Most people have no idea what it's like to face a life or death situation where decisions must be made in seconds if not less. Not to mention, most people would make the wrong decision under such pressure.
However, instead of trying to better understand the psychology of combat and the speed at which thing unfold, Police are thrown under the bus. No longer are they innocent until proven guilty of wrongdoing. They are often fired on the spot and charged for more harshly than is appropriate.
To be clear, a Law Enforcement Officer who abuses their power and kills an innocent person negligently or with murderous intent should be fired and charged according to the crime. But Officers making split second decisions when a suspect shows intent and ability to conduct serious bodily harm is a completely different scenario.
At the very least, Officers in this position should be treated as innocent until proven guilty and provided due process.
Today, this is not the case. The moment an Officer is involved in a shooting they are judged in the court of public opinion. These fires are stoked by the news media and leftist politicians with no regard for law and order. Two notable cases stand out as an example of this inexcusable behavior.
The first is a Connecticut State Police (CSP) trooper who fatally shot an armed carjacker. The suspect had attempted to steal a cellphone before carjacking a Lyft driver's car. The suspect then led Police on a dangerous high speed pursuit.
When Officers finally boxed in the stolen vehicle and swarmed in, the suspect refused to exit the vehicle. After a taser proved ineffective and the suspect drew a knife, one Officer opened fire. In CSP Trooper Brian North's own words:
“Based on these circumstances, I believed that (the other officers) were at imminent risk of serious physical injury or death, and could have been stabbed in the neck or face as they attempted to enter the vehicle and remove the suspect,... As a result, I discharged my duty firearm to eliminate the threat.”
CSP Trooper Brian North
The second case of note involves Philadelphia Police Officer Edsaul Mendoza who shot and killed a 12-year-old boy after he opened fire on Police. According to the Police Sergeant on duty at the time, the bullet nearly killed one of the Officers involved:
“This kid fires a shot right into the rear passenger’s side window,... We’re really lucky we don’t have an officer seriously injured and killed right now because the bullet went right through that window and embedded itself into the driver’s side headrest.”
PPD Sergeant Eric Gripp
After an investigation of the shooting, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner alleges that Officer Mendoza fired two of three rounds at the boy after the gun was discarded and the suspect was running away or attempting to surrender. The charges against Officer Mendoza allege that he knew the boy no longer had the gun or the ability to inflict serious bodily harm to anyone.
This is where it's important to remember that combat is a rapid unfolding of events where the actors are under a corrosive physiological state. This is no excuse to take an innocent life, but it's worth mentioning that details can be missed in the split seconds of a gun battle. The fact remains that Officer Mendoza is innocent until proven guilty.
It's important to note that in one or both of these cases, the Officers involved may not have used lethal force within the bounds of the law. However, in neither case is it the wanton slaying of an innocent civilian. The Officers involved had to make split second life or death decisions when suspects made the choice to enact violence upon them.
Unfortunately, people would rather jump to conclusions rather than get to the truth of what actually happened.
What do you think, are Police Officers out there hunting minorities? Do you think that details can be missed in the heat of combat? Should Officers be charged for making a mistake that takes the life of a criminal showing intent to commit violence?
Let us know in the comments below.
Some departments allow ride alongs. This is a good way for citizens to see how challenging police work can be. Officers do make mistakes sometimes but they should be afforded the same rights as citizens. But the media loves to slant the view against the officer so they can sell papers. The media needs to be held accountable and forced to come clean when they bend the truth. After 31 years in law enforcement I trusted people I arrested more than the news media.
Well said.. I really feel for U guys!
Ride-alongs are a good way to get a glimpse. Another good way to understand the rules, & problems is to get involved with your city council, & hear the issues & complaints from both sides at those meetings.
I agree with you but in our current 2 tiered justice system the police are unfortunately afforded the same rights as any conservative, God fearing, family protecting and country loving patriot. Sadly they will likely never be afforded the the rights of the self serving liberal left.
Until we can root out the evil in our injustice system and media, law enforcement will likely no longer be treated with the equality and admiration they rightly deserve. Most of the cowards passing judgement on them will never experience a situation where their life or their loved ones lives are facing an eminent threat.
