Momma said that if I couldn’t say anything nice I should just not say anything.
Actually, if you believe that, then you never met my momma! But the point is the same. 
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Well, although this is a complicated situation that happened, I would pin it on being complacent. Not enough training with ones gear? It’s hard to make an argument when it’s a “veteran” police officer, but I think this really pushes the “need for training argument” home even more. Cops don’t need MRAPs to patrol in most states, tho they will spend millions on gear that they don’t even know how to use.
The cop in question I think was nervous, I think was complacent, and this was not accidental, but a true version of neglect. She obviously didn’t train with her tools and unfortunately for both the victim and her they will pay the price. It does not anger me, it really disappoints me. These men and women signed up to be protectors, it’s cases like this that will only further the ignorance about there lack of training and they ultimately get hit with the pain.
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People make mistakes. You get distracted, your having a bad day, or you’ve been working consecutive shifts in a row. This is a tragic story for both sides.
The 20 year old had a warrant for robbing someone at gun point. He was playing a dangerous game and going down a bad path. The cop was a veteran on the force, 26 years. Her career is ruined and she may see jail time (we will see how it plays out legally.).
No matter what is done, things like this will happen. I think any reasonable person would agree police could use more training, and not be over worked. That means more money and hiring more police.
The problem is no one in their right mind would become a police officer right now. Good officers are leaving the force. Politicians on the left are irresponsibly calling to defund and dismantle police.
The decisions being made now will have effects in the future. In fact, crime is high across the country right now. You think cops are bad now, wait till they are even more under staffed, over worked, under paid, and under trained.
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We have cops training at the MMA gym I train at, we let them train with us for free. Most are big strong guys that have never been in a fight. Once taken down by a 60 year old man they get real interested in what we do.
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Is the female officer’s explanation believable or sufficient? Not my place to make that assessment. Of course, I only had 28 years of LE experience to base my views upon, so what do I know? I never had the option of using a Taser, so I am again not in a position to assess.
What I DID HAVE–my sub-lethal defensive tools were on the support side of my Sam Browne, and the lethal tool was on my strong side–ALWAYS.
I look at DECISION-MAKING processes as the crux of what a LE officer is employed to do. He or she is hired and trained to make decisions in near-impossible circumstances and under extreme time-pressure and situational confusion.
Let’s discuss what public and business administration schools instruct when it comes to decision-making, it’s accuracy and effectiveness. If an executive trainee’s decision-making prowess is in the 50/50 ballpark–that is half correct and half not so much–he or she won’t be fired, but will move rather slowly up the organization’s pyramid of power. Another trainee manages a 2 good/1 bad decision ranking, and HEY–this one has a little on the ball, let’s have this guy/gal get on the promotion track and see where he/she ends up. NOW–there is a Master of the Universe at Firm XXX whose decision making is 90% good and 10% meh–well, such an employee is bound for glory!
What about Law Enforcement? In THAT career field, 95% Good/5% Bad is considered profoundly and comprehensively INCOMPETENT. You will not complete field training, you will not make probation, you will be terminated without recourse. The End.
The police have nothing better to do with their time than to train. I believe that right to the ground. But citizens need a bit of training and civilizing as well, and an appreciation that 95% of our time is spent with 1% of the population that is largely feral and violent. My old profession is unique in one respect–that so many people who have never spent an hour doing it seem to know so much about how it should be done.
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That’s a good thing! And I absolutely respect the decision to train LEOs for free. That’s part of being the solution IMO.
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Your so right, NO ONE WINS on this. Its a loss for the officer & a loss for a family. No matter who we are, ( officer, concealed carry, or congressional carry or just in our own home) we have to be responsible. Its a real big deal when we have a gun, and life is a big deal.
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Oh I feel your discomfort in restraint. Sounds like your momma knew my grandma. Lol
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I wonder how many future lives were saved by this incident.
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I’d argue that given the larger context, shooting the pistol has justified, even if it was a mistake.
Suspect had an outstanding warrant for failure to show up in court.
The charge in court was aggregated assault.
The suspect was resisting arrest.
The suspect was trying to get back in the vehicle to either retrieve a weapon or drive away with the officer hanging on.
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I’ve heard the some police departments have a rule that officers wear the firearm on one side and taser on the other to avoid confusion. It seams to me that should the the standard everywhere.
Sadly, in all walks of life, Military, police, corporate world, whenever there are money issues, training is always the easiest to cut.
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A poorly trained “veteran police officer” who obviously wasn’t qualified or prepared for combative suspects could very easily confuse her Glock for a Taser. Just like the military, law enforcement agencies have lowered the bar to meet their “diversity quota” of individuals, not based on those with the best qualifications, but because of skin color, ethnicity and/or gender.
And this is the result of affirmative action.
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No Way!!!
Most lay people will never train in high stress situations and in a training scenario that has a multifaceted response outcome so understanding how YOU will react in a multitude of encounters is really unknown. Adding a weapon that simulates different malfunctions or dead rounds also adds to the many different outcomes that could happen.
It’s impossible for the majority of average people in America who don’t train or ever had a life threatening encounter come to a reasonable opinion to this incident. Unfortunately the majority of police departments don’t train extensively in high stress outcome based scenarios either.
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WORSE is the goon squad that will replace the good cops !!! Police that will comply with unconstitutional orders and laws or to be in favor with the tyrants that rule over them. That’s the plan and found in every dictatorship around the world.
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A critical component to all these scenario’s happening now is the mentality and opinion of the perp to fight, resist and ignore orders from the police.
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Anything is possible in the heat of combat. Anything.
No one has yet asked if a plastic duty weapon could be confused with a plastic Tazer.
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I don’t disagree at all. I genuinely have little sympathy for perps who wind up dead. “Live by the sword…” and all.
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you need to spend more time reading the concealed carry mag, find out what happens when the adrenaline starts flowing. Don’t run from the police, follow there instructions to the letter, and you will live to adjudicate your alleged offense
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