I have a bias. My cousin (17) was shot in the head by a cop. His crime?

[jsamuel]

Running away from home.

Then running away from police. The police pursued and put themselves in-front and behind his car and he had a deadly weapon (the car) and they shot him in the head.

He called the police there because he just got robbed. The media treated it like "another kid gone bad."

I am sorry, but this affects my opinion.

[rpgamerd00d]

1. So, people making mistakes makes you biased to cops?

[jsamuel]

2. no, the cops made no mistakes

[rpgamerd00d]

7. Yes they did, its even in the main post. I'll quote it:

"The police pursued and put themselves in-front and behind his car"

That was a mistake by the cops, and a rookie one at that.

[jsamuel]

21. that is what they were trained to do apparently because it was determined

that they did nothing wrong by the department

[Porcupine]

25. When's the last time a cop was convicted on a shoot?

Probably just about never. The scenario runs this way. Cop shoots civiilian. Department expresses regret and promises investigation. A bullshit scenario is made up and filed for a month. Department announces that after investigation the shoot was good.

That scenario is probably good to 99.999% Somewhere there is ONE example of an on duty cop going to jail for a shoot but surely not two.

[silverojo]

6. Mistake?!?

Killing someone who wasn't a violent criminal isn't a mistake, it's a crime.

This is tantamount to saying Bush has made ____ "mistakes" (insert current number of dead soldiers and civilians in the blank).

[readmoreoften]

3. I had cops arrest a friend of mine in Manhattan last month.

She works in a store room and was on her cigarette break. The officer arrested her for having a knife on her belt. She was using the knife as a box cutter. Her manager came out and confirmed that she carried the knife to open boxes at work, but the cop said it didn't matter. She's a young butch lesbian and, to make his point, he booked her as a male (even though her name is Jessica-- he knew she was female.) Because of the fact that she was processed as a male and the confusion that ensued, it took her over 24 hours to get released from holding.

I don't trust cops simply because they're cops. I also don't dismiss them because they're cops. There are good precincts and bad precincts, but I hate having to call them unless it's a dire emergency. You never know what you're going to get.

[truebrit71]

14. How large is the lawsuit she's filing?

I have a sneaking hunch she may have hit the lottery...

[seabeyond]

4. i am watching over the years, cops, security be more outrageous in

behavior all over the place, in all kinds of manner, and for all different reasons. i do not trust them anymore. i do not trust that they are in control. i do not trust, that even i.... an old woman is safe if a cop deems me not to be and further, i dont think it takes much for a cop or security to decide i am a threat

i am with you jsamuel. and i am raising two boys. i no longer tell them they can trust police. that if they have done nothing wrong they dont have to worry. i tell them to be cautious, wary.....

[LaurenG]

5. I am really sorry that happened

Things like that are bound to predipose one to bias. I am so sorry that your cousin was shot.

[stillcool]

8. I have a bias too....

I hate much more than I care to acknowledge. I hate the self-righteous, testosterone inspired logic of the black and white thinking humanoid. How these people have made it through life, without experiencing the lessons by which we all learn...or cause and consequences...is beyond me. They are so frigging void of the human spirit... and I hate them all.

[mondo joe]

9. I was gay-bashed by Italians.

Would it be appropriate for me to conclude Italians are violent, or criminal?

[xchrom]

12. would you agree that african americans and latinos have right to

be extra cautious in the presense of the police?

that maybe, just maybe -- depending on who you are -- something like the colour of your skin and or sexual orientation means that the police can represent a unique threat?

[SlavesandBulldozers]

13. one doesn't choose to be Italian or not Italian.

n/t

[Katherine Brengle]

20. The cop-bashing that goes on here at DU is...

insulting and disgusting.

I understand if people have individual stories, or live in particular areas where there are problems (problems which, by the way, usually spread beyond the police and are not specific to the officers, but to the area), but to just generally talk shit about police officers is bullshit.

These are the people who you are going to rely on if you call 9-1-1 or get into a fucking car accident.

Get with it people.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

22. i was just making a point.

Cops choose to be cops, and oftentimes those who choose to be cops are not what we would describe as physics-majors.

you're right though, I'm not their biggest advocate. I used to live in a black neighborhood, every nite was like Lebanon with the military-like police presence - copters, flashbangs - whereas on the "other side of the tracks" was the lovely peaceful sounds of crickets-chirping.

It was a 5 year education on the power-structure and the treatment of minorities.

