Florida police officer charged in shooting of autistic man's caretaker

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: Bedlam

WTF?!!
Most new UK cops have university degrees these days as competition for positions is so high.
An illiterate cop?! You couldn't make that # up...lol if it wasn't so tragically serious.

My first introduction to the concept that Officer Friendly wasn't was over reporting a drunk city cop who was having some difficulty standing up whilst writing me a citation for trying to get past him - he was bashing into first one kerb and then the other - so I went to the local police station to report it and was taken back stage as it were and beaten for my trouble. As the cop in charge of retribution said "He has a record of being drunk on shift, and one more report and he'll be fired. I'll be damned if you are the one that causes it"

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Bedlam

A SWAT operator?

What special weapons and tactics are we talking about here? Nerf guns and smoke grenades? Good lord!

It's what they apparently want to be called now. Although I find it sort of ridiculous.

And, yes, you'd think they'd be able to hit the right target with a rifle from a few yards.

Who here thinks the officer will actually serve jail time? Raise your hands..................................Yeah, didn't think so.

originally posted by: DAVID64
Who here thinks the officer will actually serve jail time? Raise your hands..................................Yeah, didn't think so.

They almost never do, no matter how badly or how often they've screwed the pooch.

The funny part is when they act surprised that they're not trusted after. I find it amusing.

a reply to: Bedlam

Bedlam, there are people who have never fired a rifle who would have done a better job.

This is absolutely disgraceful!

a reply to: Bedlam

What really pisses me off, is when they screw up royally to the point they have no choice but to fire them....then they go 10 miles to the next county and start all over.
I personally know one who made a 4 county "tour of duty". He'd just go from one to the next when he screwed up. The worst part? He's now a Detective in the town I grew up in. He is the poster child for the reasons some should not have a badge and gun.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Bedlam

Bedlam, there are people who have never fired a rifle who would have done a better job.

This is absolutely disgraceful!

Hey! You "literally" have blood on your hands!

What is attempted manslaughter?

To attempt implies intention, no?

Intentional manslaughter is, errr, murder.

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Bedlam

A SWAT operator?

What special weapons and tactics are we talking about here? Nerf guns and smoke grenades? Good lord!

It's what they apparently want to be called now. Although I find it sort of ridiculous.

And, yes, you'd think they'd be able to hit the right target with a rifle from a few yards.

I think some of them get their training from Youtube.

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: Bedlam

What really pisses me off, is when they screw up royally to the point they have no choice but to fire them....then they go 10 miles to the next county and start all over.
I personally know one who made a 4 county "tour of duty". He'd just go from one to the next when he screwed up. The worst part? He's now a Detective in the town I grew up in. He is the poster child for the reasons some should not have a badge and gun.

Well, if their oversight worked at all, it wouldn't be an issue. But every facet of it has conflicts of interest here. You'd think that either their certification board would decertify them - it certainly would if you were a nurse or doctor - but here the cert boards for cops are run by cops and pretty much never decertify a cop, even if they've been convicted of a felony.

It's the only thing to prevent them going from one county to the next. I am in favor of there being a national certification like JCAHO for nursing - and take away the local certification boards altogether. LEO certification should be overseen by civilians. Former or current LEOs should not be allowed - it's all too obvious they are not able to be tough enough on "their own". Blue line omerta needs to go.

a reply to: Bedlam

So does the person who hired the goon who shot the care giver lol!

What a mad state of affairs.

I fully understand that my attitudes toward how police officers of even the lowest rank, ought to be trained, are not popular, because they would be costly, and because they would put officers on a par with certain military units in terms of training (not equipment, just the quality of the training). But there has to be a happy medium between making officers conform to the sort of technical perfection necessary to qualify for special forces deployment, and the sort of utterly substandard performance exemplified by this incident.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

Attempted Murder is the charge he should be held accountable for.

Whats the bet he gets found not guilty? After all he is Police.

At the very least he should lose his job and never be allowed to hold such a position of power again.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
(not equipment, just the quality of the training). But there has to be a happy medium between making officers conform to the sort of technical perfection necessary to qualify for special forces deployment, and the sort of utterly substandard performance exemplified by this incident.

What's even sadder is that Special Forces HRT was not up to the job back when it existed, and it's one reason you ended up with CAG.

I've seen cops trying to meet even basic firearms competency. Some of them, former military, are quite good. Most of them are quite dangerous, and not in a good way.

a reply to: Bedlam

You are talking about dangerous as in "Now, *loads weapon* heres a game I like to call It Could Go Anywhere!", right?

Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

a reply to: Bedlam

pretty much never decertify a cop, even if they've been convicted of a felony.

How can they still own/carry a weapon, if they've been convicted of a felony?
The biggest lie in the "Justice" system is : "All men are equal in the eyes of the law".

originally posted by: DAVID64
How can they still own/carry a weapon, if they've been convicted of a felony?

Apparently it doesn't matter if you're a LEO. You can be granted an exemption. I know that a number of sheriffs in the southeast were felons.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Bedlam

You are talking about dangerous as in "Now, *loads weapon* heres a game I like to call It Could Go Anywhere!", right?

Long, long ago I used to teach point-shoot and the Israeli method for IDPA, some of the students were LEOs who were having difficulty meeting their comps, they were uniformly terrifying. A combination of incompetence and arrogance.

a reply to: Bedlam

SMH

a reply to: TrueBrit

Tell me about, especially when in the video his rifle appears to have some optics. Is it possible it was not zeroed in??
One of our local papers did a great investigative piece on officer involved shootings with a hell of a breakdown into all the shootings between 2009-2014.

Why Cops Shoot
No one was keeping track of police shootings in the country’s third-largest state. So in 2014, the Tampa Bay Times set out to count every officer-involved shooting in Florida during a six-year period. We learned that at least 827 people were shot by police — one every 2½ days. We learned that blacks are shot at a higher rate than whites. We learned that on-duty police are almost never charged with crimes for firing, even though agencies pay millions to settle civil lawsuits.

We learned that there are ways to avoid some of the violence.
A review of 827 police shootings in Florida shows how interactions quickly devolve, how fear and bias breed confusion, and how we might be able to avert some of the violence.
Read summaries of every police shooting in the Times’ one-of-a kind database.
The Times takes you inside lives changed by police shootings, and explores some theories from experts about how to keep everyone safer.
Reporter Ben Montgomery discusses what he learned during the investigation, and details about how we built our database.

Also, listen to Ben Montgomery on a recent Radiolab podcast about police shootings.

This is like literally the most comprehensive report that has ever be put together about police shootings in a state. There is a LOT of data, circumstances covered, interviews with family of victims, and just an overall informative piece. It is certainly worth the read if the subject if one's passion, or even for current and former law enforcement. I was really proud of the research the team put into it actually.

a reply to: Bedlam

Lol, our cops used to beat us up back in the 80's/90's but training and standards have moved on since those days.
CCTV is in police cars, all throughout the stations, including cells, and they know they're being recorded so being arrested is one of the least scary thing I can think happening to me in the UK.

Last time I was arrested was quite a laugh actually, I'd headbutted a prick security guard who was in my face in town and there was a Mexican stand off between me, my mates, and other 'guards' until cops arrived.
I laughed and expressed pleasure at seeing trained warrant carrying officers, requesting they rein the rabid minimum wage dogs in.
I was released a couple of hours later with no action after a decent cup of tea and an amusing recorded interview.

My police photograph is me with a big smile on my face. The cop couldn't find a regulation to refuse my smile, and laughed when I told him I didn't want the classic criminal look if they ever release that picture because I'm wanted or missing lol