Ohio deputy shot a news photographer

[Derrel]

Chicken ***t cops that will SHOOT a man in the dark, because they fear for their own safety. Not enough balls to do the job of police officer, too much of a shoot first before I get hurt kind of attitude. So sick of reading all this defending of BAD COPS and poor police training, filtered through the fantasy-like adoration of the cops you've known or heard about.

Not every cop is worth defending. Some of them plant drugs on suspects, tamper with evidence, beat up people, steal their money and drugs, beat their wives, have MAJOR alcoholism issues, etc.etc.. Soooo tired of broad-brush defense of bad police behavior in the face of an obvious "bad shoot". Not every cop deserves a slot on a force.

The cop deserves jail time. The innocent civilian, deserves a healthy settlement. Of course, the bad cop's department will investigate, and most likely will find the officer acted "in a justified manner"...becasue, you know, he "feared for his life." As all weenie cops do.

Thank god a girl scout with an iPhone was not on-scene, or she'd likely have been gunned down too.

 

[Destin]

Chicken ***t cops that will SHOOT a man in the dark, because they fear for their own safety. Not enough balls to do the job of police officer, too much of a shoot first before I get hurt kind of attitude. So sick of reading all this defending of BAD COPS and poor police training, filtered through the fantasy-like adoration of the cops you've known or heard about.

Not every cop is worth defending. Some of them plant drugs on suspects, tamper with evidence, beat up people, steal their money and drugs, beat their wives, have MAJOR alcoholism issues, etc.etc.. Soooo tired of broad-brush defense of bad police behavior in the face of an obvious "bad shoot". Not every cop deserves a slot on a force.

The cop deserves jail time. The innocent civilian, deserves a healthy settlement. Of course, the bad cop's department will investigate, and most likely will find the officer acted "in a justified manner"...becasue, you know, he "feared for his life." As all weenie cops do.

Thank god a girl scout with an iPhone was not on-scene, or she'd likely have been gunned down too.

Literally nobody is saying this cop was correct. Those of us who can maintain a level head however, are saying that we should wait to pass judgement because we weren't there. We don't know all the details. We've seen one (really shitty) angle.

 

[Designer]

Uhhhh. Literally the first thing taught to any first responder on day one of school is that the number one priority on the job is your own safety. The number two priority is the safety of your fellow first responders. The safety of everyone else comes after those two things.

Literally the first thing every police officer should be thinking about at ALL times on the job is their own safety. The second the place their focus on something else they can be killed.

People tend to overlook the reason police are armed. Police carry a sidearm to protect their own life and the lives of their fellows. Simple as that.

 

[Destin]

Uhhhh. Literally the first thing taught to any first responder on day one of school is that the number one priority on the job is your own safety. The number two priority is the safety of your fellow first responders. The safety of everyone else comes after those two things.

Literally the first thing every police officer should be thinking about at ALL times on the job is their own safety. The second the place their focus on something else they can be killed.

People tend to overlook the reason police are armed. Police carry a sidearm to protect their own life and the lives of their fellows. Simple as that.

And the fact that the surpreme court has already ruled that police officers have no legal obligation to protect citizens. Sounds bad, but its fact.

 

[ClickAddict]

For those saying a cop has to send a letter of intent before drawing their weapon... (ok that was an exaggeration) and that they should never open fire unless fired upon, please take the time to watch this video. It was in response to some officers shooting black people pulling out wallets, so there is the racist concept being discussed WHICH I KNOW is not being discussed here but it does describe the whole "shooting first" issue which is the crux of this thread's debate.

 

[Designer]

..people pulling out wallets, ..

Here's a good way to get shot:

First; act suspiciously for no apparent reason.
Wear burglar clothes (stocking cap, sweatshirt hood, dark glasses, etc.) even if the weather is mild.
Stay in the shadows and remain partially hidden from view.
When a police officer issues a lawful order, ignore the order and do the opposite.
At some point, reach behind your back to retrieve your wallet, all the while ignoring anything the police officer is saying.
Move quickly, as if your wallet is on fire and you must get it out of your pocket before it burns your pants.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I think I get what Destin's talking about. My type work was with babies and toddlers and parents and in case of say, a fire drill at our building (thankfully never had a real fire), the priority is making sure the kids and families are safe.