[Porcupine]

27. The fire department.?

"These are the people who you are going to rely on if you call 9-1-1 or get into a fucking car accident." It's been the fire department for me both times I was involved in a car accident.

Seriously; anybody who relies on cops to show up and protect them is living in a dream world. Cops don't even show up for burgluries and car theft anymore. I couldn't get cops to show up to an apartment where I was pretty sure they were cooking meth with a kid in the house.

I'm not really sure what cops do anymore. They seem to keep the jails full but how that relate's to protecting people is anyones guess.

[RagingInMiami]

10. The cops should never have placed themselves in front of the car

That's illogical. If they're comparing the car to a weapon, then it's like putting yourself directly in the line of fire. And I guarantee no cop is going to do that.

I'm sure the cop that stood in front of him and shot him was not very experienced. Do you know how many years he had been on the force? You should also request his personnel records to see if he has a history of shooting first and asking questions later.

Most cops are required to stop pursuing someone if that person is not necessarily a dangerous criminal, but if the pursuit itself might threaten innocent civilians.

I've covered law enforcement as a journalist for several years and this doesn't seem right.

[Kingshakabobo]

26. I've seen it on "Cops" (a guilty pleasure) no less than three times......

where a cop(on foot) placed himself in front of a moving car and then opened fire. I wish I could find the video of the LA County sheriff unloading his weapon in to the windshield of a fleeing car exiting parking lot after the cop jumped in front of the car. IIRC it was over a bullshit crime.

Also, there was a case here in chicago where an off-duty cop shot and killed some kid when the kid stole his car out of a gas station parking-lot. The car, a convertible, was left at the pump running while the cop was inside paying. The cop claimed the kid tried to run him down. The only problem was, there was video and eye-witness testimony saying the cop was nowhere near the car or in danger when he fired.

I just don't trust cops. I've known quite a few in my day and they lie.

[jsamuel]

28. I have refrained from doing anything about this out of respect for my aunt

and uncle. They don't want to push it. And it is their decision. I would be overstepping my bounds. But I do still need to talk about it.

[xchrom]

11. a rogue cop killed a friend when i was young.

it was over drugs and dealing gone bad -- and the cop killed him in his home.

the cop got away with it because the system ruled suicide -- but his family and friends knew better.

i've had several ugly incidents with cops over the gay thing and protesting.

[FloridaPat]

15. Sorry for your loss. Things like this are sad. It's a shame and

I can see why it affects your opinion. Hopefully sometime your opinion will change.

[truebrit71]

16. Sounds eerily familiar..

..there was a case recently in Chicago when a cop shot a black woman in her car because she had a weapon. After killing her they realized the "weapon" was her cellphone...

There are good cops and there are bad cops...

I am sorry about your loss...

[Wcross]

17. I don't trust cops.

Just what kind of person wants to make a living putting people in jail or in your case, in the ground? I admire peace officers but hate law enforcement officers.

[Katherine Brengle]

18. This makes you hate police officers?

I don't want to lessen the meaning of your loss, but to be biased against an entire profession because one person made a mistake doesns't seem reasonable to me.

But then again, I am biased--my husband is a police officer.

[jsamuel]

23. no, don't get me wrong

I like police. They do help thousands of people every day. They work hard. I have even thought of becoming one myself.

What I am biased against is the procedures that they are sometimes trained with. If officers are trained to put themselves in the path of a car to keep a 17 year old run away from leaving, then the training was wrong. But instead of saying that the training was wrong and they will change it, the department simply said that the cops did nothing wrong. They were right. The cops did nothing wrong, but that doesn't mean that the way they were trained wasn't wrong.

Is training an officer to physically confront a woman from behind good training? Should an officer understand through training, that a woman would likely react as if she was being attacked?

[YouthInAsia]

19. I've been pulled over so many damn times by cops it crazy.

And my crime? Dating a black male. EVERY TIME they saw us driving in my town they pulled us over. They would call in 3 or 4 other cars as "back up" cuz we were so dangerous and they'd haul him outta the car and pin him to the ground. This happened every time. We never DID anything to warrant this type of harrassment. It was strictly rascism. Pure and simple. They would threaten to arrest him, throw him in the back of a squad car and then question me about "where the drugs were." It was insane. I, too, dislike cops as a result of this treatment and I would think twice before I ever called them.

[McCamy Taylor]

24. They just shot a Iraq vet on camera! Real whackos join the police.

People who want a license to hunt other people. Most are good but you get some sickos mixed in, and the other cops act like the bad ones are their cross to carry.