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Probability and Possibility
Police officers and sheriff deputies work in a world where possibility takes precedence over probability. There are people out there that will try to kill a law enforcement officer if they can. A shooting incident takes place in a matter of seconds. The second-guessing and misinformation about the decision to use deadly force goes on forever.
The two videos come from incidents in Detroit. The first video is of an arrest a gang member in Detroit who had a federal warrant. His friend who was not involved in the arrest decided to try and shoot one of the arresting officers. Social media posts claimed that the shooter was unarmed.
The second video is of a suspect who stabbed a 77-year-old man at a convenience store over a COVID mask dispute. A deputy found him and conducted a traffic stop.
The videos are graphic.
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Published in Policing
I commend them for getting body cam footage out so quickly. Both appear entirely justified. It seems that release of this type of footage has to be dragged out over months, well past time when perceptions have formed and damage has already taken place.
They do a dangerous job, it’s important for citizens to appreciate how dangerous and how quickly things can go sideways.
Hmmm. The guy in the second video looks white. Strange.
My comment below is not intended to take away anything from the above post. I have the utmost respect, admiration, and prayers for the courageous LEOs that keep me safe every day. I support the post wholeheartedly.
But I’ve noticed that if I write, “Black Americans live in world where possibility takes precedence over probability. There are people out there who will disregard, disrespect, harm or even kill them if they can,” then it will be dismissed by quite a few, out of hand, in the same way that, to paraphrase, “The second guessing, and misinformation about the negatively perceived situation goes on forever.”
My sincere apologies for distracting from Doug’s important post.
Should I have started another thread?
We ALL live in that world. Doug can tell you I have been critical of the police us vs. them attitudes for years here. I and my very white friends have been abused and beaten by police over the years. I have stories. But claiming racism is yet another layer of mind-reading, and just because black folk ( and others) have been propagandized that everything is about race doesn’t mean it’s true. They should be listening to Chris Rock, not BLM. You are advancing that narrative, which is unhelpful to both blacks and police, and maybe that’s why it’s not getting much traction.
I knew that shooting an attacker point blank does not always immediately pacify the attacker, but watching it unfold from the body cam footage is electrifying. I am glad this footage is getting out there and that the evidence is having some influence.
Thank you for the post.
I’ve got a penchant for trying to stand athwart the chasm, with neither foot on anything.
What I’m trying to say here is, “There’s a race problem. It’s nothing like as bad as BLM® and the rad left makes it out to be. Let’s try to see it.” Like I’m trying to see the comet, but we keep getting clouds at twilight.
What I’m saying to the left (not here, obviously) there are elements and actors in the environment that have racist factors, but that’s not the sum problem of life, the universe, and everything, and that most people who say there is not a problem are also not racists.
It’s as bad as when I pastored and I used alcohol-removed wine for communion. The juicers weren’t happy, and the winers weren’t happy.
Agreed.
People need to understand that this is dangerous and necessary business.
And I still have friends that say things like, “Can’t they just shoot them in the leg?”
I forgot to say that this made me sad, and I’m sorry this happened to you and your friends.
The first (Detroit) video is shocking. There are 6-8 cops there and guy decides to draw down on them! That is some crazy thinking and that kind of “illogical” thinking makes situations like that very volatile. I use the square quotes, because there is probably some logic to that guy, but I can’t wrap my mind around it.
Bodycams. I was leary about them at first, but I’m thinking more and more they’re a necessity for law enforcement.
The shooter in the first incident had his own problems. It never occurred to him to try and walk away. He was a felon in possession of a firearm, but there was no warrant for his arrest. The State of Connecticut did a study of recidivism rates and found that criminals who had a firearm when committing crimes had slightly over a 70% recidivism rate.
The probability factor of his demise wasn’t helped by hanging out with another convicted felon.
When I was watching the second video I was struck by how quickly the suspect was ready to have a go at the deputy. He was out of the car with a screwdriver in his left hand, and two weapons in his right hand. The deputy was forced to retreat as far as the back of her car. She also dropped the magazine, and reloaded with no hesitation. Good for her, she paid attention on the range. Her training saved her life.
