Ohio deputy shot a news photographer

[waday]

Tell me again about why you have a "right" to point something at a police officer.

I can appreciate that some people do stupid things (like make realistic looking nerf guns). That is very, very stupid.

However, the crux of this particular situation is that someone should have the right to be able to take a tripod out of their car without getting shot by a police officer.

 

[Braineack]

Police academies in the US and around the world teach officers to meet non-lethal threats with lethal force.

FTFY

I won't judge until an investigation is conducted.

we investigated ourselves and determined there was no wrong doing.

I bet you $20.

 

[Gary A.]

For me, the discussion isn't about the difficulties of being a cop, or the dangers of being a cop. But rather should Deputy Shaw be a cop? To my eye, either Deputy Shaw's training was not sufficient for him to be a cop or Deputy Shaw lacks the proper temperament to be a cop or both.

There is no reason to purposely use deadly force, when your life or another life is not in eminent danger. If you cannot accept those terms, then maybe you shouldn't be in law enforcement.

 

[Destin]

For me, the discussion isn't about the difficulties of being a cop, or the dangers of being a cop. But rather should Deputy Shaw be a cop? To my eye, either Deputy Shaw's training was not sufficient for him to be a cop or Deputy Shaw lacks the proper temperament to be a cop or both.

There is no reason to purposely use deadly force, when your life or another life is not in eminent danger. If you cannot accept those terms, then maybe you shouldn't be in law enforcement.

If the person had actually been pulling out a shotgun and not a tripod, then this officers life would have been in immediate danger.

We now know that it was a tripod, but the officer did not. If he had held his fire and it was a gun, he'd likely be dead now and we'd be mourning the loss of another officer.

The point here is that a police officer has one chance to make these decisions in a split second. But the Facebook/internet warriors get to watch the video multiple times before making the determination of whether it was the right or wrong call.

Humans make errors. Humans under stress make more errors. Humans under stress and in fear for their life make even more errors.

When you're the one making the decision in the dark, under stress, and in real time.. then you can talk crap about the officer. The fact is that police officers are human, and prone to error. They work in extremely difficult conditions and most of them manage to do a hell of a good job with those conditions.

I'm not defending this officer. That being said, we need to stop Monday morning quarterbacking every decision that police officers make. If you weren't there, then you don't know what happened. Period.

 

[waday]

If the person had actually been pulling out a shotgun and not a tripod for the express purpose to cause harm, injury, or death to the officer, then this officers life would have been in immediate danger.

Fixed it for you.

 

[SquarePeg]

I'd like to ask people to please stop altering other members posts in quotes. Let's have a discussion without all that.

 

[smoke665]

Have you ever watched a police officer closely at a traffic stop?

I have a good friend who has been with the Alabama Highway patrol for a long time. These guys operate all alone on lonely highways without backup. He told me once that one of the greatest threats to their safety is not from the vehicle they stopped but from someone blind siding them. He will tell you very quick if an officer has a car stopped, DO NOT PULL UP ON THE SCENE. If you need to talk to that officer go down the road, stop and wait for him to come to you. Not saying the officer might not have acted hastily, but until the investigation is completed, and all the witnesses who were actually there interviewed, any blame is premature.

 

[Designer]

Tell me again about why you have a "right" to point something at a police officer.

Show me again exactly what you're responding to?

Post #2:

Nope.
That's just a chicken **** cop.
Police should never have the right to shoot first in a situation like that. A warning should be obligatory. Otherwise it's murder or attempted murder.
There was no excuse.

 

[Designer]

Tell me again about why you have a "right" to point something at a police officer.

I can appreciate that some people do stupid things (like make realistic looking nerf guns). That is very, very stupid.

However, the crux of this particular situation is that someone should have the right to be able to take a tripod out of their car without getting shot by a police officer.

Please see my post #13 above.

Yes, you have a right.

You have a right to do foolish things that will get you hurt.

However, I will advise you to not do foolish things that can get you hurt.

Stand on your rights all you want, but at some point it will probably be your heirs who will be collecting the proceeds of a wrongful death lawsuit, and you won't be around to help them spend the money.

 

[waday]

Tell me again about why you have a "right" to point something at a police officer.

I can appreciate that some people do stupid things (like make realistic looking nerf guns). That is very, very stupid.

However, the crux of this particular situation is that someone should have the right to be able to take a tripod out of their car without getting shot by a police officer.

Please see my post #13 above.

Yes, you have a right.

You have a right to do foolish things that will get you hurt.

However, I will advise you to not do foolish things that can get you hurt.

Stand on your rights all you want, but at some point it will probably be your heirs who will be collecting the proceeds of a wrongful death lawsuit, and you won't be around to help them spend the money.

I didn't realize removing a tripod from a car was a foolish thing to do. Where should one keep a tripod while traveling?

 

[zombiesniper]

Tell me again about why you have a "right" to point something at a police officer.

Show me again exactly what you're responding to?

Post #2:

Nope.
That's just a chicken **** cop.
Police should never have the right to shoot first in a situation like that. A warning should be obligatory. Otherwise it's murder or attempted murder.
There was no excuse.

At no point did I say anyone has the right to point anything so your post makes no sense if it's responding to me.
I stand by my statement since a quick "Drop that gun!" could have been said while he was performing his other actions. I know. It's what I was trained to do in the military within my first 10 minutes of situational training.

 

[Designer]

I didn't realize removing a tripod from a car was a foolish thing to do. Where should one keep a tripod while traveling?

You are intentionally misinterpreting my post and the entire episode. As I said; you are welcome to exercise your rights to do stupid things, but I hope I'm not standing near you when you do.

There is nothing inherently dumb or dangerous about carrying a tripod, or getting it out of your car, but doing that while police are likely to be watching and wondering what you're doing is the dumb and dangerous part.

1. Why did you stop just there?
2. Why are you removing your tripod just then?
3. It wouldn't matter much to the coroner what your intention was.
4. Tell your family where you are going and what you're doing so they can go claim your body.

 

[Designer]

At no point did I say anyone has the right to point anything so your post makes no sense if it's responding to me.
I stand by my statement since a quick "Drop that gun!" could have been said while he was performing his other actions. I know. It's what I was trained to do in the military within my first 10 minutes of situational training.

Since being right is more important to you than being alive, take a few minutes and run that past your local police training academy. Be sure to write down everything they tell you so you can quote them accurately, and post that answer on here.

 

[Overread]

This thread gets ONE warning. Keep respectful to each other please.

Debate and disagree but lets not get into insults and fighting.

 

[waday]

It's such a sad time when civilians have to be the ones to act with restraint while officers get to act without restraint.