Tough Day To Be In Law Enforcement

[JazzGal]

If we, as a society, are asking police officers to respond to potentially dangerous situations, where someone may have a gun, I don't think we can ask them to do that without being equipped with a firearm. Just my opinion.

Back to the original post which started this thread - the shooting of police officers in my hometown. A pair of officers responded to a domestic violence call from a woman. A man answers the door and is combative. He shuts the door, goes inside, cracks open the door and shoots the nearest officer in the head. Other law enforcement officers (the ones from my office) were close by and responded to the call, helping to retrieve the body of the fallen officer and kill the suspect, even though they sustained injuries.

So here's the question - if the officers that responded to the call were not armed, would the suspect have been as combative? Was he afraid for his life? Is that why he got out the gun (a semi-auto)? OR would all of the officers who responded have been mowed down because they didn't have weapons? Honestly, it's tough to say. The fact that other countries manage better says that perhaps armed officers inherently escalate situations just because they have guns. But I have no idea. You'd think someone would have figured that out, though.

 

[BabyPeterzz]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AlaskanAssassin]

One of them is having to hold a license. And be 16. And in some cases be under a certain age. There's also a medical part of it. All kinds of freedoms are already taken away so you don't have my epileptic friend killing us or herself when she has a seizure whilst driving.

Yes, and we already have similar safeguards related to firearms. Background checks, age limits, etc.

 

[AlaskanAssassin]

This truly is eye-opening. Thanks for posting it.
Clearly, things need to change.

Regardless of someone's political position, I would hope we all can agree that on a macro scale, we need to SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the number of people in prison.

I used to watch a reality TV show about police officers in rural Canada (Can't recall the name, but the Canadian version of "COPS"). One thing that stood out to me was how often Canadian police officers would get in a scuffle with some drunk guy at a bar, and the only consequence the drunk guy would face is either being returned to his home with a fine or having to spend a single night in the drunk tank. In the US, if you attempt to hit an officer, you are going to prison for a long time and you'll have a felony on your record. Think about the difference between the two approaches. For one guy, his night was ruined and he might have to pay a small fine. For the other guy, his life is virtually ruined. He's going to lose his job, not be able to see or care for his family, and generally be looked down upon by our society. In addition, when he is released from prison, he's going to face major challenges getting new employment, anger at the system, which can lead to additional crime................

 

[Miggs]

Regardless of someone's political position, I would hope we all can agree that on a macro scale, we need to SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the number of people in prison.

I used to watch a reality TV show about police officers in rural Canada (Can't recall the name, but the Canadian version of "COPS"). One thing that stood out to me was how often Canadian police officers would get in a scuffle with some drunk guy at a bar, and the only consequence the drunk guy would face is either being returned to his home with a fine or having to spend a single night in the drunk tank. In the US, if you attempt to hit an officer, you are going to prison for a long time and you'll have a felony on your record. Think about the difference between the two approaches. For one guy, his night was ruined and he might have to pay a small fine. For the other guy, his life is virtually ruined. He's going to lose his job, not be able to see or care for his family, and generally be looked down upon by our society. In addition, when he is released from prison, he's going to face major challenges getting new employment, anger at the system, which can lead to additional crime................

Great post.

 

[Ron Mexico]

Exactly. Grow your own if you want just like you can roll your own cigs or make your own brews. You want to sell it to somebody of legal age, you can just like tobacco or alcohol. Just pay the taxes like you normally should and if you sell to someone underage or don't pay taxes, we already have laws for that. No jail, just fine your ***.

Ask Colorado how much their school districts receive off the taxation of marijuana yet Denver somehow isn't a cesspool - imagine that.

Yeah, we can also actually help people that are addicted instead of treating them like criminals. Heroine is an awful drug but countries that decriminalize it can actually help people and it greatly reduces users of it.

 

[mellow]

Regardless of someone's political position, I

I confess I am ill informed on this topic but I don't understand why so many politicians are silent or gaurded on the subject of police reforms. They dance all over themselves to show support for protestors without ever saying anything about the police or police practices. Do the police have that much politcal power?

I rewatched the Rodney King video today, it had been years. That was supposed to be a turning point, a generation's wake up. It wasn't. If the politicans agree with us why don't they just make police reforms?

 

[test_name_please_ignore]

Regardless of someone's political position, I would hope we all can agree that on a macro scale, we need to SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the number of people in prison.

I used to watch a reality TV show about police officers in rural Canada (Can't recall the name, but the Canadian version of "COPS"). One thing that stood out to me was how often Canadian police officers would get in a scuffle with some drunk guy at a bar, and the only consequence the drunk guy would face is either being returned to his home with a fine or having to spend a single night in the drunk tank. In the US, if you attempt to hit an officer, you are going to prison for a long time and you'll have a felony on your record. Think about the difference between the two approaches. For one guy, his night was ruined and he might have to pay a small fine. For the other guy, his life is virtually ruined. He's going to lose his job, not be able to see or care for his family, and generally be looked down upon by our society. In addition, when he is released from prison, he's going to face major challenges getting new employment, anger at the system, which can lead to additional crime................

I hit a Canadian police officer once. After he got up off the ground he apologized for hurting my hand.

 

[Archie Moses]

Back to the original post which started this thread - the shooting of police officers in my hometown. A pair of officers responded to a domestic violence call from a woman. A man answers the door and is combative. He shuts the door, goes inside, cracks open the door and shoots the nearest officer in the head. Other law enforcement officers (the ones from my office) were close by and responded to the call, helping to retrieve the body of the fallen officer and kill the suspect, even though they sustained injuries.

So here's the question - if the officers that responded to the call were not armed, would the suspect have been as combative? Was he afraid for his life? Is that why he got out the gun (a semi-auto)? OR would all of the officers who responded have been mowed down because they didn't have weapons? Honestly, it's tough to say. The fact that other countries manage better says that perhaps armed officers inherently escalate situations just because they have guns. But I have no idea. You'd think someone would have figured that out, though.

I think every case is different but if I were betting, I'd bet more people shot officers because they are emotionally enraged and don't want to be arrested more than anything else.

I can't imagine that guy being any less of a POS if the cops showed up without guns.

Sorry to hear about the officers in your office and Godspeed to the officer after his end of watch.

 

[Archie Moses]

I confess I am ill informed on this topic but I don't understand why so many politicians are silent or gaurded on the subject of police reforms. They dance all over themselves to show support for protestors without ever saying anything about the police or police practices. Do the police have that much politcal power?

I rewatched the Rodney King video today, it had been years. That was supposed to be a turning point, a generation's wake up. It wasn't. If the politicans agree with us why don't they just make police reforms?

I watched the Rodney King video (as much as I could before I had to turn it off) a few nights ago. It broke my heart and made feel depressed. Just think about all the other black people who have been beaten by the police for being black that's not captured on film.

Some people are just really ****ing terrible.

 

[Deleted member 365]

Whatever tucker is encouraging his viewers to do, it doesn’t sound good. It sounds very terroristy timoerhy McVeighy

 

[Deleted member 365]

Maybe Washington should call the national guard to save the public from the police?



I thought the mayor banned the use of tear gas?



I’m trying to find articles to learn more information about this. I wonder if Seattle’s police should take a page out of what they’ve done in other places and stop escalating things. Seems like other places have distanced the police from
Crowds with better outcomes. But like I said, I’m interested in learning more about this to see how/why this played out the way it did.