Much ado has been made in the media of the police shooting of Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio. Specifically, every media report that I read clearly states that 12 year old Tamir Rice was carrying a "toy gun."
Only a few of those reports stated that the gun was stuffed down Master Rice's waist band, so even if it had an orange tip (which it did not) it would be indistinguishable from the real item.
Also completely lacking from the media reports is the fact that gangs have refined "open carry" to a new level of sophistication. Pictures from
INDIANAPOLIS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT, Intelligence Unit, OFFICER SAFETY, IMPDIU# 022709a.
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| Hey, look. A super-soaker. I bet I can carry that around campus and nobody will take a second look. |
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| Whoa! Dude! What's that inside? |
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| By golly, that looks like a shotgun. I wonder how many people they can kill before they have a failure-to-eject. I bet it is more than zero. |
So even if the "toy gun" had an orange tip...would you want your spouse, son or daughter to treat it as if it were a toy incapable of rendering harm?
Joe, what I would like to see is the cops killing a LOT less people. If you and I don't have a right to just kill people, then how can we delegate that authority to the cops? All cops ought to be required to wear a camera on their person. All cop induced deaths ought to require a jury trial. No prosecutorial bull$hit
ReplyDeleteI also want cops to kill less people. And the cops want to kill fewer people.
DeleteIt is my humble opinion that your statement "(we) don't have a right to just kill people..." requires clarification.
The gratuitous word is "just". I believe that we may not murder other people. Murder means to deprive another of their life in an unlawful manner. On the flip side, I believe we have a DUTY to protect ourselves, our wife, our children and others we have been tasked with protecting. That duty might sometimes involve the use of lethal force if the attackers do not stand-down when lesser means are employed. http://eiaft.blogspot.com/2014/11/training-why-did-you-shoot.html discusses the cognitive foundation anybody who has a gun should think-through before they ever pull the trigger.
Cameras have been a budget issue. That will likely be taken care of.
I am going to skip the "jury trial" except to note that Wilson's career is ruined and he likely faces civil suits. Sending cops to prison is often a death sentence. Tipping the scales to meet some preconceived conviction rate will be the equivalent of making second degree manslaughter a capital crime...one that judges cannot stay because the executioners will be fellow inmates.
Prosecutors are attorneys. Attorney = Bullzhit. The demand defies nature.
For the most part, police are rational humans who will minimize their risks. If the risks become brittle (capricious, overtly biased against them and severe) they will find a thousand reasons to not respond to "high risk" calls. To make this very personal, do you want the police to not respond to a domestic dispute when it is your daughter getting knocked about by her boyfriend?
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