God bless our law enforcement.
Both OFFICERS were JUSTIFIED in the shootings they were involved in and should be getting rewarded for stopping a dangerous driver who would probably have left a string of murdered innocent people in his wake and a 12 yr old firing a gun already at cops did not bode well for his future innocence either. Cops AREN'T the PROBLEM the BLACKS are racist and HATE everyone not their skin color and this INSANE ADMINISTRATION, ALONG with BARRACK OBAMA WHO STARTED IT ALL, KEEP THEIR HATRED GOING BY POURING ANY FUEL ON EVERY FIRE THEY CAN to keep the RACISM AND HATRED FOR AUTHORITY GOING! OBAMA SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL THE DAMAGE, DEATH AND DESTRUCTION HE HAS CAUSED AND CONTINUES TO CAUSE THIS COUNTRY!!!! GITMO IS TOO GOOD A PLACE FOR HIM!!!!!
OBAMA NEEDS TO TAKE THAT MAN HE IS MARRIED TO AND CRAWL BACK UNDER THE ROCK THEY CAME OUT FROM. WHAT A WORTHLESS PAIR OF NO GOODS THEY ARE.
I totally agree 1000%.
Barry married Big Mike.
Sure agree.. Great comment.. Thank you.
Very well said
It's not just skin color, although you are correct about the biases & hate; it's the uniform/job in this instance. White, black, yellow, red or brown matters not an whit! It's the BADGE, that is hated, & what it symbolizes. Cops of all shades are targets, & they generally NOT the ones expressing "racial" bias; rather, it's the criminals who encounter them that do so, projecting THEIR biases onto the cops.
Black criminals should be sent to Africa. They are too violent to stay in a civilized nation. The revolving door of our prison system isn't helping. Judges need to be tougher. Police NEED to be tougher.
DEREK CHAUVIN IS INNOCENT
VP Harris is the one who should be sitting behind bars not DEREK CHAUVIN she is the one who had the chance to lock Floyd up for sticking a loaded gun into a pregnant womens stomach. but no she allowed him to walk free. The kneeling on floyds neck is not what killed him. Doctors proved that. the people who put him behind bars did so not because they found him guilty but because they were afraid of what the BLM and Antifia would do to them if they found him innocent.
Exactly true
WE ALL KNEW THIS FROM THE START. BUT THE LIBERALS ,THE DEMOCRATS HAD TO MAKE IT IN TO A BIG CIRCUS AS ALWAYS. OUR POLICE FORCE ARE THE GREATEST PEOPLE. ONLY CRIMINALS DEMAND TO ABOLISH THEM. WE THE CITIZENS STAND FOR LAW AND ORDER....
YES HE IS! OLD "GEORGIE BOY" KILLED HIMSELF BY OVERDOSE
Innocent of MURDER, absolutely! No one "murdered" George Floyd; he committed suicide, whether accidentally or by intent may be up for discussion, but HE CHOSE to take those drugs that killed him BEFORE police were involved. That cops misinterpreted the behaviors sources came from him not telling them he took the drugs, again HIS choice. Cops are not medical personnel, or mind readers,so they made mistakes but a big, resistant criminal is a threat, & Floyd was that. Yes Chauvin may have been remiss in not realizing sooner that Floyd was dying, but again, he did not know what drugs were on board & Floyd was continuing to resist; it does NOT warrant murder or manslaughter charges.
