A Texas sheriff's office released bodycam video nearly a week after deputies allegedly shot a woman, mistaking her for an intruder, after she forgot her keys and broke the glass to get into an apartment.
I'm just going to leave a time-stamped link to the unedited video because there are a couple apologists in here that are absolutely ridiculous.
The officers identify themselves exactly once at 2:07, a car alarm starts going off at 2:18 and noticeably startles the officer wearing the cam, at 2:23 one of the officers says "someone's coming", and at 2:26 the syllable "Dro-" is interrupted by both officers completely unloading their magazines into the door/window.
It actually doesn't even look like the door was open and maybe the victim was trying to peek out the window?
So how exactly should she have handled this situation to have avoided someone trying to randomly murder her in her own home?
completely unloading their magazines into the door/window.
You're not exaggerating here. It takes about 8 seconds for the one officer to reload the weapon once the mag's been emptied by spasmodic panic-shooting, and while we can deduct time used to talk on the radio, it didn't stop what looked like 40-50 rounds being pumped into the general vicinity of a person.
I have cops in the family, and I get a good idea of the day-to-day grind their soul endures in my country's best-trained and worst-paid police force, and I'll be among hte first to review something critically. There's nothing mitigating about this; it's objectively horrific.
Edit: ho-oleee shit, she survived.
Pouncy, a friend of the woman who lived in the apartment, sustained a total of five gunshot wounds to the leg and torso, according to her attorney, Ben Crump, who reacted to the release of the video on Monday, calling it "evidence of the unnecessary and excessive force."
None of Pouncy’s vital organs were struck by bullets, but the long-term effects of her injuries are yet to be determined, according to Crump. He told ABC News that Pouncy is traumatized by the incident.
I hope she can live and sue the cops so hard it'll change their training, and these two will split between telling their story of idiocy and parking enforcement for the rest of their careers.
Baby steps. They actually get some punishment. The cops that shot the wrong make, model, and color car in the Dorner saga didn't even get a slap on the wrist.
This is so insane. It actually does look like the police officers completely freaked and just started blasting and then got into a kind of panicked frenzy.
Basically the only way to be safe from police is to not have windows or have bulletproof glass or some kind demilitarized zone so you can see who is coming without coming "out of cover". Have a video phone to talk to would be visitors.
Okay, fair enough. To counter, officers typically have to make split second decisions that can mean life and death. They don't want to die, just like you and me. They go to the home, it's clear someone broke in. They announce themselves, 15 minutes later, someone comes walking to the door holding a gun. Now, how SHOULD have the cops handled the situation? Again, it's SO easy to say "well, they should have done this..or that..." when it's not you constantly worried about whether or not you're going to die every time you put on your work uniform.
Now, how SHOULD have the cops handled the situation? Again, it's SO easy to say "well, they should have done this..or that..."
Here's the thing...I don't have to provide the answer to this question. I am not a "trained professional" that is paid specifically to handle these kind of situations.
What I can say without a doubt is there is zero excuse for this woman being shot. If officers are not able to go through their workday without shooting an innocent person then either they shouldn't be a cop or they shouldn't carry a weapon. Period.
A police officer's discomfort or cowardice does not supersede an innocent citizen's rights.
I'll provide an answer, then. The cops should handle it the same way the rest of us already do, which is to positively identify your target and what they're doing before bucking off. It's pretty easy to figure out! Even Cletus the beer-swilling deer hunter can do it. It does, however, require manning up and overcoming your paranoid little fears about every scrap of shadow being a scary oogie boogie man out to get you... Which one would hope (ha!) that a competent policeman has already been trained to do. As part of, you know, being a policeman.
If anyone can't handle the heat, they should get the hell out of the kitchen. I hear there's a shortage of janitors, if motherfuckers want to do some good in the world.
You know, us regular people have to do this in every situation and also have to have robotic encyclopedic knowledge of all relevant self defense and firearms laws at federal, state, county, and municipal levels at all times, plus be able to have a photographic eidetic memory to be able to recount the exact sequence of events down to the nanosecond without the slightest hint of contradiction by any outside source no matter how irrelevant, and to be able to explain to the cops, judge, and jury with airtight millimetric precision exactly why we were justified in even drawing a weapon on someone, let alone firing it, or else we'll get prosecuted and locked up. It seems to me while private citizens are expected to always and unerringly be able to clear this incredibly high bar at the drop of a hat in any given life-threatening situation, it shouldn't be too fucking tough for a bunch of "highly trained" policemen to be able to achieve the same performance. Right?
"Shoot anyone they want" is a exaggeration. There's over 1 million police officers in this country, over 30,000 police departments... how many would you say are just "going out and shooting anyone they want?"
Far too many for my comfort. The problem isn't just that a lot of them do, it's that when they do, they almost always get away scot-free. I can count the number of cops that I've seen actually get punished for murdering someone on one hand. I wish the number of innocent people they've gotten away with killing was so small.
I bartend. Bad neighborhood, no security. When I work, it's just me behind the bar. Same with my coworkers. There have been plenty of times over the years when shitheads have come into the bar looking to start problems, plus the usual nonsense that happens with a room fun of drunk people. I've never shot anybody over it. Neither have any of my coworkers.
Look for another job if you can't handle the stress of your current one? Don't just unload your lethal weapon at the slightest hint of potential threat?
No other western democracy has such well armed and yet poorly trained police as those found in the USA.
Name me another "democracy" with over 300 million people, from 1000's of different cultures and backgrounds...who's doing it right? The point is, you all seem to make it sound like it's so easy... there's not another country on the planet in a similar situation as the US.
Thousands of deaths per year at the hand of police is inexcusable. "It's too hard" is a shit response to "why can't you do your job without routinely murdering people".
So, what are you proposing? The United States just stop getting involved in everyone's business? Isn't that what Trump was about? Yet, here we are.... damn if you do, damn if you don't.
It's an order of magnitude more dangerous to get in your vehicle and drive somewhere than it is to be a cop. Is this how you'd defend someone who committed vehicular manslaughter due to negligence?
Remove upper limit on IQ for cops for all precincts that have one.
Cops should be trained for longer than a hairdresser.
No more Killology seminars.
Personal liability, including criminal liability for egregious shit like locking prisoners in cells covered with feces or burying corpses behind the HQ.
Its impossible to distinguish a combatant from a noncombatant by the mere presence of a gun. Half of households have a gun. Even if an intruder was on scene how would you avoid murdering the home owner if you shoot first and ask questions later. You communicate and take the risk of harm to yourself in order to ensure you don't shoot innocent people or you turn in your badge like the pussy bitch you are.
For clarity why do you think its hard to say wait for the door to open and say drop the gun while pointing your guns at the person. Note if they freeze like deer in your headlights in fear you may need to repeat your response and wait for compliance.