LA Sheriff Deputy cleared of wrongdoing - Page 5

On February 17 2013 23:58 docvoc wrote:

Policemen are trained in facial psychology now. It is part of their training as cadets. They are trained to see microexpressions in the face and the general details of the eyes and what it means. They all have a meaning. I'm not saying this guy was in the wrong since he couldn't have possibly known if the guy was going to shoot earlier, but when the drunken dude ran as fast as he can in the opposite direction, there is no reason to shoot. A guy trying to get out of an arrest for having a concealed weapon that he isn't allowed to have does not justify murdering him, or even shooting him. If the guy started the confrontation, if he wanted to get into a fight with the policeman, sure then it is time to shoot because he has a gun and is not obeying the law, thus putting the officer's life in danger (that is if the suspect does put the officer's life in danger enough); however, that is not this case. I'm not one for huge punishments, but I think this officer should be taught some more facial psychology or at least be inactive for a little bit so that it appeases the public. The guy shouldn't be punished though, he acted in the moment in a way that we can only bash in hindsight.

On February 17 2013 23:50 PanzerKing wrote:


Yeah, that's what a lot of people do. They either want to throw away the magazine and eject the cartridge, thereby reducing the most serious charge from a loaded firearm (which in my jurisdiction is a serious violent felony with a min penalty of 3 1/2 years, max penalty of 15 years) to an unloaded firearm misdemeanor (minimum time served/probation, max penalty 1 year), or they want to try their luck shooting at a cop.

But a cop can't tell what you're doing with your hands while you're fiddling with a gun 20 feet away from him. He can't know whether you'll turn around and fire a shot at in him in under half a second, or whether you're going to ditch the mag and live round. So if he sees something that makes him believe you're turning in his direction with the gun in hand, he's going to fire.

Now, whether he was justified in firing again while the suspect was on the ground is debatable, but it's his word against basically nothing, so there's no reasonable basis for prosecuting him here. Maybe departmental regulation, but that's very specific to his jurisdiction.

On February 18 2013 00:05 PanzerKing wrote:


I think you're taking that idea way, way too far. Cops are not capable of reading your mind. They can get a feeling about whether you're going to do something, or if you have something to hide, but they cannot possibly have the kind of knowledge you're attributing to them.

That being said, if you point a gun in a cop's direction, or if you turn to face them while holding a gun, you will most likely be shot at. So don't do it. There's no ifs and or buts, there's no morality of ethics to discuss - it's pretty much standard police training. An officer facing the threat of imminent death has to react accordingly. Drop the fucking thing and lay down - it should be common sense.

And even in spite of that, we do have cops, even seasoned, decorated cops, who get shot by perps that are running away. Cops like Peter Figoski.

When was the last thread on TL for a cop that was shot?

On February 18 2013 00:05 mahO wrote:
The only reason, this could have been justified, and I'm only talking about the part where he shoots the kid while running, (the kill shot should be death sentence for the cop, 100%, in your wonderful country where you can execute people), is if the suspect was a known an extremely dangerous individual, but yeah, a drunk 20 years old kid, who runs away because he's scared (most "gangsters" wouldnt run in that situation, except if they have 2 kilos of heroin of them, they know the drill, they just get booked and they move on, this kid just seemed to run out of fear more than anything else)
Imagine for a second, you're drunk, maybe you smoked a joint or two, a really agressive cop pulls a gun and starts ordering you to halt, it's human to do what he says and be afraid of whats going to happen ("What if he's crazy or on a power trip? fuck he got a gun on me, lets lie down and prey he's not loosing his mind"), but it's just as human to panic and do something stupid, like running : no court, no judge, no evidence, no witnesses, 7 shots fired at you, one execution style for no reason, you just took 3 bullets in the back you cant even breathe, your body moves but at that point you probably dont even understand whats happening anymore, he comes up, you realize, he shoots you in the face...
And I actually see people defending blindly the officer? Guys like you make me vomit, I'm ashamed that we're both humans, you're a disgrace for man-kind if you ever blindly justify the EXECUTION (last shot) of a 20 years old person, 20 FUCKING YEARS OLD, no matter his background, his origin (oh maybe if its latino its ok I guess?), or even behaviour at that particular moment, if he doesnt have a gun pointed at you, he's drunk, people do stupid shit when they're drunk, alcohol is legal, but well, guess he will never have time to sober up.
I cannot believe what I just read here, I'm sincerely disgusted.

On February 18 2013 00:07 Cheerio wrote:

Nice. After that kind of reasoning I dont understand how any cop can be blamed for anything in US. You just make sure you kill the bastard so that he doesn't say anything against you (word vs nothing heh? how convenient) and through a random gun somewhere on the scene. And if there are no witnesses or cameras around he doesn't even have to run away.

On February 18 2013 00:12 TerribleNoobling wrote:The problem is systemic. Police are immune from prosecution. They are 'super citizens' who can operate above the law. Police should be like anyone else, with no special powers or immunity from prosecution. If a police officer commits a crime, they should face the same penalty as anyone else. Unfortunately police unions wield significant political power so this will never happen.

On February 18 2013 00:20 TerribleNoobling wrote:
On the other hand, most of the time they do not get punished for their crimes- like, for example, when they shoot someone who is sprinting full speed away from them in the back. Yes, every once in a while the abuses are SO blatant, the evidence SO overwhelming, that the legal system throws us a bone. But more often ambitious prosecutors and DA's cannot risk offending and losing the votes of the legions of police so they are allowed to get away with murder.

Who is going to arrest a cop for breaking the law? His cop buddies? Not likely.

Police, like any authority figure, love to order people around. Defy that authority and they will turn violent.

On February 18 2013 00:24 PanzerKing wrote:


You know literally nothing about the criminal justice system or how cases are prosecuted. You make sweeping generalizations about how prosecutors are afraid to prosecute cops, but you know nothing about how prosecutors work. You've probably never met one. You don't have a law degree. You've probably never even met a cop outside of a traffic stop. And you have the balls to slander my entire profession, saying that we're afraid to prosecute cops, without even the slightest piece of illuminating knowledge whatsoever?

On February 18 2013 00:15 PanzerKing wrote:


Actually, my reasoning is based in logic, experience and the penal law of my jurisdiction. Yours is based on some shitty Atari-quality video footage and your ignorant, uneducated rants against every cop in the world as a general entity.

I mean, if you actually believe that cops carry around a second gun just so that they can plant one on a guy when they have to discharge their weapon, which most cops never do in the entire course of their career, then you are completely out to lunch, lol.