So why isn't anything being done to stop police from killing people?
 

More and more you hear news stories about police in the U.S. shooting and killing people for no real reason. For something as simple as running a red light, not turning around and paying attention to the officer, etc.

Its really odd. Police are shooting and killing people and then getting away with it with no criminal charges. What can be done?

Have you seen the video at all??? It is very clear that you have not even remotely seen the video or read a credible news article about the situation.Have you even consider the perspective of the law enforcement officers?????

Before I go any further I want to make clear that I do not support the actions of the officers bc I don't have all the facts and will wait to hear and see all the facts before judging.

Also speaking from a law enforcement perspective (State Police Cadet) hear me out.
The man refused to comply to the police officer causing the situation to be escalated. When words failed the officers tried to use a stun gun. But the Stun Gun either failed or the man was on drugs, bc the Stun Gun had little to no affect.
The officers force him to the ground and while still fighting to subdue the man a gun was either pulled out or fell out of the mans pocket. The cops then clearly said do not reach/touch the gun.
The police officers acted completely appropriate up to this point, after this it gets grey bc it is impossible to see if the man reached for the gun. If he did then the shooting was justified, if he did not reach for the gun then the shooting was not justified.
I spent 20 minutes looking at and reviewing the video, but the cops had only a second to determine if he was reaching for a gun, literally a life or death decision.

Why don't you ask the victims themselves, because they surely aren't doing anything to prevent it.

It's an absolute disgrace that racist murderers are allowed a free-pass by carrying a badge. Playing judge, jury and executioner with no repercussions, but that's American Law Enforcement in a nutshell.

And of course another back person was shot by a cop, this time pulled over by a busted light, informing the officer that he had a gun with a carry permit the cop shoots him multiple times.
http://gawker.com/report-minnesota-m...-li-1783264934

The video is clear. It was an execution. Again.

Eyewitness accounts don't jive with that. I'll go with witnesses' story before I'll go with the "official police report."

Two people pinning a person down and shooting them five times is not justifiable, nor appropriate.

@tothenines put this up

Tell me you don't feel this. Yesterday.

Can't recommend HIGHLY enough:
This American Life - 548: Cops See It Differently, Part Two

In particular Act 3:
You can read a transcript here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radi...548/transcript

In particular:

Now this!!!!! Is a bad shooting!!!!! The cop should be arrested!!!!!!! What went wrong here in the video is the fact that the Officer escalated the situation himself for no reason. There was literally no reason for firing that gun.


Eye witness testimony is the most unreliable evidence there is, thats why it is not used or relied upon nearly as much in court. All of my comments are based on what I saw in the video. If a eyewitness says something else they are either mistaken or lying. Please watch the video yourself.

Look at the size different between Mr. Sterling and the officers he was not fully subdued and also HE HAD A GUN!!!!!!!! HE HAD A GUN AND IT WAS IN REACH!!!!!! Mr.Sterling was on his back, his right arm was clearly FREE still. He had gotten a hold of that gun he could have easily killed one of the officers...
As others have said before the Sterling shooting could have easily been avoided if he Did not Fight the Police and simply cooperated.

People don't understand the split second decisions officers have to make that could either let them live or die!!!.

And anyone who says this is a RACE or BLACK ISSUE please read the FBI statistics before making that comment again. There are almost twice as many WHITE people killed by police than there are BLACK people.
Many people are claiming that this is a race issue, BUT ITS NOT!!!!! Its an issue with multiple fronts, The Minnesota shooting was clearly a officer who was not properly trained. I must also be clear there has been a issue with race with law enforcement in the past and there still is, but I do not believe race played role in the Sterling shooting.

This is a interesting article and proves we still have problems with prejudices.

People do understand that the police put their lives on the line by stepping into a potentially dangerous situation, much the same way firefighters do.

I do, however, find it interesting that you support the article I posted, even though it contradicts something you yourself wrote earlier.

That the second cop was not properly trained.
My article says that current training isn't enough to overcome prejudice on the part of the police officers.

SO that guy? Was properly trained, and he still killed someone.

I'm looking for the FBI statistics you mentioned, if you've got a link I'd appreciate that.
I did find this though:
The Counted
People killed by police in the US - The Guardian

This country needs to stop being so gun obsessed. Period. I'm not saying "Wahh take away all the guns/wahh they want to take our guns," but christ people.

