A tsunami of emotion reading this Amber. Deep aching sadness. At the unnecessary loss of life. At another significant step downwards in our social fabric. At the increased weaponization of every aspect of our communities. Mostly, as the father of two brilliant daughters, I fear the world has gotten darker and more violent. I also worry for the erosion of trust in "law enforcement" officials - particularly the millions who passionately and selflessly do their jobs protecting us from the evils of the world - tainted by these acts. Thank you for expressing much that many of struggle to put into words.
As a retired L.A. County Sheriff’s Sergeant with 36 years, 30 of them worked in Patrol at 7 stations, your words & observations were my immediate thoughts & observations when I saw the video, before the “bitch” comment was revealed.
Absolutely NO Way in Hell was his shooting justified. In fact, if you watch the video carefully before & when he fires, he actually put the ICE agent closest to the driver door in danger & you can see the reaction & body language of surprise & probably anger.
Aim is often inexact in stressful or emotionally amped up situations where your emotions (anger) override your control. He could have killed or injured the other officer or civilians in the background, as well, by ricochets or pass through. He violated many officer safety rules and committed a murder of someone who was ABSOLUTELY NOT A THREAT to himself or anyone else. He should be prosecuted. Same goes for the other shootings you mentioned & the Alex Pretti, the Intensive Care Nurse.
I never had to shoot or kill anyone in my 30 years of patrol. The closest I came was a “routine” medical call when I was riding along with one of my deputies. A distraught woman was running around her backyard with a hatchet & when we came on scene the Fire Captain alerted us to the situation. When we confronted the woman she was obviously very upset, possibly on drugs & charged us with the hatchet held above her head, goading us to shoot her. We backed up as far as we could while ordering her to drop the weapon (with a few chosen & totally justified expletives thrown in) & the fact we didn’t want to kill her in front of her husband & two children. She finally stopped as I was putting more pressure on the trigger. Happily she never focused on either one of us. She retreated to a shed & I went in and disarmed her while the deputy covered me. She had her back to me & I pinned her as she tried to raise the axe from her side, and we arrested her.
During my years in patrol, I encountered many violent, enraged, suspicious people, some under the influence of various drugs including PCP, some about to commit crimes, some in progress & some right afterwards. I frequently drew my weapon and pointed it at these people, but I largely remained in control of my emotions & focus. I talked to people when I could & used my words carefully to try & calm and de-escalate the situation before it became out of control. Using my brain, my words, my personal behavior & presentation I accomplished my goals with the least amount of force possible. The job of law enforcement can usually be accomplished with the work being done by 95% of your calm, controlled demeanor & words. Sometimes the 5% of physical force is unfortunately necessary. But it should never involve using force & specifically deadly force, just because you can, or because you can convince yourself somehow that it’s justified by certain things you can later articulate to fit “your feelings.” You must be able to separate your emotions & judge circumstances objectively by the laws & case laws every cop worth their salt knows and must keep abreast of during their career.
Some cops & other law enforcement apparently never think very deeply about the gravity & seriousness of the job & the power with which they are entrusted. Some know or think others will cover for their misdeeds or criminal behavior, and some do exactly that. Some don’t think about ethics or morals; perhaps some never learned about these, or anything else past what little they gleaned from high school. Some may be sociopaths, narcissists with little regard for others.
Some departments, especially small agencies, don’t maintain very high standards or don’t adequately screen their candidates before hiring them or they don’t employ effective supervision or methods for monitoring behavior after hire. Some lack or have poor, inadequate training.
Law Enforcement must do better, but I don’t see Trump’s Administration doing anything except unleashing the worst impulses of the boneheads leading the officers under them.
I am so tired of being angry, sad, and afraid. Leaving the house has become a lesson in fear every single time. I'm the kind of minority they like to put in cages, regardless of citizenship. In one of the whitest states in the country. How is this our country? How is this acceptable to ANYONE? Don't get me wrong, they've been flagrantly murdering women without consequence for eons, but still, what the actual fuck?????
Exactly. This.
Sad. Angry. With you.
Thank you for putting into words my rage and disgust.
