Enough Is Enough

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I don't want to get all HBT but enough is enough!!!!!
Just want to say there is really something seriously wrong with law enforcement in the USA and I am scared because for the last 10 years Australian police have been taking training from US law enforcement specialists and our police are now going down the same violent path. The same heavy handed gun mentality is now happening here in Australia but the difference in Australia is that most people are totally unarmed and now far too many are ending up pepper sprayed, tasered or shot for no apparent reason that involves any direct threat or danger to the officers involved. Where are we headed?
With all the problems of the last few weeks you would think US law enforcement officers would ensure they accurately summed up the risk of threat before opening fire especially on an unarmed black man. Sadly this is not so and the officer involved should forever live a life of shame.
This news article from today's paper prompted this rant http://www.theage.com.au/world/miam...to-help-autistic-patient-20160721-gqb53q.html
It is lucky the victim survived because he was cuffed while wounded and still bleeding lying face down in the street for about 20 minutes until the rescue squad arrived. Crikey where is their "duty of care"?
Of course the US Police Department involved will end up paying out to the victim just to shut him up but they still won't fix the underlying problem as they don't seem to believe there is a problem...........its just their officers doing a tough job in tough situations and sometimes you have to make tough decisions and shoot first....... I don't buy it.......... what ever happened to common sense and respect?
I reckon if things keep escalating in the USA, eventually officers may have to turn up to situations in armoured cars with machine guns because if they stick to their current path the citizens may start shooting them first to ensure their own safety which is quite ironic......
I need a double shot coffee to calm down
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Lots of crazy stuff going on in the US. I won't get into whether several of the shooting were right or not, but I think all but the one in Miami involved the person resisting arrest. The video I saw showed the guy on the ground clearly cooperating with the cops.

Not that this would excuse the officer, but I HOPE it was a lack of training and an accidental shooting in Miami. Not that that will make the guy that got shot feel any better... I have seen people fire rounds unintentionally doing some shooting drills. The guy might have had his finger on the trigger and fired accidentally.. Anyway, if what I saw was the whole story, I hope the officer gets charged with the appropriate crime. Assault with a deadly weapon, or whatever, I am not a lawyer.

 

I avoid the police at all cost.

I try to stay away from them.

That is all i am going to say.

 

Education is needed. I had a ton of training in dealing with hostile situations and many of the threatening moves are not common knowledge.
In our course if some one reaches to scratch his ass you assume a hidden gun and shoot or fail. This is the info the common person does not have.

 

This has been a daily sight for a while now and I don't know when it's going to change.

 

Sometimes it is hard to avoid contact with police when there are random breath check and drug check vans setup in random locations.

Hmmm education for whom? In Australia we recently had the situation where a deaf and dumb person was seriously injured by police because he wouldn't answer their questions and the moment he reached for his card that said he was deaf and dumb was when all of his problems began. Over here generally nobody has guns except the police and some security officers so a shoot first mentality is never acceptable.
More education for the public isn't going to work for people with disabilities so it is the police who need to take the initiative to not put Joe Citizen's life at risk.

In my opinion police still should carry firearms but it should be their tool of last resort when they have to defend their own or a member of the public's life. Unfortunately it seems to me the police are routinely using their weapons as a means of intimidation to bully and scare people into compliance. I really think being a police officer is a very tough job and some members of the public do treat them with contempt but this doesn't mean that the police should respond to everyone in the same harsh manner just because of a few rotten apples. Lets face it if I was somewhere out in public minding my own business and was not doing anything wrong and a police officer came along and ordered me onto the ground there is no way I would comply and these days by not complying it would probably lead to me being shot or tasered. As far as I am concerned if the police officer wants to talk to me why can't he just speak to me.
People keep seeing these news reports of police brutality and it is slowly eroding the respect that people give to police and if it is allowed to continue then eventually at some point will we see a situation where everyone begins treating the police with contempt. Food for thought.

 

Most peace officers are decent people. Like any profession there are bad apples and newbies. I understand your apprehension, but people who live in fear sometimes do foolish things. When the police officer in Miami was asked why he did it, from the man whom he had just shot, he replied "I don't know". That sounds reasonable to me. I for one assume everyone is armed, and frankly would not be surprised if a shooter came through the front door hell bent on hurting some folks. I can only hope I will find the courage to confront them if and when they do. Things will get better. I survived the sixties and seventies, then Clinton and Bush, I can get through this.

 

I saw this on the news last night too and I don't think the police officer's response is at all reasonable and IMHO he should never be allowed to carry a firearm again because shooting someone for an unknown or no reason is unacceptable. Surely training teaches you to identify the target, assess the risk the target poses to yourself and others and if there is a need then shoot.
I am thinking Fred and DOA are hitting the nail on the head about more training.... for both sides. Unfortunately it may not have helped as the autistic man still may not have responded to the officer's instructions. Police need to be clear that they can only shoot if someone is in obvious mortal danger and not just disobeying an instruction.
The other thing that was on the news was the officer is now suspended instead of being on administrative leave so a step in the right direction but imagine if you were his superior... how would you be feeling about putting an inexperienced or under trained officer out in the field. Some blame needs to be apportioned to the people that put this officer in a position he was illequipped to handle. Often getting new police officers out in the field as quickly as possible is done to save some training costs or they may have been undermanned and just needed more people. The people controlling police funding need to recognise the ongoing need for training and allocate a reasonable budget so police officers can get training so they can be confident that they will make the correct decisions in difficult circumstances.
I also saw the victim interviewed and he seemed a reasonable and level headed person who is a therapist that helps the disabled and was described as a pillar of society. He thought he would be safe with his hands up in the air but how wrong you can be. Looks like he might have some issues with his knee but should come out of it OK physically but mentally not too sure as he said he is now fearful of police officers and he never was before the shooting. A sad situation.