Good cop, bad cop

by digby

Teacher Ken over at Daily Kos had a conversation with a white cop:

About Ferguson. He noted that Darren Wilson fired 12 shots, and that there is evidence of only 6 hitting Michael Brown. He wanted to know where the other 6 rounds went, and to what kind of risk did that expose bystanders.
[…]
About Staten Island. He has seen the video. His immediate reaction is that the officer applying the choke hold will probably face federal indictments, and he should, for excessive force.

But my friend went further. He noted there was a sergeant on the scene who did not stop it, and questioned whether the sergeant should be brought up on charges. He also noted that the EMTs who arrived apparently made no attempt to revive Eric Garner. He pointed out that Garner’s crime, which was a misdemeanor, did not even require an arrest – an officer could simply give him a criminal citation. He described what the police were doing, including how they pressed Garner to the ground while handcuffing him, as appalling and unnecessary.

About Cleveland – he wondered why an officer is getting out of his car with a drawn gun perform ascertaining the nature of the possible threat. He described how the cop fired so quickly as demonstrating why it is dangerous to draw one’s gun, because then one is inclined to use it. By the way, he has drawn his gun – see what I said about Staten Island, but even then had the good sense not to fire it. He remarked that to draw one’s gun is often to escalate tensions in a situation that can be addressed just with words.

Read on …

He said he wasn’t the only one who thought this way. In fact, I’d guess there are many thousands of police who think the same way.

This goes back to that conversation on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show I wrote about the other night:

If you would just imagine if Officer Wilson in Ferguson had just taken a step back after the confrontation with the vehicle and after Michael Brown ran away. Just after he called for back-up that was 90 seconds away. Where was Michael Brown going to go? He’s going to the hospital, he’s been shot. He’s not going the Katmandu, on an airplane. You’re going to catch him. Just take a step back. In Mr Garner’s case, as well. When he put’s his hands like this it’s like “ok ok”, when they get on his back, take a step back. In the Cleveland case with the child, if you drive your car in like that if you have an escaped felon with a gun your dead, he’s going to shoot you as soon as you drive up. What kind of tactic is that?

So take a step back and be smart and we can police better than we’re doing.

The Cleveland shooting of Tamir Rice reminds me of killing of Kajieme Powell in St Louis last summer. They pulled up tires squealing, jumped out of the car and 30 seconds later Powell was dead.

There are better ways. So much of this problem is about bad policing feeding into underlying racism. There are plenty of good cops.  If there weren’t we’d be swimming in blood on the streets because they are confronting people all day long. And they all have guns.

Update: Here’s an example of some lucky cops. It happened just last night in LA:

When they arrived on scene, officers found a man armed with a knife, said LAPD Detective Meghan Aguilar.

“When he saw the officers, he approached them and an office- involved shooting occurred,” Aguilar said.

The man was transported in critical condition to a local hospital where he later died.

The deadly confrontation occurred in the middle of a busy intersection in the heart of Hollywood and was witnessed by dozens of stunned bystanders.

“I heard like five shots go off and then all of a sudden I saw police run across and they’re pointing a gun at this guy that’s lying on the ground,” said local resident Neil Barnett.

A number of tourists staying at a nearby hostel were stunned by what they saw.

“We heard a couple of gun shots … and we ran to the window and we just saw the cops standing there aiming their guns [at] the guy,” said tourist Hanna Forspend.

The reason these cops were lucky is because that intersection is teeming with people on a Friday night. A stray bullet could have easily hit one of them.

I have no idea if they were really in danger from this knife. But once again, if tasers aren’t for situation like this, then the only thing they’re good for is cops enforcing instant compliance on unarmed citizens. You have to get very close to hit with a knife. Certainly closer than you need to be to hit someone with a taser.

Update II: Another one

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