Is This How We Police Now?

[unshelledpilot]

Police Ran Away From Man Trying To Stab Them To Avoid Another ?Mike Brown Situation? [VIDEO] |

Surprising to say the least.

 

[blackterror]

Definitely surprising. On the other hand, glad to see restraint in using deadly force.

 

[rambone]

Is This How We Police Now?

We can only hope so. Look, no injuries occurred and a mentally ill guy is getting the treatment he needs. It was a good outcome. Nobody needed to die -- even the police agree.

“They realized at that point that he was a mentally unstable person, so based on their experience, they thought they could use verbal dialogue to gain compliance and they were right,” Captain Stigler said. (source)

 

[Kutnupe14]

I'm clumsy (seriously, i am). If I ran away, I'd probably trip over my own feet and end up cutlets. So obviously, I'm not running away. And if I was an officer at these guy's PD, I'd never want them to back me up, because in the back of my head, I'd always wonder if they were about to bolt it things got bad. Because of that, I would probably be more inclined to resort to deadly force earlier than I should, because I'm not relying on the other officer as having my back.

 

[IndyGunworks]

I guarantee you if I were an LEO I would not let somebody, crazy or not, chase me around cars w/ a knife.

 

[pitbulld45]

We can only hope so. Look, no injuries occurred and a mentally ill guy is getting the treatment he needs. It was a good outcome. Nobody needed to die -- even the police agree.

“They realized at that point that he was a mentally unstable person, so based on their experience, they thought they could use verbal dialogue to gain compliance and they were right,” Captain Stigler said. (source)

so if this guy was chasing you with a knife and you had a gun you would not have shot him?
It only takes a moment to kill someone. Like stated above if one of them would have been slower or slipped they would have gotten stabbed. I didn't see in the article where the Officers said he didn't need shot. It sounds like to me they would have rather been stabbed and not put their families through what Darren Wilson's endured.

 

[phylodog]

We can only hope so. Look, no injuries occurred and a mentally ill guy is getting the treatment he needs. It was a good outcome. Nobody needed to die -- even the police agree.

Good to know that the end now justifies the means here on INGO. This will mean big changes in the threads popping up, particularly in the General Political Discussion.

The answer to the OP is yes, you will see more of this as the expectations of police grow increasingly unreasonable. There are probably fewer than 10 members on this forum who wouldn't shoot someone who was chasing them around with a knife, mentally ill or not, yet some will applaud these officers for not doing what they themselves would have done.

 

[unshelledpilot]

Good to know that the end now justifies the means here on INGO. This will mean big changes in the threads popping up, particularly in the General Political Discussion.

The answer to the OP is yes, you will see more of this as the expectations of police grow increasingly unreasonable. There are probably fewer than 10 members on this forum who wouldn't shoot someone who was chasing them around with a knife, mentally ill or not, yet some will applaud these officers for not doing what they themselves would have done.

Exactly my thought. While I'm not the biggest fan of police, I don't think that the public influencing behavior like this is a good thing. If it were me, I would have shot the guy, plain and simple. How can we expect criminals to act when police react like this the deadly encounters.

 

[KG1]

We can only hope so. Look, no injuries occurred and a mentally ill guy is getting the treatment he needs. It was a good outcome. Nobody needed to die -- even the police agree.

“They realized at that point that he was a mentally unstable person, so based on their experience, they thought they could use verbal dialogue to gain compliance and they were right,” Captain Stigler said. (source)

It was only a good outcome because it turned out that way. Like someone pointed out already. What if one of the officers tripped and fell while being chased? The outcome could've been very different.

You come at me with a deadly weapon I will be doing my best to stop you. If that means you get shot then so be it. I have the right affirmed by law to use deadly force in such a situation. I would not ask anything less of anyone else in a similar situation, including a LEO.

 

[jd4320t]

I hope not. In a fit of rage I could see someone stabbing anyone they get to. Then it would be on the LEO.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't. Can't make everybody happy.

 

[jd4320t]

Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't. Can't make everybody happy.

Yep exactly. I fear for LEO's more everyday.

 

[rambone]

so if this guy was chasing you with a knife and you had a gun you would not have shot him?

Didn't say that. Maybe I would have. Depends on the situation. I think discretion is a good thing, though, and should be applauded.

