Just another case of cops using lethal force when they could have easily tased him

• Hanna wrote on 2014-08-22 05:49
  [video=youtube;j-P54MZVxMU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-P54MZVxMU&bpctr=1408688383[/video]
  
  
  The ceremony he performed before the cops showed up ("the ceremony" being stealing two cans of soda and putting them in a fucking line on the street, showing he meant not to steal them) was a clear incitement of "suicide by cop" - an actual term with an actual epidemic that cops have been trained to look for.
  
  From a pamphlet entitled "Law Enforcement Officers Preventing Suicide":
  
  "Ensure the safety of everyone present. This includes eliminating the person's access to any type of lethal means. Make sure you do this in a way that does not put you or others in danger. Be aware that the person may attempt to force you into a "suicide by cop" situation - where a suicidal person engages in life-threatening behaviour toward officers or other people to provoke officers to fire at him or her. Also be aware of the danger of a potential murder-suicide, including in domestic violence cases. Try to recognize and de-escalate these types of situations."
  
  This gentleman wasn't looting. He wasn't trying to get away. He wanted to die. He committed suicide via the police. The police should have taken more than 15 seconds to scan the scene and see what was going on before pouring TWELVE BULLETS into the man's chest who was walking laterally in a radius around them - not at them.
  
  But god for-fucking-bid - white man Robin Williams commits suicide and people LOSE THEIR MIND talking about suicide prevention and mental health awareness, but when a BLACK MAN commits suicide, it's all "he had it coming" "where's the PROOF he was mentally ill?"
  
  Just another black body on the pile for the average white face.
  
  If you're sympathetic to these cops, you absolutely disgust me and are the poison that is destroying the world.
• Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2014-08-22 06:00
  No argument.
• Darkboy132 wrote on 2014-08-22 06:52
  I ask again. ARE THE COPS ON CRACK?!
  
  And why the fuck are they shooting IN THE DIRECTION of the spectators?
• Hanna wrote on 2014-08-22 09:18

  Quote from Darkboy132;1242203:

  I ask again. ARE THE COPS ON CRACK?!
  
  And why the fuck are they shooting IN THE DIRECTION of the spectators?

  
  
  Maybe not, but they can always plant it on the body and pretend the victim was on it.
• Osayidan wrote on 2014-08-22 11:48
  I could understand shooting him in the leg to immobilize him since he clearly was acting in a way any cop (white, black, legit or dumbass) would see as threatening, but the fuckers emptied their clips into him like it was target practice...
• Kaeporo wrote on 2014-08-22 15:57
  You don't shoot people without the intent to kill. That's the textbook answer. None of this last minute shoot the guy rushing us with a knife in the leg because maybe he's a good guy business. That being said, the guy had a knife and they have non-lethal options at their disposal which they should have used.
  
  In the unlikely event that I found myself facing someone who was approaching me with a knife, I would shoot them center mass because that's what i've been trained to do, that's what's lawful, and because I don't have non-lethal options at my disposal.
  
  I would like to think that i'm not the poison that is destroying the world because I wouldn't call this guy a gentleman.
• Kaeporo wrote on 2014-08-22 15:57
  You don't shoot people without the intent to kill. That's the textbook answer. None of this last minute shoot the guy rushing us with a knife in the leg because maybe he's a good guy business. That being said, the guy had a knife and they have non-lethal options at their disposal which they should have used.
  
  In the unlikely event that I found myself facing someone who was approaching me with a knife, I would shoot them center mass because that's what i've been trained to do, that's what's lawful, and because I don't have non-lethal options at my disposal.
  
  I would like to think that i'm not the poison that is destroying the world because I wouldn't call this guy a gentleman.
• Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2014-08-22 16:11
  Army training isn't applicable here. Police training is. Police officers are not soldiers. Their function is not to render combatants unable to fight. And as it said in the OP:
  
  

  From a pamphlet entitled "Law Enforcement Officers Preventing Suicide":
  
  "Ensure the safety of everyone present. This includes eliminating the person's access to any type of lethal means. Make sure you do this in a way that does not put you or others in danger. Be aware that the person may attempt to force you into a "suicide by cop" situation - where a suicidal person engages in life-threatening behaviour toward officers or other people to provoke officers to fire at him or her. Also be aware of the danger of a potential murder-suicide, including in domestic violence cases. Try to recognize and de-escalate these types of situations."

  
  And there's no good reason why a police officer should draw a gun instead of a less-lethal weaponry like the aforementioned tazer. Even SWAT uses less lethal weaponry, and they're the serious shit dealing with serious criminals.
  
