Grounds for dismissal? Portland cops shoot but don't kill.
Whenever the Portland police kill an unarmed civilian, their defenders come on this blog to tell us that when the cops have a suspicion that someone is about to pull a gun on them, they must immediately unload their own handguns into the torso of the suspect, killing him or her instantly. That's the standard protocol. There is no other option.
Therefore, discipline must be in order in this case, in which the police apparently saw a replica gun before they fired at the suspect, and did not manage to kill him. That's terrible police work -- right, guys?
| Posted at 7:41 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (7)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrv63ttXNMA&feature=related
The video link above shows a kid showing off his Daisy 201 Powerline, rumored to be what this suspect was holding.
I don't know why the police officers wouldn't think it was real: it looks real. He used it in the commission of a real armed robbery. The people he pointed it at thought it was real.
If you expect the cops to wait and hear if it makes a real gun sound, it's too late for them to protect themselves if it is a real gun.
Posted by Mister Tee | March 27, 2012 8:25 AM
1. Back to shooting school for those cops.
2. We really need to outlaw the toy guns.
Posted by Allan L. | March 27, 2012 8:57 AM
What we really need a Stand Your Ground law so that any citizen can unload his or her gun into someone they think is, or could be, a threat. That way we won't need to rely on the police to shoot and kill unarmed people.
Posted by PdxMark | March 27, 2012 9:03 AM
If you are interested in actual knowledge about violence instead of comedy and sarcasm, try this blog: Chiron Training. He's a former Multnomah County Corrections Deputy who has written extensively about what it's like to be in a real situation: how adrenaline affects your thinking and reflexes, how quickly things happen, how training responds under pressure.
Posted by Kai Jones | March 27, 2012 12:12 PM
Wait just a goldern moment here. Everything I have heard on the news about this described the victims weapon as a Replica Gun. Replica guns are required by law to have a bright orange barrel. Apparently this person had an air pistol, which while not so powerful is a Real Gun. Still not necessarily grounds for 4 cops to unload on him but really amazingly stupid nonetheless.
Posted by dean | March 27, 2012 12:25 PM
Well it's PD policy to use underpowered calibers, they should upgrade to the 1911.
Though most gun-hating liberals believe in the magical powers of firearms, they are no more than a tool that applies force, similar to a hammer. A pistol is a very ineffective weapon for incapacitating a human quickly, as we see in this case, and empirically as 90% survive pistol wounds. Plus combat is typically dynamic and there are obstacles in the way, etc...
The point of using this tool is to stop the threat, not kill, sometimes that's the only way they stop.
Posted by Pistolero | March 27, 2012 1:20 PM
I'm curious how one is to know the apparent firearm being held is a spray painted replica, a pellet gun or the real thing ?
Should we require the police to allow the suspect to fire first ?
Posted by tankfixer | March 27, 2012 2:06 PM