Love the way the ‘news’guy on the second video described the attacker as ‘the victim’.
If they were sapient they would not be on air news readers.
It requires “non-linear thinking” or so I am told.
Did she really empty a magazine, drop it and insert another? Or did the gun jam and she cleared it?
Seeing bravery first hand there. And nice mag change in the second video.
I was surprised at how many shots it took for the female officer to put down her attacker. Did she miss repeatedly? Did he keep coming ebven after being shot repeatedly?
If the latter, was it because she had a weak weapon with inadequate stopping power? Do female officers use smaller caliber weapons than males? Are they too small to use sufficiently powerful weapons?
Personally, this is why I favor the 45 ACP.
Doug,
We are now fully in the world of on the spot video with these high res body cams & high quality cell phone video. This era started with the convenience store fisheye camera videos about ten years ago. Even then these videos, if anyone saw them, were enlightening. One in particular at a convenience store I always remember. The perp pulled his gun on the clerk behind the counter. The clerk, as fast as he could, emptied the cash drawer onto the counter and backed up against the wall a foot behind him. He had his hands up as if to say don’t shoot. The perp scooped up the cash then leaned forward over the counter with the gun only 2-3 feet from the clerk’s chest and opened fire on his helpless victim.
Given the leftwing narrative about police, one might have thought that these body cam videos would indict & convict many police officers. However, I suspect that over time they will exonerate many good police officers of false charges and indict & convict many extremely dangerous individuals.
Live & learn.
Regards,
Jim
Are you referring to when he said “77 year old victim who was stabbed?” As in stabbed by the guy who attacked the officer? Because that was the initial incident which led the police to be looking for the him in the first place.
If that’s what you’re referring to, you’ve provided a good example of how misinformation can spread.
Impressed the heck out of me. What she did is a whole lot harder than it looks.
I’ve done force-on-force training with simulated munitions; it was really humiliating. I highly recommend it.
I prefer criminals on TV who are cooly calculating but susceptible to CSI technology and brilliant insights by detectives.
A world where criminals are just incredibly stupid, batshit crazy, or spontaneously, pointlessly violent seems like it is a lot less fun or interesting. In my many years have seen cops in crowd control situations in mass demonstrations, bar fights, and street altercations, and more often than not I am impressed that there is not more violence by police because the temptation to really smash some truly obnoxious miscreants must be overwhelming.
It looks like the slide locked open. Practicing on the range, or for qualification should include dropping a magazine on the ground without taking your eyes off the target and using your free hand to load a second magazine rather than using your free hand to handle the empty magazine.
I used to draw my empty pistol from the holster about 15 times before starting a shift to reinforce muscle memory. I also had three plastic rounds so I could simulate a double feed jam, or stove pipe jam. I practiced clearing those jams while keeping my eye on the target.
Thomas Sowell had a thing on this a long time ago. What it comes down to is that shoot-outs and similar actually involve a lot of shots fired per hit. People are moving around, and it is possible that there is something in people that they don’t really want to kill each other. At any rate, when the press talks of ‘a hail of bullets’ as if the police are eager to get in on the kill or don’t know what they’re doing – this is what they are talking about; a normal adrenaline-charged response to someone trying to kill them for doing their job.
“The victim is state worker Sean Rice who police say had stabbed a 77-year-old man over a mask dispute minutes earlier at a convenience store.”
– but thank you for making me check because I really don’t want to spread misinformation, and I’m not always as careful as I wish to be.
Is it OK to tell a joke in this sensitive thread?
Reporter: Why did you and your deputies fire 87 rounds?
Sheriff: That’s all we had.
Thanks for checking up on me. It’s all too easy for Homer to nod, or to channel Homer Simpson.
The threat of paperwork infuses discipline.
People running on adrenaline can act for seconds after fatal injuries. I’m guessing that a number of the shots did not inflict fatal damage on their own.