  And apparently this phenomenon is older than any of us, from the 80s. Either police training sucks ass, or those officers suck ass. Either way the way this situation was treated was very far from optimal, which needs to be addressed. And of course the blatant falsehood told by the police in the aftermath is just the icing on the cake.
  [video=youtubeold;zksUrpPtqtc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zksUrpPtqtc[/video]
• Hanna wrote on 2014-08-22 18:54
  They're lying about what happened, why would they need to if what they did was legal?
  
  
  

  Quote from Kaeporo;1242254:

  You don't shoot people without the intent to kill. That's the textbook answer. None of this last minute shoot the guy rushing us with a knife in the leg because maybe he's a good guy business. That being said, the guy had a knife and they have non-lethal options at their disposal which they should have used.
  
  In the unlikely event that I found myself facing someone who was approaching me with a knife, I would shoot them center mass because that's what i've been trained to do, that's what's lawful, and because I don't have non-lethal options at my disposal.
  
  I would like to think that i'm not the poison that is destroying the world because I wouldn't call this guy a gentleman.

  
  
  Army training =/= police training
  Police are told to use lethal force as a last resort, if there are no other options available, like if the taser misfired or or the person has a ranged weapon like a gun.
  
  These cops saw a way to kill a man and get away with it and ran with it.
• Kaeporo wrote on 2014-08-22 20:08

  Quote from Hanna;1242285:

  They're lying about what happened, why would they need to if what they did was legal?
  
  Army training =/= police training
  Police are told to use lethal force as a last resort, if there are no other options available, like if the taser misfired or or the person has a ranged weapon like a gun.
  
  These cops saw a way to kill a man and get away with it and ran with it.

  
  
  Yeah, no.
  
  This is a summation of the rules and regulations governing the use of force in a seperate county. I wasn't able to easily find anything for this specific department. Missouri law further defines self-defense.
  
  Perception is wholly irrelevant. At best it spurns interest and further criticism—it's not what you know, it's what you can prove.
  
  Sure, you may disapprove of the use of deadly force but like the opinions of conscientious objectors, it doesn't matter unless it's legally binding.
  
  The situation was handled very poorly (assuming that they had ready access to non-lethal means; they should have used it, if they didn't have access; they should have had it, they shouldn't have fired into the crowd, they shouldn't have allowed him to advance on them, they should have stopped firing once the threat was removed) but I feel that it's a stretch to call this guy a victim. Unlike several similar cases where the victim was obviously not at fault, this is much more ambiguous; responses are mixed between cop bashing and victim blaming. The entire situation seems to be riding off the wave of recent events and perceived or literal social equality injustices, rendering the entirety of law enforcement transparency as a potential irrelevancy.
• Hanna wrote on 2014-08-22 20:14
  I consider anyone who commits suicide a victim.
• Ashikoki wrote on 2014-08-22 20:42
  Relevant
  
  

  [Image: https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/10433943_10152610633133189_4246134259486075365_n.jpg]
• Kyishi wrote on 2014-08-22 23:49
  it really was an overreaction on the police's part
  there was a suicide-by-cop thing here just now
  he was shot once. recovered in the hospital.
• Splatulated wrote on 2014-08-24 17:43
  why did they hand cuff the body :what:
• Kaeporo wrote on 2014-08-24 19:44

  Quote from Splatulated;1242683:

  why did they hand cuff the body :what:

  
  
  It's standard protocol in most departments to restrain a suspect who has had lethal force used against him or her as a safety precaution.
  
  People are focusing on a bunch of irrelevant bullshit instead of the actual legality of this situation. While I agree that police brutality is absolutely terrible, offending law enforcement officers should receive grossly heightened punishment, and existing police forces need more transparency; this situation was pretty much by the book.
  
  His mental state is of some concern but you have to remember that police are still civilians, unlike moi. They have not been relieved of their inherent right to self defense. When confronted with someone who has the opportunity, capability, and intent to utilize deadly force they are required to do whatever it takes to stop the threat. If that person is within 21 feet, as shown in the tueller drill, they may have as little as 1.5 seconds to stop the threat before they're within striking range. People have this assumption that bullets will stop a threat. Standard issue firearms typically use .40S&W caliber rounds which have very little stopping power. You can riddle someone with bullets and they can still cover that distance and slit your throat.
  
  A better question would be whether or not these cops even had tasers. Not all departments carry them and even then tasers can still kill. There's also no such thing as non-lethal force or warning shots with a firearm, not in the American justice system. There’s only one reason to shoot someone: to stop an attacker who poses a credible, imminent threat of death or grievous bodily harm to you or another innocent life.
  
  Death is a tragedy, suicide by cop is tragic, and defending an American's right to charge "corrupt American police officers" with a knife is also a tragedy; one which detracts from recent instances of obvious abusers of force. Let's judge this situation based on things like the legality of events that occurred and not by personal prejudices.