Clearly a bad shoot.
But I'll still never understand the mentality it takes to continuously disregard orders given to you by a guy with a gun pointed at you.
The autopsy showed the fellow was drunk and had methamphetamine in his blood -- which does not mean he deserved to die.
When I was much younger I recall the law (at least in New York) required a police officer to actually
see a weapon in someone's hands, or have other cause to believe the use of deadly force against him was imminent, before his use of deadly force was justified. But the rules have been changed, probably as the result of a few cops being victimized by surreptitious use of concealed weapons.
The new rules afford police greater autonomy in the use of deadly force. The problem is some cops regard the new rules as a license to kill and they take full advantage of it.
In a few documentary videos I've seen of police
turn-out briefings, they often conclude with a superior officer telling his subordinates the most important thing "out there" is their personal safety -- as if some level of risk is not an acceptable part of the job. Buried in this
"most important" component of contemporary police training is a subliminal recommendation to shoot first and as long as you say you felt endangered it is alright.
That implicit latitude is the impression which must be eliminated from the format of police training. And while there is no doubt that some level of increased police fatalities will result from a more restrictive deadly force policy the simple reality is police-work is inherently dangerous and anyone who is not willing to accept the risk should seek a safer occupation. Because we simply cannot have cops patrolling our streets and highways who believe the use of deadly or excessive force is their prerogative regardless of circumstances.
If things continue along the existing path it won't be long before we have cops shooting people to death because they don't like their "attitude" when being issued a traffic summons.
