2nd degree - a class B felony (class A is for things like first degree murder, rape-rape, armed robbery and the like). Depending on the guy's record, he could be looking at serious prison time. I would assume the situation is similar in Missouri. So while this doesn't prove that the cop is telling the truth, it at least makes his story that the guy was violent and going for the cop's gun more plausible.

Ok.  Again I thought the original story was 'cops try to arrest unarmed dude for stealing something and shot him dead'.  Of course now we know the cop had no idea the guy was involved with the incident.

However this is not even about that so much, though I notice the cop in question has not been suspended and there are no reports of an investigation going on.  But stealing that shit from the store is about priority number 2 million by now.  It is only money, this is a full blown national disgrace and disaster unfolding that threatens the legitimacy of the cops everywhere.  Not to mention the fact the whole world is now watching this shit on livestream every night with little kids and the press being gassed.

  This is about the cops escalating the situation by attacking the protestors and triggering a break down in law and order through their mismanagement and tinear understanding of how to handle a situation where a cop kills a member of a community.  And it just keeps going, it is a miracle nobody else has been killed yet or we do not have riots breaking out in other cities.

Where the fuck is the President in this?  It has been over a week.  It took hardly any time at all for Rand Freaking Paul to chime in and he is just some Senator from a state in the neighborhood.  Obama is such a failure I just do not get it.

[Ed Anger]

I might get some hot NG firing on the crowd action now.

[Kleves]

However this is not even about that so much, though I notice the cop in question has not been suspended and there are no reports of an investigation going on. 

I thought that I heard he was on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation. Is that not correct?

[CountDeMoney]

I know he and his family are out of town, and the shooting investigation is with the FBI.
But whether or not admin leave is involved, who the hell knows with that department, it's mystifying the lack of information coming out.
But maybe it's better that way, because every time that doofus chief opens his mouth, police fail falls out.

[Valmy]

However this is not even about that so much, though I notice the cop in question has not been suspended and there are no reports of an investigation going on. 

I thought that I heard he was on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation. Is that not correct?

If so, the administrative leave part, it is just coming out now a week later.  Though that seems a little underwhelming considering the very serious nature of what occurred.  You put people getting their buddies out of traffic violations or stealing from the seized weed stash on administrative leave.

[Berkut]

However this is not even about that so much, though I notice the cop in question has not been suspended and there are no reports of an investigation going on. 

I thought that I heard he was on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation. Is that not correct?

If so, the administrative leave part, it is just coming out now a week later.  Though that seems a little underwhelming considering the very serious nature of what occurred.  You put people getting their buddies out of traffic violations or stealing from the seized weed stash on administrative leave.

Putting an officer on administative leave is a normal part of the SOP while a shooting investigation is ongoing. It is not a punishment, or any kind of statement about the suspected outcome of said investigation.

I do think it is a little farcical that these investigations are done by the same department or municipality that is involved - how often is a police shooting ever judged as anything but justified?

I would like to see some kind of independent review of police use of deadly force.

And it seems to me that "He was going for my gun!" is the standard, default, one size fits all reason to use to justify shooting some unarmed guy.

[Malthus]

And it seems to me that "He was going for my gun!" is the standard, default, one size fits all reason to use to justify shooting some unarmed guy.

You could always vary that up with dropping a gun near the body, and saying "he was going for *his* gun". Or at least, so noir fiction has taught us. 

[DontSayBanana]

Putting an officer on administative leave is a normal part of the SOP while a shooting investigation is ongoing. It is not a punishment, or any kind of statement about the suspected outcome of said investigation.

I do think it is a little farcical that these investigations are done by the same department or municipality that is involved - how often is a police shooting ever judged as anything but justified?

I would like to see some kind of independent review of police use of deadly force.

And it seems to me that "He was going for my gun!" is the standard, default, one size fits all reason to use to justify shooting some unarmed guy.

Skip posted an interesting link on Facebook where this was done in Wisconsin for exactly this reason.  Don't think any other states have implemented an external reviewing body yet, though I imagine this is going to push it further toward the top of several politicians' agendas.

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, it's straight from the script.  It's up there with "used the force necessary to effect the arrest" to explain the broken arm.

He was a big 18 year old. 6'4", 300 lbs.  Saw a pick of the cop.  Skinny ass little dude.

I'd like to know more about the altercation, since I still think it's a bit fishy, and trying to wonder why the cop tried to engage somebody from his car.

Now I've never had to shoot somebody, but I've been in my share of drop-down, drag-out, hit-em-with-a-garbage-can-lid, wind-up-in-the-ER-together scraps...and 6'4" and 300 lbs can kill you if it's motivated enough.

Would like to know where the pepper foam was.  "Going for my gun" is sorta difficult with a triple-retention holster from the seated position in your vehicle.  The biggest threat to your gun is brandishing it too early and too close from a compromised position.

Then again, saw somebody get shot from below because he was choking out the officer from behind. The definition of "Fear for my life" gets pretty broad and ambiguous at that point.

[Grey Fox]

Yeah, it's straight from the script.  It's up there with "used the force necessary to effect the arrest" to explain the broken arm.

He was a big 18 year old. 6'4", 300 lbs.  Saw a pick of the cop.  Skinny ass little dude.

I'd like to know more about the altercation, since I still think it's a bit fishy, and trying to wonder why the cop tried to engage somebody from his car.

Now I've never had to shoot somebody, but I've been in my share of drop-down, drag-out, hit-em-with-a-garbage-can-lid, wind-up-in-the-ER-together scraps...and 6'4" and 300 lbs can kill you if it's motivated enough.

Would like to know where the pepper foam was.  "Going for my gun" is sorta difficult with a triple-retention holster from the seated position in your vehicle.  The biggest threat to your gun is brandishing it too early and too close from a compromised position.

Then again, saw somebody get shot from below because he was choking out the officer from behind. The definition of "Fear for my life" gets pretty broad and ambiguous at that point.

The original shooting isn't the #1 issue of this anymore. While the Ferguson PD fails at basic crisis management. The St-Louis County did the situation no favor by mobilizing it's 2nd infantry battalion instead of deescalating the, well, escalation of violence.

[CountDeMoney]

That's why all these shitty little municipal agencies that rub up next to one another--50in one town, 24 in the next adjacent town, etc.-need to all get rolled into larger jurisdictions and made into larger agencies with the staff, experience and resources necessary to deal with this sort of thing.

[celedhring]

A friend of mine that served in Irak was telling me the other day that they had stricter ROE regarding who can they point a gun at that the Ferguson police seemingly have.

[Razgovory]

That's why all these shitty little municipal agencies that rub up next to one another--50in one town, 24 in the next adjacent town, etc.-need to all get rolled into larger jurisdictions and made into larger agencies with the staff, experience and resources necessary to deal with this sort of thing.

Essentially the Sheriff's office does that.