Good to know that the end now justifies the means here on INGO. This will mean big changes in the threads popping up, particularly in the General Political Discussion.

The answer to the OP is yes, you will see more of this as the expectations of police grow increasingly unreasonable. There are probably fewer than 10 members on this forum who wouldn't shoot someone who was chasing them around with a knife, mentally ill or not, yet some will applaud these officers for not doing what they themselves would have done.

Not sure what you are getting at. The police used discretion and spared a life. They could have killed him, but didn't. The family is happy, the community is happy, even the department is happy.

“The officers are very confident that they acted appropriately,” Captain Stigler said.

But you object? Discretion should not be applauded? You wish that I would decry what the police themselves say was unnecessary?

 

[steveh_131]

I'm not sure about this article. It conflicts with other, more reputable sources:

Accused of chasing police with butcher knife before bodies found in home, mom says her son?s ?a good kid? | FOX6Now.com

“They realized at that point that he was a mentally unstable person, so based on their experience, they thought they could use verbal dialogue to gain compliance and they were right,” Captain Stigler said.

“The officers are very confident that they acted appropriately,” Captain Stigler said.

This is good police work. Shows courage and character.

 

[longbow]

It also has worked stopping Russia in Ukraine.

 

[hornadylnl]

Now we have to waste money on a trial and incarceration.

 

[phylodog]

Not sure what you are getting at. The police used discretion and spared a life. They could have killed him, but didn't. The family is happy, the community is happy, even the department is happy.

Sure you do, it's pretty simple and I know you're a pretty smart guy. The end justified the means in this instance and now that's ok.

These officers put their lives and quite possibly the lives of others at risk because "Both officers claim that they refrained from shooting at Martinez in defense given the national backlash against officers who have been criticized for using excessive force." It was not a good decision, it was not discretion, it was fear of unreasonable backlash. I read about this story right after it happened and saw no mention of the officers failing to defend themselves appropriately because they realized he was mentally disturbed, apparently that thought developed later. Sure does make some folks feel all warm and fuzzy though so I guess it serves a purpose.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I wonder if they got video of the incident, and whether or not they'll add the "Yackity Sax" sound track.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Sure you do, it's pretty simple and I know you're a pretty smart guy. The end justified the means in this instance and now that's ok.

These officers put their lives and quite possibly the lives of others at risk because "Both officers claim that they refrained from shooting at Martinez in defense given the national backlash against officers who have been criticized for using excessive force." It was not a good decision, it was not discretion, it was fear of unreasonable backlash. I read about this story right after it happened and saw no mention of the officers failing to defend themselves appropriately because they realized he was mentally disturbed, apparently that thought developed later. Sure does make some folks feel all warm and fuzzy though so I guess it serves a purpose.

You know that brings up a good point. If the officers in this case refrained from shooting Martinez because they wanted to avoid "backlash", then one must conclude that either the two officers made an ill-advised and dangerous decision, or they made a reasonable and perhaps prudent decision. If the decision was dangerous, there is the added problem in that other officers may feel the same pressure to not shoot when they should and could put themselves at risk, and the public may believe wrongly that more officers must be expected to subdue dangerous people without shooting. If the decision was reasonable, then that suggests that, without the "backlash threat" officers may be taking the easy way out by shooting when they didn't have to.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Sure you do, it's pretty simple and I know you're a pretty smart guy. The end justified the means in this instance and now that's ok.

These officers put their lives and quite possibly the lives of others at risk because "Both officers claim that they refrained from shooting at Martinez in defense given the national backlash against officers who have been criticized for using excessive force." It was not a good decision, it was not discretion, it was fear of unreasonable backlash. I read about this story right after it happened and saw no mention of the officers failing to defend themselves appropriately because they realized he was mentally disturbed, apparently that thought developed later. Sure does make some folks feel all warm and fuzzy though so I guess it serves a purpose.

I actually don't really believe that Ferguson played a role in the officer's decisions not to employ deadly force. I think that's simply the excuse they're going with because they didn't have the fortitude to do what needed to be done. If a white officer shot Martin Luther King Jr because he was rushing him with a knife. I pat him on the back first acknowledging he did correctly....

...then I'd call him a racist, lol.

Kut (would then retire and move as far away from that soon to be war zone as possible)