Police shoot and kill elderly woman with bat despite having taser

[Deleted]

Black (of course) AND mentally ill? Nice combo there for the US cops, well done.

Next: "Police shoot and kill elderly tetraplegic in her bed, claim self defense".

Fuck yeah!

[Deleted]

Yeah in real life it is, when someone is running at you with a fucking bat. This isn't your video games or Hollywood movies.

You know the police shall protect and serve, that include peopel who have been affected by mental illnes. If the cop did had the opportunity to draw and use his gun, then he did have the opportunity to draw and use his taser insted.

[alexw]

Coming at a police officer brandishing scissors is something you shouldn't do.

Police are afraid to die. We're asking them to be brave. Some are so cowardly that they shoot at the slightest provocation, these cowardly police need to be removed.

Knives/scissors are legal just about everywhere, but those other nations cops don't shoot people wielding them. And whether cops fear to die is irrelevant, everyone everywhere fears to die. There is a real problem with over-use of force within the law-enforcement system which needs to be tackled.

The system needs fundamental reform to focus on deescalation and use of alternative methods to take down perps. Shooting someone should be the absolute last resort, not first or second.

[Deleted]

You know, there is this thing called self-defense classes. I did kickboxing for 3 years and it trains your instinct on how to react in those situations. And yeah, it came handy once or twice, so I have subjective proof on how it transmitted into real life situations. Cops should learn their shit and don't be released into public after merely weeks.

Different people, different situations. I'm not saying American cops aren't trigger happy. I'm saying people are waaaaay to harsh in their judgements and act like they know shit about the actual situation and what it's like.
American cops on the other hand, in comparison to other western countries, have to face a tremendous amount of guns. There's no doubt in my mind that this influences them a lot and makes them more willing to pull a gun, because they have guns pulled on them on a regular basis.

It just doesn't happen with the same frequence in my country, and thus cops aren't scared or jumpy. They can play it cool, because they know the situation won't escalate into a gunfight or a life or death situation.
It still happens that cops here have to pull a gun and shoot and some of those situations have been with mentally unstable people charging them with some kind of weapon. But then, I dont think our cops even have tazers.

[Deleted]

You know the police shall protect and serve, that include peopel who have been affected by mental illnes. If the cop did had the opportunity to draw and use his gun, then he did have the opportunity to draw and use his taser insted.

Yes and that problem should be adressed.

[IIamaKing]

My mom is mid 60s, I just want to say I would not trust a taser with my life if confronted by her swinging a bat.

[Deleted]

The police will very, very rarely sacrifice their own life for another. Which is something i find disturbing. We should only be giving people who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good power, not just any jerk that can run a mile in a minute.

Few people are ever that altruistic. You expect heroism and self-sacrifice on a level very few people are capable of.

- - - Updated - - -

My mom is mid 60s, I just want to say I would not trust a taser with my life if confronted by her swinging a bat.

That's also true. People who are completely off their rocks might not be stopped at all by the tazer.

[cuafpr]

if she was known to have issues the mistake was sending one cop over there alone. No issues with the shooting anyone swinging a bat at a cop with intent to harm is fair game...

[Deleted]

Their attacks might not be as malicious, but still dangerous all the same.

Hence the police shall have more reason to risk damage to themself then inflict damage on the mentaly ill person....that person is "innocent"

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

Because shooting the legs is difficult >_>

If a cop has a reason to shoot...he is trained to shoot for center-mass.

It's a large target, it's relatively consistent in relational position and it's the most likely way to end a threat. Even a shot that's off-center is still likely to hit the suspect.

The arms and legs are smaller targets that are constantly shifting their positions and are less likely to completely end the threat. Also, an off-center shot will almost always result in a miss or worse...it might strike an unintended target.

In this case, I believe the officer should have used the taser though.

[Dug]

Yeah not a good look at all. Some cops are too afraid to get a little banged up when apprehending suspects and at most that's what would have happened here.

[Machismo]

The person was armed, and made an aggressive move to attack the officer. The decision to fire is understandable.

[Alvito]

Hence the police shall have more reason to risk damage to themself then inflict damage on the mentaly ill person....that person is "innocent"

Not innocent and far more dangerous to them and everyone else. The things we consider the worst crimes as a society are almost exclusively commited by menatlly damaged people. Sane people don't murderother people.

- - - Updated - - -

You know the police shall protect and serve, that include peopel who have been affected by mental illnes. If the cop did had the opportunity to draw and use his gun, then he did have the opportunity to draw and use his taser insted.

So now we want police to be rapid fire shrinks and mind readers. If you are a threat you will be treated like on.

[Megitsune]

Great job. Let's just forget about all the possible nonlethal ways you can taken down a 66 year old woman with a bat. Let's just instantly go for the gun and shoot her. What the actual fuck.

[Lady Dragonheart]

Yet another abuse of power, I see. It is situations like this that there is supposedly training and the taser. Both of which he failed to use.

[Deleted]

Not innocent and far more dangerous to them and everyone else. The things we consider the worst crimes as a society are almost exclusively commited by menatlly damaged people. Sane people don't murderother people.

We did discuse mentaly ill as "not be as malicious" = not responsible for his actions becuse of illnes, sure the worst criminals have mental problem but few are so ill as ther illnes absolves them.

[Exeris]

If police officers from other countries can handle situations like these without killing, why can't yours?

[Deleted]

So now we want police to be rapid fire shrinks

Exactly....atlest able to ask, Why are you upset? Please put down the scissors and we can see if we can helpe you....

[Masark]

If police officers from other countries can handle situations like these without killing, why can't yours?

Because they literally require less training than barbers.

[waitwutt]

Funny that, because when I was working at security and someone had a baseball bat, a pipe, or even a knife, I didn't use kamehameha's or spirit bombs either. I used something called "self

ive never known a security guard who was attacked by anyone who didn't pull out their weapon. insurance companies that security agencies typically use would have to pay out more in life insurance and disability if the agent dies or perm injured. idk what agency youre working for but its not the norm. unless they didn't give you a gun to use which is more likely since most security guards don't have guns.

and don't try to convince anyone that security guards are all trained as krav maga masters able to take down any and all situations without lethal force.. cause they aren't. guards are there to call police if the see anything bad happening.