Bay Area Police Shooting

For the life of me I just can't imagine a cop standing over a guy and shooting him in the back deliberately..
There's not going to be any easy answer for this one... even if it's an accident and it's proven to be beyond a shadow of a doubt, there will be some that will use this to their advantage.

 

Cops are just people.

Some are psychotic a-holes.

I hope it was an accident, but that still won't give his little girl her daddy back.

 

I don't think he shot him on purpose. But if this isn't proof that we should either A.) up the standards that it takes to carry a pistol. or B.) Only arm beat police with non-fatal weapons, then I don't know what is.

Also, if you have a man face down on the concrete like in the video, is there really any reason to taze him in the back? really? The shooting was accidental, but they were using excessive force. This won't end well.

 

WTH, I don't even see why he took out the gun in the first place. Yikes.

 

I'm just shocked...clearly the guy was restrained...clearly the other officers where shocked. What was the guy gonna do attack him with is thoughts?! He was on the ground restrained and there where 3 cops. The cop had no reason to pull his gun, none the less FIRE it!

I'm a calm logical person and after seeing that I have no doubt that the cop outright killed that guy, either by extreme negligence or outright murder, and I hope he fries for it.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/08/baseballer.shot/index.html

It seems to be an epidemic.

At some point people are going to start treating the police as enemies here.

 

I must have missed something because I didn't really see when they shot him or they had little to no reaction to the shooting itself, you would think the people watching it would be more upset, there really isn't any backstory to this also. What actually happened?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulqU78xcC6w&feature=related

This is another video...They explain more of what went on...but the camera pans before the shooting.

 

you might get 3 stars if you try that.

 

This is the first I have heard of this. I don't understand why the officer ever had his gun out in the first place. At a bare minimum, the officer should be fired and never allowed to work in law enforcement or own a gun again. I also think there may have been criminal level negligence here also.

Frankly, I think the law needs to be changed so when it becomes clear that a police officer is criminally negligent or brutal, the officer him or herself, has to pay up when sued, as well as the city. If a cop knows he can lose his house and all he has worked for, he might not act like a cowboy, and show some judgement in a situation like the one I just saw.

 

It's not an epidemic at all. This type of BS from police has been taking place since the origin of policing. It's just not covered so much in the media. The general public would be surprised at the lawsuits that are paid out to victims of police shootings or their family's.

 

Yeah, that'll fix everything . Fruitvale station is in Oakland. Oakland PD will tell you there are parts of town that this happens regularly. It's one of the reasons Oakland has the crime rate they do.

I, too, would love to hear the explanation for why someone got shot without a trial, and while incapacitated. I'd also prefer that more cops felt they could do their job without worrying about whether they would survive the night.

 

... Or maybe quite a few people may decide not to become cops in the first place.

EDIT: You couldn't pay me enough to be a cop in a major city like SF, LA or NYC.

 

I think that would be good. Studies have shown that the police and criminals tend to share certain personality traits. Maybe the more reckless, and agressive cops would do something else. I would welcome such a change.

 

Why were these guys being held?

 

According to the second video there was a fight on the train between two groups of people...I assume drunks from New Years.

 

I've been following this story since it first broke (it happened right where I used to live) and that's the one aspect that always a bit hazy. It seems like some sort of disorderly conduct issue.

Despite the (deservedly) bad PR, the police haven't really issued much of a response, but according to witnesses on the scene, the man shot was actually the one trying to calm everyone else down and get them to comply with the officers.

This is just ugly and depressing.

At worst, you have one of the most coldblooded killings I can think of. I'm trying hard to convince myself that can't be the case.

But AT BEST you have a police officer on the street with a loaded weapon who is so incompetent that he accidentally shot and killed a man.

Not good.