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Another Police shooting..
- Thread starter Beerman
- Start date
"The off-duty police officer in the car, who was in the backseat, told investigators she was asleep when the shooting happened."..............
Bloomberg needs to apply his anti-gun agenda to the NYPD. These fools cannot be trusted with firearms.
And another police officer shot:
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/234646/3/L5P--Atlanta-police-officer-shot
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/09/30/police-officer-possibly-shot-in-inglewood/
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Pa-police-officer-shot-and-wounded-gunman-killed-3922513.php
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=18746900
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/6587820-418/two-chicago-officers-shot.html
and on and on...
Nobody with any sense excuses it when a cop shoots someone who doesn't earn it but starting threads pointing fingers at cops every time something happens seems kinda one sided dontcha think? I mean, do we all hate cops and need to crucify them all whenever one acts badly? Or can we just agree that there are bad apples in every bushel and maybe put the shoe on the other foot long enough to stop sniping ALL cops when ONE messes up?
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/234646/3/L5P--Atlanta-police-officer-shot
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/09/30/police-officer-possibly-shot-in-inglewood/
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Pa-police-officer-shot-and-wounded-gunman-killed-3922513.php
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=18746900
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/6587820-418/two-chicago-officers-shot.html
and on and on...
Nobody with any sense excuses it when a cop shoots someone who doesn't earn it but starting threads pointing fingers at cops every time something happens seems kinda one sided dontcha think? I mean, do we all hate cops and need to crucify them all whenever one acts badly? Or can we just agree that there are bad apples in every bushel and maybe put the shoe on the other foot long enough to stop sniping ALL cops when ONE messes up?
I think the fact that the police are in a position of such authority, making them so different from the average citizen as soon as they don their badge and gun, that it's pretty easy (and expected) for citizens to adopt an us/them mentality. I think you also find a good bit of this same mentality from the police (at least in my experience). I see the effect you're discussing as more of an expression of group affiliation on the part of the citizens than a conscious effort to paint police with a broad brush.
I think we focus on these stories because when one of the cops does something wrong there is no punishment done. They will sweep it under the rug to protect their own. The bad ones don't seem to have consideration for human life other than their own. They see everyone as a threat and are trigger happy. They need to be punished to fullest and treated as a civilian when something like this happens. Is their job hard? Yes. Do they have to make split second choices on life and death? Yes. Are they getting trigger happy? You be the judge.
I agree it is indeed news worthy. I just wish more people would also balance the slate a bit by noting the newsworthiness of reports of when cops are on the receiving end of the shooting. I think people will write that off as just a part of the job. Those same people who usually scream bloody murder when a cop does ANYTHING they see as wrong. I mistook you for one of those (well, more of a knee-jerk reaction on my part to the title of the thread). For that I apologize.
The constitution provides for "equal protection under the law". I would like to think(and I know I'm often wrong) that this should also mean equal PUNISHMENT under the law. A shooting that is unjustified should be treated the same no matter if the shooter pulled the trigger or not. And as much as I support law enforcement I do disagree with the school of thought that a cop shooter is in any way worse than someone who shoots anyone else in similar circumstances. In fact, I think someone who shoots an unarmed person is worse than one who shoots an armed adversary, just on a necessity standpoint. At least in the commission of a crime you can claim "him or me" when the adversary is armed. Still makes you a criminal and a murderer though.