Out in the real world doing home visits, of course the reason to be there was for the kids and their families, but not at risking life and limb. We had a long time director who always told us if anything seems not right, figure out a way to get yourself out of there, then we'll figure out how to deal with the situation. If necessary I could call 911 or call child protective services - glad the only time I had to call was when we were at the door and could see the two toddlers but no adult came to the door. (Turned out the mom just didn't hear us practically beating down the door! and was up by the time a police officer arrived.) So we didn't take it so far as to try to break in, but had to wait for assistance in that case.

You do what you can but yeah, there were days I was glad to get the heck out of Dodge. There's always something on the news about drug related shootings etc. and I'm usually going, yeah, been there, know that neighborhood well... Closest I ever came was passing a guy who nodded to me and I nodded back and then the last several feet to the car it's dawning on me, did I see a gun under his jacket? I didn't wait around to find out if he was the friendly neighborhood drug dealer or what. It's dicey out there (depending on where your 'out there' happens to be). And some of this stuff happens in broad daylight when it didn't used to. We learned how to keep ourselves safe as part of the job.

 

[TheLibrarian]

...Police are rightly concerned for their safety,...

Would you say the same for the garbage man? The construction worker on the highway? Those working in government offices? Politicians?

.

This is a hot one. yes, I'd say the same for the garbage man etc they shouldn't go around killing people or shooting people either. Further the cops life was never threatened by a tripod. There are plenty of places it is legal to walk around with your rifle or six guns and you need to be able to walk around those places without being in total fear for your life all the time and shooting everyone. those bad neighborhoods you have to go into sometimes as a paramedic, many people live their everyday. It's no excuse for the poors to run around killing each other don't see any reason to give privilage to the cops. Although i'm sure much inner city crime is due to the same type of fear and suspicion the people face in their interactions with each other same as the cops face but again nobodies out making excuses for the average person growing up in gangland. We say it's unfortunate, we say maybe we understand how it happened in a hollywood movie but nobodies being let off the way cops are.

 

[VidThreeNorth]

This is the latest that I have read about this:

"Sheriff's Deputy who shot photographer won't face criminal charges" Published Apr 2, 2018 DPreview.com by Brittany Hillen

Sheriff's Deputy who shot photographer won't face criminal charges

 

[zombiesniper]

Failure of the system.

 

[Destin]

Failure of the system.

Strongly disagree.

Without being there and seeing what the officer saw it’s hard to say. I’m sure there was a thorough investigation conducted. When it’s dark out and there are flashing lights around it can be hard to be 100% sure what you’re seeing.

This was an unfortunate series of events. Retraining is needed no doubt. But it wasn’t criminal.

 

[zombiesniper]

We each have our opinion.
Mine is the officer should NEVER be allowed to fire unless a confirmed threat is present.
I don't think that is to much to ask of someone that is properly trained........it's exactly the mandate I had while in the military.

 

[dennybeall]

We each have our opinion.
Mine is the officer should NEVER be allowed to fire unless a confirmed threat is present.
/QUOTE]
I can see it now "Excuse me Mr Bank Robber but are you really sure you're going to shoot?" "I really need to confirm that you're a threat, just looking like a threat is not enough.."
You can't judge without complete information. To pick out a portion of an event and disregard the rest is just not right.

 

[tirediron]

We each have our opinion.
Mine is the officer should NEVER be allowed to fire unless a confirmed threat is present.
I don't think that is to much to ask of someone that is properly trained........it's exactly the mandate I had while in the military.

Exactly! 5-6 folks in an un-armored vehicle conducting a patrol in an area where they KNOW they're being tracked by multiple hostiles, but there are no rounds incoming, so they are not permitted to engage. At the end of the day, if you're so worried about your personal safety that you'd rather engage a possible threat with deadly force than wait and determine what, if any threat really exists... you're in the wrong job!

 

[Destin]

We each have our opinion.
Mine is the officer should NEVER be allowed to fire unless a confirmed threat is present.
I don't think that is to much to ask of someone that is properly trained........it's exactly the mandate I had while in the military.

Exactly! 5-6 folks in an un-armored vehicle conducting a patrol in an area where they KNOW they're being tracked by multiple hostiles, but there are no rounds incoming, so they are not permitted to engage. At the end of the day, if you're so worried about your personal safety that you'd rather engage a possible threat with deadly force than wait and determine what, if any threat really exists... you're in the wrong job!

Except for that in the dark you likely won’t know whether it’s a real or perceived threat until you’ve been shot.

Sorry, but someone reaching for an unknown object and continuing to do so despite being ordered to stop must automatically be considered a lethal threat.

Again; I’m not saying that this officer was correct in his actions. It may warrant retraining, internal punishment, or even loss of his job. But his actions were certainly not criminal or deserving of charges.