Is It Necessary For The Police To Shoot To Kill?

Discussion in 'Protests & Riots' started by Maggie Mae, Jul 17, 2020.

  1. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    C’mon Cody! I really believe you are a smart individual but you really like generalizing and making statements that aren’t true sometimes. Do the research and maybe, just maybe everyone will see the real Cody.
    You say that you’re something akin to a computer geek so geek your way to google or bing or whatever and do some research.
    Better yet, II Tim. 2:15. It not only applies to the Bible but it applies to everyday life.

    The 1 in 5 figure in 2017 came from simply hitting a couple of buttons and voila! The answer....1 in 5. The less than now statement comes from using a little reasoning. There has been so much crap going on that cops are almost afraid pull their guns out to clean much less on an individual unless they Have to absolutely use them.
    Heck, if you check out the stats you’ll see that many of the cops who have been shot and or killed didn’t even have their weapons cleared from the holster.

    Now, think about it Cody. The only time the news (or whatever CNN is) is going to say anything about when a police officer pulls his weapon is When A Police Officer Pulls His Weapon. Why would they report: News Flash, nothing is happening and no officer pulled his pistol?
    We have about 700,000 police in this country and when one pulls his or her weapon....it’s on CNN now.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 21, 2020
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  2. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    Ok, Bobby, as usual..........you're right and I'm wrong, which is mainly the way it is with our opinions.

    And, if you really think officers, right now, are afraid to pull their service weapon out.........no way! In the right situation, they definitely will and will shoot. Like I've already stated about reading online every Monday AM how an officer has to shoot/kill someone. Note the words, "has to".

    So, you have your opinion and I have mine. Nothing to get shakin' about. Right?
     
    #17
  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I think you watch too much television, Cody. No one does news reports on cops who don't shoot anyone, and they don't produce cop shows on television that depict a typical day in law enforcement. I am still in touch with many people who are working EMS in the Rio Grande Valley today, and I don't think the level of violence has changed appreciably. Overall, I would expect that there are fewer police shootings today because they're all afraid that they'll be charged with murder if they defend themselves. In many areas, the police aren't even responding to calls that might place them in such a position. If a cop shoots a black person, even in self-defense, there is a strong likelihood that he is going to be charged or at least fired, and never be able to work in law enforcement again. If I were a cop today, I wouldn't be, because I would have quit months ago.
     
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  4. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    There’s no problem Cody but think about this.
    There are entities in high places who want to see that no citizen has a gun and still others even want to see a police force with no guns whilst still another wants to see no police force at all.
    The police know that all it is going to take is a few more riots because of a stupid mistake and they are either going to prison or the police force as a whole will be diminished even more than it has been in the last couple of months.

    And fear? Yes, fear. Heck, there wasn’t one time that I can’t remember when I was in battle that fear didn’t motivate me to kill people. Fear can go both ways. Fear of prosecution can keep a person from protecting themselves and fear can also be the catalyst which makes people protect themselves.
     
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  5. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    By the time they consult with their attorney, it's too late.

    I am going to be moving the police shooting posts into another thread because this one is about wearing masks.
     
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  6. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    In the event that anyone is confused, I separated the police shooting posts that originated in the Wear A Mask, Don't Be Part Of The Surge thread into its own thread. No one did anything wrong. The OP in this thread was on-topic in the other thread, so I left it there and created a copy to use as the OP here.
     
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  7. Dwight Ward

    Dwight Ward Veteran Member
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    I'm highly 'un'qualified to speak on these issues ( but I will anyway - no surprise ). If police have the leisure to try to shoot an unarmed subject in the leg or elsewhere not life-threatening they should do so. Whether they succeed or not is a matter of delaying a worse outcome. With an armed subject,who is threatening their own lives, they are justified in shooting to kill.

    On the related larger matter; we can't reduce or eliminate police presence - how stupid! Our society is perpetually violent and hostile to the law-abiding citizen. We need the police - flat and simple.

    I can't wait to see what some of my liberal friends and family will think of my opinions about this. It's OK - I'm comfortable outside the crowd.
     
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  8. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    A few years ago, in a town near here, a man who was known to be mentally ill was walking along a street in town doing something that resulted in someone calling the police. I don't remember what it was, but I think he was yelling at people in cars that went by or something like that. When the police arrived, they knew who he was because they had probably been called on him before. A few other police cars responded, so there were at least ten cops around him. Then he pulled out a knife. I couldn't hear what it was that he was saying, but I saw the video.

    He was shouting at the police and threatening them with the knife. However, the police weren't closer than ten feet from him. They were trying to talk him down but he kept spinning around to see if anyone was coming up behind him and getting more agitated. This went on for about twenty minutes. Then, although he made no moves to advance on any of the police, it seemed to me as if they simply got tired of waiting for him to drop the knife and surrender, so they shot and killed him. It seemed highly unnecessary to me. But, the victim was white, and the police were all white, and it was considered a justified shooting. While there was a local scandal via social media, I don't think the television media ever played the video, and the newspaper reports made it sound as if he had attacked the police with the knife.

    There are unjustifiable police shootings, and these shouldn't become scandalous only when a white cop shoots a black citizen, but I am also afraid that it is becoming impossible for the police to properly do their jobs, and the result will be that they will not be responding to incidents in which we'd like them to be there.
     
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  9. Maggie Mae

    Maggie Mae Veteran Member
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    Great point .. it isn't all that simple and if the subject is armed and makes the move it all happens so quickly.

    I guess my comment was more toward the guy had weapon or weapons and wasn't putting them down but had not made a threatening move yet.

    My dear friend was a California Highway Patrol officer who had a fair amount of experience in situations that called for quick action. Many times he was involved where deadly force was not needed but something was .. this was before the mighty taser and more than once found himself and fellow officers firing at the hips or shoulder to disable the subject.

    Every situation calls for different actions .. there is no "one size fits all".
     
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  10. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    And, it's been proven that a taser doesn't necessarily work on someone that is strung out on drugs. And, if the taser doesn't work, only one thing left to do, if the officer feels danger is coming to him or anyone around him. Draw and fire his service weapon.

    Now, aren't officer's that go thru the Police Academy taught to "shoot to kill"? At least the officer's I've seen at a range shooting at targets, are taught that. The target is in the forum of a half human body.
     
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  11. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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  12. Jerry Adams

    Jerry Adams Veteran Member
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    A wounded person who is armed can still shoot and kill you.
     
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  13. Thomas Windom

    Thomas Windom Very Well-Known Member
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    I’m going to respond to the OP’s question in a more literal sense. In general, a person, including LEOs, can only fire on another person when they fear for their lives or the life of another. In that situation, the goal is to make the hostile immediately cease whatever it is he/she is doing. Sometimes that takes multiple shots.

    Life or death encounters are always stressful and the circumstances are unique to each situation. Because of that, people are taught to aim for the most easily hit target, “center of mass” so you have the best chance of immediately incapacitating the hostile. That also happens to be where a large number of vital organs are located so there’s a pretty good chance that being hit in that area can be deadly. So, the answer is that people are not generally (except possibly snipers) taught to shoot to kill. They are taught to shoot to immediately incapacitate and put a stop to a life threatening situation.

    edit: oops, didn’t see how old this thread is so maybe OP isn’t around any more?
     
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  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Responding to older threads is always appropriate here. If the person who started the thread isn't around, that doesn't mean that others won't be interested.
     
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