A tsunami of emotion reading this Amber. Deep aching sadness. At the unnecessary loss of life. At another significant step downwards in our social fabric. At the increased weaponization of every aspect of our communities. Mostly, as the father of two brilliant daughters, I fear the world has gotten darker and more violent. I also worry for the erosion of trust in "law enforcement" officials - particularly the millions who passionately and selflessly do their jobs protecting us from the evils of the world - tainted by these acts. Thank you for expressing much that many of struggle to put into words.
Thank you for writing this. I am so disgusted, I have no words.
As a retired L.A. County Sheriff’s Sergeant with 36 years, 30 of them worked in Patrol at 7 stations, your words & observations were my immediate thoughts & observations when I saw the video, before the “bitch” comment was revealed.
Absolutely NO Way in Hell was his shooting justified. In fact, if you watch the video carefully before & when he fires, he actually put the ICE agent closest to the driver door in danger & you can see the reaction & body language of surprise & probably anger.
Aim is often inexact in stressful or emotionally amped up situations where your emotions (anger) override your control. He could have killed or injured the other officer or civilians in the background, as well, by ricochets or pass through. He violated many officer safety rules and committed a murder of someone who was ABSOLUTELY NOT A THREAT to himself or anyone else. He should be prosecuted. Same goes for the other shootings you mentioned & the Alex Pretti, the Intensive Care Nurse.
I never had to shoot or kill anyone in my 30 years of patrol. The closest I came was a “routine” medical call when I was riding along with one of my deputies. A distraught woman was running around her backyard with a hatchet & when we came on scene the Fire Captain alerted us to the situation. When we confronted the woman she was obviously very upset, possibly on drugs & charged us with the hatchet held above her head, goading us to shoot her. We backed up as far as we could while ordering her to drop the weapon (with a few chosen & totally justified expletives thrown in) & the fact we didn’t want to kill her in front of her husband & two children. She finally stopped as I was putting more pressure on the trigger. Happily she never focused on either one of us. She retreated to a shed & I went in and disarmed her while the deputy covered me. She had her back to me & I pinned her as she tried to raise the axe from her side, and we arrested her.
During my years in patrol, I encountered many violent, enraged, suspicious people, some under the influence of various drugs including PCP, some about to commit crimes, some in progress & some right afterwards. I frequently drew my weapon and pointed it at these people, but I largely remained in control of my emotions & focus. I talked to people when I could & used my words carefully to try & calm and de-escalate the situation before it became out of control. Using my brain, my words, my personal behavior & presentation I accomplished my goals with the least amount of force possible. The job of law enforcement can usually be accomplished with the work being done by 95% of your calm, controlled demeanor & words. Sometimes the 5% of physical force is unfortunately necessary. But it should never involve using force & specifically deadly force, just because you can, or because you can convince yourself somehow that it’s justified by certain things you can later articulate to fit “your feelings.” You must be able to separate your emotions & judge circumstances objectively by the laws & case laws every cop worth their salt knows and must keep abreast of during their career.
Some cops & other law enforcement apparently never think very deeply about the gravity & seriousness of the job & the power with which they are entrusted. Some know or think others will cover for their misdeeds or criminal behavior, and some do exactly that. Some don’t think about ethics or morals; perhaps some never learned about these, or anything else past what little they gleaned from high school. Some may be sociopaths, narcissists with little regard for others.
Some departments, especially small agencies, don’t maintain very high standards or don’t adequately screen their candidates before hiring them or they don’t employ effective supervision or methods for monitoring behavior after hire. Some lack or have poor, inadequate training.
Law Enforcement must do better, but I don’t see Trump’s Administration doing anything except unleashing the worst impulses of the boneheads leading the officers under them.
I am so tired of being angry, sad, and afraid. Leaving the house has become a lesson in fear every single time. I'm the kind of minority they like to put in cages, regardless of citizenship. In one of the whitest states in the country. How is this our country? How is this acceptable to ANYONE? Don't get me wrong, they've been flagrantly murdering women without consequence for eons, but still, what the actual fuck?????
Bullseye writing. This northern neighbour is….what the hell am I….numb? disgusted? Angry? …all of it - Keep recording; stay loud! With love.