So you have to be a heartless prick to be a cop ? What about when he was telling him he couldn't breathe. I don't think anyone wants cops to be doctors but at least pretend to give a shit about human life let's start there. And you can tell me all you want yeah George Floyd was an asshole or criminal whatever that didn't mean he deserved to die. Cops aren't judge jury and executioner... Last I checked it was a jury of your peers that decided that.if I a citizen were to do the same thing to a burglar I'd be carted of to jail. Even if I was heartless asshole I don't think I could kneel on someone that was telling me he couldn't breathe. C'mon I mean I'm all for cops being funded and realize that their job is scary I wouldn't want to do it..but I feel like c
Cops should at least be able to show empathy for fellow human beings in the face of danger I mean isn't that what a hero is someone that is shoulders above the rest of us does right by everyone involved. Or is our divide so far apart that we can never find common ground this country will never move forward if we can't even look at both sides objectively. One side is absolute in their resolve and so is the other equals a stale mate. When are we going to stop accepting mediocrities from our officials if your going to give someone the power to choose in an instant live or die don't you want those person's to be the absolute. Best at it. We will never get there until we can stop all of the I'm right and your wrong bullshit why can't we see it for what it is unreal life George Floyd did wrong the cop did wrong and two wrongs don't make a right out of any of it. Neither side is right in this situation no matter how we justify it. At the end of it the most competent and responsible person was the cop and he failed. Oops I didn't listen to a man say he couldn't breathe but look I got a medal for letting him die . Let that sink in .. of we can't see the whole horizon do you think we can have a conversation that closes the division amongst us ..open your eyes and look farther than you see now because if we don't this country is headed for A very long hardship that our kids and grandkids are gonna have to weather ...
See my response to your prior comment!
Do you have any clue how often that excuse is used to facilitate an escape from authority & the consequences of a crime? Unfortunately, it's so common, & commonly a lie, it gets ignored on the rarer occasions when it shouldn't, as this instance; a MISTAKE as I said, but as I also said, Floyd was still resisting & therefore a threat. Floyd is responsible for him not getting that chance to be judged by a jury, no one else. Until you have been a 1st responder & in such a situation, perhaps you should be more careful about passing judgment yourself! I have been, & I have heard that excuse, from a perp who was hyperventilating due to his own fight; he was no more in respiratoty distress than I was, but I was trained & experienced to recognize that, from the medical aspect, unlike those 4 cops!
BTW, Chauvin's knee was NOT obstructing Floyd's ability to breathe, it was on Floyd's scapula, not his neck.
I support Law Enforcement 100%! Shame on those who have turned their backs on these Public Servants!
Right and if they weren't doing wrong they wouldn't be put in front of Officers doing their job !!! All starts at home where are the parents that aren't raising their kids right !!!
I say let the police do there fucking jobs. Lock the biggest problem up. Obama, biden and Clinton.
Just add Harris & Pelosie.. to Gitmo.
Mustn't for get Nadler, Schiff & Schumer...
YOU ARE SO RIGHT. EVERYONE SHOULD DEMAND THAT OUR POLICE GET THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE. OBAMA STARDET THIS RACE S**T.
they ought to put those people out there and let them expererince but then they would more than likely be dead
That would solve part of the problem in this country!
I support police officers in what ever they have to do to survive. Our justice system needs a big over hauling. protesters love getting out there when a police officer shoots someone who is breaking the law. Protesters love to support the criminal. But when they need help because a criminal has endangered their live, who do they call a police officer of course? We don't pay the police enough to put their lives on the line for us every minute of every day. We should be kissing the ground they walk on for what they do for us. The 39 percent who support defunding the police are nothing but a bunch of brainless idiots. the media needs to be put out of business for not knowing that they are suppose to report the facts not make up lies in encourging the 39 percent brainless idiots to further their cause.
Congress should mind their own damn problems . Instead of 24/7 sticking their noses up cops asses. Blaming the cops for not doing their jobs correctly. Congress should talk about the cops not doing their jobs correctly. Are world wouldn't be in the fricking mess it's in. If congress did even part of there jobs. "LEAVE THE COPS ALONE, LET THEM DO WHAT THEY WERE TRAINED TO DO." Maybe CONGRESS SHOULD TRY AT LESS TO DO WHAT THERE JOBS ENTAIL" And stop screwing with all the descent cops out there. And Stop sending gangster off ever time it seems like. So how can a cop do his duty correctly. If there actually is a correctly for OBAMA'S BULLSHIT. A ND OBAMA IS NOT PRESIDENT. JUST BECAUSE HE STILLL THINKS HE IS. BIDEN AND OBAMA WORSE president's ever. Along with bushes.
