OT Who do you side with?, Campus Police Offer Shoots Intoxicated.. Options

[Elliot_Cannon]

First year Ball State police officer. Drunk college student. A recipe for disaster. How much training did this first year officer get? Was he a rentacop for the college? A municipal cop? Did the kid lunge at him or stumble as drunks sometimes do. Did he call for back up for this possible break in? Was he trained to assume that a burglar will be armed and he should fear for his life when confronting one therefore should always call for help? Did he drive a Porsche? I'm always reluctant to take sides in a case like this, not knowing all the facts. And lets face it that lawyer may say he is interested in making this world a better place but 30% of 100 Mil is very attractive and I think we know were his interests lie. A very tragic incident for everyone involved that usually boils down to a lack of intelligence and training.
Cheers, Elliot

[fiid]

I think there is a feeling underneith these comments that the officer was scared by the situation and reacted to that. I agree that he probably was and that was probably what motivated the shooting.

Everyone is human, and all that, and everyone makes mistakes, but frankly anyone who is freaked out by a drunk guy 12 feet away should not be holding a gun, and should not be holding a badge. I don't think this guy has the balls to be out on-call. I assume he was by himself and the incident occoured at night?

A more appropriate response would have been to push the guy over (I was nearly attacked by a drunk guy outside a night-club in england. I pushed him out the way. He spent so much time trying to balance again that I was able to get clear. I am, btw, a big wuss.)

[SirAndy]

in the dark and with the "perp" running at him, the chances of missing his moving legs is greatly increased, (hitting an innoccent bystander directly or by bouncing off the pavement )

if you're running straight towards me, i promise you i won't have any problems hitting your legs from 100 or even 200 feet!

[Elliot_Cannon]

in the dark and with the "perp" running at him, the chances of missing his moving legs is greatly increased, (hitting an innoccent bystander directly or by bouncing off the pavement )

if you're running straight towards me, i promise you i won't have any problems hitting your legs from 100 or even 200 feet!

I don't think I have ever seen a drunk run. I tried to run once when I was drunk. It wasn't pretty.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) Cheers, Elliot

[ChrisReale]

your legal system is FUCKED UP.

Im sueing you for $400 million for saying that. It hurt my feelings (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[fiid]

in the dark and with the "perp" running at him, the chances of missing his moving legs is greatly increased, (hitting an innoccent bystander directly or by bouncing off the pavement )

if you're running straight towards me, i promise you i won't have any problems hitting your legs from 100 or even 200 feet!

Yeah - you stand aside and stick your foot out.

[Rgreen914]

One of the other things research about "shoot-outs" teaches us, is that in these situations, accuracy falls dramatically! I personally know of an experienced officer who emptied two guns at a moving suspect, at a distance of much less than 12 feet, and did not hit him once! And remember, the report indicates that this shooting happened at about 3:30 in the morning. Shooting at night with minimal lighting also decreases accuracy considerably; this I know from having experienced many "night shoots" on a departmental range. Assuming this officer was responding to the call with at least minimal information, and at night, he most likely had a flashlight in one hand. Even with street lighting, it would have been a less than ideal situation for "target acquisition". Factor in the flashlight in one hand, minimal overhead lighting, and the sudden lunging of the student; now how would you have responded if you had been that officer? On top of that, chances are that the univeristy police force may have a minimal ongoing training schedule/budget; I would guess that their officers go through some regional academy or maybe "piggyback" a larger agency's academy class with their few, new hired officers. I seriously doubt this first year officer ever envisioned this scenario on the campus and was simply overwhelmed by the circumstances.

[415PB]

Rgreen914, which department you from?

[robby750]

I can't vote on this because I don't have all the facts. The only people that can give a fair opinion are members of a jury. I have been a cop for 25 years and have learned that there are 2 sides to every story and the facts are somewhere in between. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[Rgreen914]

415PB

I retired from the California Department of Corrections, Parole Division; last 14 years spent as a field Parole Agent, before that, six years spent behind "walls", very high, armed-coverage walls!

[SirAndy]

Yeah - you stand aside and stick your foot out.

huh? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[415PB]

So you were the one relocating those damn parolees to Desert Hot Springs (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) PM on the way.....

[PatW]

Why is it as of late, we expect more of the police than we do of our politicians.?

Ya sure. The event could have been avoided but, now we should throw him in Jail for doing his Job?. I'm sure the officer feels bad enough already. I never would want to be a cop. Make one bad mistake and you are dead or your carrer is runied.

Pat

[Rgreen914]

415PB

Had to send them somewhere...I got into trouble 'cause I used to send too many to "the gray-bar hotel"!

[Rgreen914]

415PB

Actually, I think they go to the desert for their health...or maybe it's for their lab experiments...meth labs!

[415PB]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Well we have too many out here as it is. Most of them end up goin back anyhow.

Rod

[415PB]

415PB

Actually, I think they go to the desert for their health...or maybe it's for their lab experiments...meth labs!

Yep, Riverside County and San Bernardino County....Meth capitols of the world..

[fiid]

Yeah - you stand aside and stick your foot out.

huh? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

You have a drunk guy running at you. The easiest way to hit him is to stand slightly aside and stick your foot out. Gravity takes care of the rest.

I'm not saying that's what the officer should have done, btw.

[need4speed]

Why is it as of late, we expect more of the police than we do of our politicians.?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

We let our politicians get away with FAR too much. (Clinton's bj aside). Lately, I've felt we need a 4th branch of government JUST to handle the independent investigations.

[GWN7]

From the facts as presented:

It was dark and the officer was responding to a call where the home owner stated someone was breaking in. The kid lunged at the officer after being told to freeze.

Sorry, natural selection at it's finest. The officer had no time to react to determine the kid was drunk or even a kid at the time or a student. All he would have had time to determine was that someone was breaking the law by the attempted break-in and he used deadly force to stop that person attacking himself.

They might win the lawsuit.

Life isn't TV or a cartoon. If someone points a gun at you, expect that they might use it.

Several years ago I went to a gun range with a buddy that had bought a .357 magnum (ala Dirty Harry). He loaded it and placed it on the counter. Ran a standard 9.5" X 11" target out 15' on the wire. Then told me to pick the gun up and shoot all 6 as fast as I can. I hit the wire and the very edge of the paper. The rest of the shots went into the buts and a ceiling light. I can hit a running target at 400+ yds, but for close range I prefer 12 gage semiauto with SSG's

BTW on last nights LA news they busted a meth lab in Beverly Hills.