Last years, I noted a number of episodes of police seemingly blazing away without much regard to actual “public safety”; a shooting incident at the Empire State building in New York City where eight of the shooting victims were innocent bystanders shot by cops responding to the shooter (who was killed after being hit several times)…
…and, most ominously, the erroneous shooting of two women during the manhunt for rogue cop Christopher Dorner. Cops fired 103 shots at the women, who were riding in a pickup truck that didn’t resemble Dorner’s, had no weapons, and were delivering newspapers.
Both officers were cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting.
The scary part?
It is also worth noting that, if this were Dorner in the truck, it would have been highly questionable as a justified shooting since no weapon was present or shown to the officers. None of that seems to matter. It leaves a chilling message that police are at greater liberty to use lethal force (without positive identification or appearance of a weapon) when searching for a cop killer.
Criminals, indeed, have better protections against police error and overreach than law-abiding citizens do.
I thought you intended to tie this post to the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling in Vassallo v. Majeski from February 12. Christmas Day 2009, Deputy responding to a home security alarm call, lights on but no siren, speeding on icy road, ran a red light, hit a woman and she’s institutionalized for life. No liablity, not for the cop or for the department.
Good thing he didn’t shoot her.
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how compassionate… laws for thee, not for me… Why do police departments look more and more like Spec Ops units?
This kinda explains why the FBI just came to the conclusion that there was no wrongdoing in the IRS case. If LAPD officers can be exonerated when they shot 103 times at the wrong color, wrong size, wrong make truck with the wrong race, wrong gender, wrong number, wrong age of persons in it with no indication that those in the truck posed a threat to the officers, then I guess the FBI can take obvious felonies and conclude they’re not prosecutable.
It looks like New London, Connecticut’s policy against hiring smart people to do police work is nationwide. Sigh.
But . . . but these are just Americans! Your friends and neighbors! With the ability to seize all of your belongings, take away your children, and cripple or kill you without consequence!
What are you worried about? Are you some kind of right-wing kook?
Powhatan: I guess I am. :^)