Quote:
Originally Posted by MTUpower
I agree with everything you opined here except this. If they wait to see a weapon it may be too late. Obviously we need a higher standard than what is in place now but I don't know what that standard is.
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It isn't a question of standards. I would imagine the "use of deadly force" rules are largely the same the world over, where police carry weapons. You can write and rewrite standards until you run out of ink, but it won't do much to change situations like the one with the marine on the parkway.
As far as I know, shooting someone simply because they move, in the absence of having seen (or having other reasonable and probable grounds to suspect the presence of) a weapon, doesn't meet use of deadly force standards in any civilized society.
However, there are standards, and then there is what happens on the street in the cold light of day, or the wee hours of the night, far away from standards.
MTUpower is correct in his observation that sometimes police will shoot based on other things. These can include: gut instinct/years of experience, an honest mistake, poor training (this is a biggie, even in some large municipal departments), having pulled the service weapon prematurely (this tends to escalate situations and reduces chances of a non-violent resolution), burnout, having a headache, having a hangover (or actually being drunk), prejudice, having a serious issue dealing with people, having been hired in error in the first place (senior officer uncle gets sister's dimwit son a job, etc., old old story), being generally a force-happy *******, or the real biggie cops NEVER talk about
: fear.
We have had our share of shocking incidents here in Canada, where our police have much stricter use-of-deadly-force parameters under our national criminal code than Stateside (for example, police in Canada are not permitted in law to shoot a fleeing 'felon' only on that basis, they can only use deadly force if their life or the life of another is under direct threat).
Four Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers (who are supposed to be among the best trained police in the world) killed a Polish immigrant who spoke no English and who was slightly mentally deficient, who was having a serious panic attack and acting weird, after he deplaned at Vancouver airport by overpowering him onto the ground, then tasering him
eight times because he waved a desk stapler at them.... from about 10 feet away. (Border protection officers had ignored the guy for an hour and let him get worked up. No one ever tried to find someone to speak to him. It was later established his mother had been waiting about 50 feet away, outside immigration.) They then ended up disgraced because they altered their notes on the incident and attempted an organized perjury at the ensuing judicial enquiry. When they tried to lie their way out of it a member of the public who had recorded it on his mobile came forward. Oops. Oh yeah, and then the senior officer who participated ran away (literally) from the scene of an accident a few weeks later, to try to beat DUI charges -- he ran home and downed a few Vodkas before the municipal police could get there. Pure class.
A Montreal patrol officer killed a 16-year-old boy in a city park after he and his friends (all unarmed) made fun of him and called he and his partner stupid. The officers said they felt "threatened".
Another Montreal officer instigated a small brawl when she started beating up a guy she saw drinking a beer on his front step (he was holding the door open for friends moving in furniture). He didn't put the beer down fast enough for her taste and started a drum solo with her baton. An open container violation (probably a $60 ticket) ended up with about 12 cruisers blocking the street to prevent a riot. Sadly for her, she didn't realize one of his friends recorded the whole thing on his cellphone:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/10/10/montreal-police-badge-728-video-captured.html