The real problem is that the judicial system and police have turned the whole thing into generating money and profit for the municipality based on profit margins . The purpose of the police and the judicial is supposed to be fair and just so a society can exist peacefully . Not for everyone to live lavish lives with pensions and perks that work within the system. The people see what it mostly has become not what it was intended for .. I do commend the police for the job they do it is not easy but taking the quality of life away from a person by making rules to steal their money has corrupted the system as a whole.
Any one that thonks the officers are at fault do a ride along with em.. The problem is an officer tells you to stop get out of the cars etc JUST DO IT AND DONT HAVE AN ATTITUDE AGAINST THEM.WALK IN THERE SHOES FORCA WEEK
Great artical! Unfortunately, criminals now seem to be viewed as heros and pay no consequences for their actions. If the suspect had killed the cop, somehow the cop would still have been blamed for causing his own death! Unbelievable but true!
In the second incident, I have to ask what In the world was a 12 year old doing with a gun, where did he get it, and where were his parents? When the boy fired the gun, he was not trying to break a window - he was trying to kill a cop. It could have gone either way and the results are both tragic and sad.
Minorities suffer from whoa is me syndrome. They think they can break the law, put people in harms way and not have to suffer the consequences. And when they do get caught and arrested, they pull the race card. Their go to reaction is, “they’re arresting me because I’m black. I did nothing wrong” I hear it all the time.
I agree with the officer. The perp pulled a weapon and got what he deserved.
IT IS INSANE WITH WHAT POLICE OFFICERS HAVE TO DEAL WITH. NO RESPECT, CRIMINALS HAVE ALL THE RIGHTS THESE DAYS. THANKS TO THE BIDEN REGIME.
Both should be exonerated.
A bullet does not care how old the shooter is, it will kill you just the same... Enough said...
Life isn't a Video Game. You just don't shoot at people unless you want to get shot.
Police should be allowed to do their job without fear of reprisal from the "do-gooders". They are human and can make mistakes, just like we all do. Remember, they are dealing with a diff kind of person to which most of us are accustomed to dealing. How can we expect them to do good job when "too many" are sitting in the wings waiting to criticize. Walk a mile in their shoes before condemnation.
Retired Politicians should retire.
DARN RIGHT, BUT OBAMA ETC ALL THINK THEY ARE STILL IMPORTANT, WHICH WAS NEVER THE CASE.JUST CORRUPT POLITICIANS THE LOT OF THEM.
This is the new Biden America where the cops and the law are in a distant second place. Elections are important and hopefully the people will get it right in the mid-terms and in 2024.
LET US HOPE PEOPLE WILL READ UP ON WHO THEY VOTE FOR, ALL POLITICIAN ARE LIARS AND ARE CORRUPT.
They are going to make people not want to become police officers if they continue to keep giving them a hard time for doing their job.
WHO CAN BLAME THEM, HOW CAN THEY DO THEIR JOB?? CRIMINALS DO NOT HAVE TO POST BAIL AND JUST LET GO AFTER POLICE ARREST THEM. THANKS TO BIDENS AND HARRIS REGIME.
LEAVE THE COPS "TFA" LET THEM DO THEIR JOBS, TEACH THE DUMBA*SES HOW TO NOT RESIST ARREST SO THAT THEY CAN LIVE THROUGH IT.
As it an EMS 1st responder, I worked with cops from several different departments, & different states. Never did I encounter 1 "eager" to "go out & shoot" anyone. I don't believe those cops were atypical of cops across the nation. Rather, the preponderance seem to be decent people doing an extremely difficult & dangerous job to the best of their abilities. That said, I also believe their loudest critics would be the 1st to use lethal force on marginal excuses, & blame others for having done so. But that's my personal opinion...
Minority groups openly challenge LE in hopes of hitting the ghetto lottery. Police need all the support that citizens who want law and order can give them. The social justice warriors who run for public office only bring more crime and violence into their communities. Vote them OUT.
when the criminal is carrying a gun or lethal weapon he or she is expecting to shoot someone in this scenario a cop . the cop has no other choice but to take the criminal out if the criminal has already fired his weapon .