I mean, yeah, even if you are certified to carry, people shouldn't be stupid about it and be well aware that simply having it could be an issue in some situations. YOU may know that you are completely harmless in most cases, but a stranger, including a cop, does not know that. Sure, they shouldn't assume you may be trouble because of it, but unfortunately we no longer live in times where everyone is using muskets and old time rifles that can't be fired off so quickly and leave a little space for rational thought. We've become a shoot first ask questions later kind of culture... 'get them before they get us.' Because understandably no one wants to be the victim, but it's too easy to act too rash

I don't condone the overly rash actions by the police that have been involved in these terrible incidences, and certainly not in cases where there is actual prejudice involved, but the cops still have every right to fear for their own lives just as much as any civilian. If you interact with a cop and you're armed, then yeah, that's probably going to increase the amount of which that cop is on edge as well, they're still only human after all... and if the damn cop draws a gun, now the civilian is on edge as well... two armed people, capable of putting each other on edge and worry for their own safety, can't ever be a good situation.

If so many feel they must be armed for protection... why aren't we using rubber bullets more? Supposedly those may not be entirely kill-free(?), but they'd at least hopefully kill less often while getting the same desired result of fending off an assailant in most cases.

Why aren't cops using more rubber bullets? In areas that are riskier, why aren't they specifically working in pairs, only one with a live gun while the other is armed with a gun that ONLY fires blanks (separate so there is no mix up) and simply used to startle and subdue some people that are a struggle to arrest.

What kind of training are our police getting? Is there no mock training that tests a person's reaction time and fast judgement making in life or death situations?


I dunno... it's so terrible and generalizing on either side is never gong to help matters. It's never going to change until people all around are willing to change. We can't keep just making assumptions and judgements just based on race or social class and generalizing people from a certain background as all bad. But on that exact same note, we can't generalize all police as bad, racist, and keep allowing a culture that pushes the idea that the police are your enemy... that is wrongly then raising young people to hate and fear police, react combative if they have a run-in with them because they fear the police and then what... that puts the cops on edge themselves and creates a bad situation. Fault is in all hands.

:(

If you are certified to carry a gun, you are certified to carry a gun. Minnesota have Concealed Carry Permits, and he rightfully informed the officer that he had so before reaching for his ID which the cop requested for.

And even if his carry permit was expired or a lie, it's not been mentioned that he brandished said gun, only informed the officer that he had one. But as we've seen time and time again, 2nd amendment is for white people only.

like this instance where a elderly black man is assaulted (by civilians) for carrying a gun in a state that have concealed carry permit.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/1...-legal-firearm

When you live in a country that loves guns more then the lives and safety of children, you have to be aware of local state laws about guns, especially the carry permits.

There's good cops and bad cops. Stop dressing and acting like a hoodlum if you don't want to get shot. This stuff only happens in ghetto areas and most of the time the victims provoke the officers.

Because eyewitnesses tell the truth 100% of the time. There have been plenty of cases where they record the "evidence" but it's only what THEY want you to see, such as the aftermath of an altercation with police and not what lead up to it.

Away with your logic i say! :lol:

So, what's the dress code for hoodlums?

Short skirts and too much makeup.
Oh no wait, that's rape.

Can you please be quote or be more specific Plastroncafe ??? I do not see the contradiction, I very well may have.

In my earlier statements I was trying to state its not a race issue, but a issue of prejudice and its not just with black people, but with minority and domestic violence ect.....

As I said before the cop in involved in the Minnesota shooting WAS NOT PROPERLY TRAINED it is very evident.
Here is a good article from the post that breaks down the FBI Supplementary report. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/up...says.html?_r=0

Also PlastronCafe you can say people understand, but they don't and trust me its not like fire fighters. Fire Fighters don't have to guess if a fire is friendly or not. A Fire Fighter does not respond multiple fires a night. Fire Fighters know there enemy and don't have to make judgement calls like police officers do.

You say "people understand that police put their lives on the line" But frankly most people don't. Most people have never had to fight for their lives, most people don't know what its like to fight for a gun with a man who is bigger and stronger than you, but unless you have felt that adrenaline rush....that fight or flight instinct, you have never had stare death in the face.

I agree there are good and bad cops, but this stuff does not simply happen in the ghetto, it happens everywhere. :cry:

Oh yeah? This happens to white folks? Show me the reports.

I bet Henry Louis Gates Jr was dressed like a hoodlum when he was arrested for entering his own house.

Guess the guy was lucky he wasn't riddled with bullets for having a house.

http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/20...ut-minority-d/

You just don't hear about the white people that get shot. Not saying it happens that often outside of the hood tho.

The study discussed in the podcast that I linked to, and that you approved of, showed findings that level of training gave most police a higher reliability of threat assessment rating, the exception being those people who work closely in and around the gang units.

Those people are still just as trained as their brothers and sisters in blue, but are apparently more susceptible to reacting on their own inherent biases when placed in a position to make a snap judgement.

Or to paraphrase: They're more likely to shoot first.
Just like this guy.

So the matter might not be an issue of him being poorly trained, but with the training itself.

Do you know any firefighters, because it sounds to me like you don't.

Now imagine you had to go through all of that, and you aren't getting paid for it. Imagine it's not something you volunteered for.

I have a link regarding "Who Gets Killed More By Police:"
When Force is Hardest to Justify, Victims of Police Violence Are Most Likely to be Black

You know I'm surprised someone doesn't take this anti-cop sentiment too far. One day one crazy guy is going to go shoot up a police station as "retaliation" and then the crap will really hit the fan.

I can't imagine the backlash that would happen if cops get shot by a bunch of random guys, and then see how the cops respond to that in all future cases.

They all wanna be like Captain America, so they kill every random plot-armorless being that touches their weapons

My main question with this stuff is what happened to less lethal options? Where did all the tazers and rubber bullets go? Pepper spray?

They still do use pepper spray and tazers, but even then people have been known to complain about those methods as well.

Police should all have long ranged taser guns or something. There's no reason for cops to have lethal ammo.

If you're on a swat team and you're purposely infiltrating some criminal base with hostages that's a different story.

That is a very bigoted justification for this very serious issue.

In fact, police brutality of any kind is unjustified. These officers should be arrested immediately.

"Of any kind"? What about when it's necessary, in a legitimate emergency?

When is police brutality ever "necessary"? Do you even know what "police brutality" means?

http://www.Google.com/url?q=http://t...HWAq6U1MZpGfEw

Even if police officers would have to use excessive force in case there is a "legitimate emergency", it would still be unjustified.

Plastron this is actually what happened to me. I was a victim at one point and was literally put in a life or death situation literally
This is the very reason why I chose this career.
As far as fire fighter go I actually do know one or two. I have nothing but respect for them and they actually saved my life. But the fact is is that they don't have to determine whether or not that "Fire" is going to pull a gun on them. They don't have to determine if the "Fire" is good or bad, its just bad.

The podcast you mention with the gang unit is very interesting, but I don't know if it would be the training or the fact a person just develops a bias due to dealing with gangs or it could be the training.

My point with the Minnesota Officers is that he escalated the situation instead of deescalating the situation and thats why I think that their should be a national reform when it comes to police training and I think there should be mandatory reporting on all police involved shooting instead of voluntary reporting.

Also just a reminder everyone lets try to keep this as civil as possible, feel free to share opinions, but be careful what you post. People may read your post differently then what you intended to write.

I read that he was tasered before he was shot. And tasers can be leathal.

This has been a rough day. I broke down listening to her call out in the video.
We need to change. This isn't the America we were supposed to grow into.

Then big things happen, that cut us all, makes us sick, and we shrug our shoulders, because the news cycle is maybe 24hours...

And yeah, of the 3500 "friends" on FB, it's hit my feed once.

We forget too easily. Just a sad couple of days...

Tasers are actually considered non-leathal. Tasers have saved many lives, bc instead of an officer having to use a gun or pepper spray they can use a stun gun. Pepper spray actually kills more people due to food allergies. Tasers can kill people that have heart conditions, thats the only major down side.
This is what sucks about the Sterling incident, bc the Stun-Gun failed for some reason. The stun-gun should have subdued the subject.....

I agree with you that something needs to be done, but nothing probably will get done......... :(

The United States was, still is, and always will be, a bigoted country.

We were never supposed to grow into it.

It's the truth you don't want to hear. Sorry, not everyone is a DIDDIN DO NUFFIN.

Can we talk about the cops and civilians shot at the Dallas protests here or should that be a new topic?

http://www.fox4news.com/news/171359952-story

So, on top of mocking African American Vernacular English, you admit to an intolerant human being?

Well done, Snake. Well done.

By the way, the two victims (Alton Sterling and Philando Castile) weren't "acting and dressing like hoodlums". The former was selling CDs in front of a supermarket, while the latter was reaching for his driver's license while he was in his own car.