I’ve said it and I had a few ride with me, but every politician should be required to ride along with a beat cop for at least 24 hours on the night shift on the weekends to see what these officers go through. Prosecutors, mayors, counsel members, county supervisors and anybody else that governs Law Enforcement Officers, should have their butts in the seat of a patrol car on a ride along. I had a newly elected county supervisor ride with me for 2 weekends. At that time there were only 2 of us out on the night shift in our county. His eyes were opened when we worked a shooting, we were involved in a pursuit and i worked a bad wreck where 2 people died on scene. He could not believe only 2 of us worked the number of calls that we did. It wasn’t long after he took office we had more deputies on the road. Back in the early 90’s there were only 2 deputies on the roads of our county now there are 10. Also I had a newly elected county prosecutor ride with me and he could believe what the men and women go through patrolling the streets. Whoever reads please pressure your elected officials ride with your local Law Enforcement to see exactly what they are faced with on a daily basis!
That should be a requirement - having to go on a ride a long - Have them go to Chicago for a week end and do that stint. I love our warriors in blue and cannot understand the idiocy these people who protest against them.
They both seem to be justifiable shootings. A 12 year old boy that would fire a gun at Police Officers is a threat to anybody. Was the prosecutor there at the scene. I do believe that a police shooting should be investigated by a neutral board of responsible citizens trained in shooting investigations. Then let the chips fall where they may. The guy with the knife proved Darwins principle. If you are to stupid to live, you die. Dont bring a knife to a gunfight.
Occasionally there is abuse, but I believe Police try to act with professionalism. If someone throws a punch at me they should expect me to reciprocate. when this young boy shot at the police he received.a response that was appropriate to his actions
In both cases the Law Enforcement personnel were threatened with a deadly weapon - knives are just as lethal as a firearm! Once that action is taken by a suspect, there should be no restrictions on response taken by the Officer!
I believe that there is always a reason for whatever transpires. The fact that it is so easy for police officers to be able to shoot someone without any kind of consequences is atrocious . I'm not saying that they are wrong every time but we really should consider reform in the form of training and social skills I have been on the wrong end of police corruption numerous times in my life. Cops these days I feel have no respect for the law they pretty much just go ahead and violate your constitutional rights because there is no consequences for them breaking the law. Maybe if they got treated like the rest of us then they would realize the need for a change in there policies and moral code. So I'm all for it treat them in the same manner as they treat the rest of us. If they have to go sit in a jail cell because they shot someone and stay there until a judge decides if it was justified or not then they would think twice before shooting someone because they think they might of saw a gun. I mean if it's good enough for the people they are supposed to serve to sit in jail for a length of time until a judge or jury sets them free then so should a cop. Fair is fair. I mean aren't they supposed to be a higher class of people that break no laws. It's kind of hard to justify arresting someone for a crime that they themselves commit .. I mean just because most people either don't know rights or don't stand up for their rights out of fear doesn't mean that there rights weren't violated it just means that we have failed to train the police properly. And the sad part is that cops know what they are doing is wrong and the do it anyways because they look down on society as beneath them . That just because they are cops we have to bow down to them. I completely support the police and there cause and I respect them. I just don't agree with the whole do as I say not as I do mentality that alot of them have. Put the shoe on the other foot if a citizen of the United States shoots someone because that person may or may not of had a gun does that citizen get to say i was afraid for my life..and not have to go to jail the answer is no. So why is it different for cops I get it most of the time cops are justified if I pull a gun or a weapon on a cop then by all means I deserve to get shot. But if a cop shoots and there is no gun straight to jail. It needs to be equal absolutely. Cops that break the law and get away with it are the reason people don't trust them . From my experience if they don't got proof they will make it up..and then there fellow officers stand behind it while an innocent person get fucked over.. c'mon I support the police but when do we take action and start giving them the training they need instead of allowing the corruption to continue . It is a felony to violate someone's constitutional rights when is the last time a cop lost his job for that. I'm really not a cop hater but I can see both sides of this coin and we really need to focus on the real problems. .I back the blue but I also know that there are some bad ones out there and the number is higher than what we have been led to believe.
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