That's a serious question. Answer it as if you are a police officer and you have been called to a scene as described: erratic knife-wielding man threatening passersby and tossing trash and trash cans around. Give yourself less than 3 seconds to formulate your answer.
That's a very good question. Maybe cops can be equipped with rubber bullets or something in those situations. Or shoot them in the leg. It has happened a few times where cops kill people with mental problems. I know. How to be sure and prevent this? The problem here is they "may" have saved lives but they took one.
"Hamel, a mentally ill 40-year-old who lived in a downtown shelter, was cornered by police, ordered to drop his weapon, pepper-sprayed, and ultimately shot."
I suppose they could be issued rubber bullets. I am surprised they didn't try Tasering him. Maybe they don't have those either.
It's actually very hard to shoot someone in te leg, even if he's standing perfectly still. Try it sometime, if you have a gun. Go to a range, and see how often you can hit a 8" wide target. And then, of course, there's that femoral artery to worry about and the problem of what happens if you miss. And all that training about aiming for "center mass" to overcome. And if you miss his leg or it goes through the fleshy part of his thigh, where might that bullet go? After all, at least one bullet missed the target and ended up in the body of an innocent passerby.
Which begs the question: Why was he there? Why didn't they have the entire block locked down?
No, I am afraid the only easy answers come well after the fact, well after that few seconds you, as a cop, get to make a decision within.
I'm rarely hard on them. Here's the thing. Quebec is a rather peaceful place (except when boobs go on strike) and so I don't think our cops can be too "trigger happy."
As for the femur. That's the ONE thing that DID make me think about my comment.
Well. I used to skeet shoot at the shooting range. I'm actually joining a club in the next few months.
What should they have done?
ReplyDeleteThat's a serious question. Answer it as if you are a police officer and you have been called to a scene as described: erratic knife-wielding man threatening passersby and tossing trash and trash cans around. Give yourself less than 3 seconds to formulate your answer.
That's a very good question. Maybe cops can be equipped with rubber bullets or something in those situations. Or shoot them in the leg. It has happened a few times where cops kill people with mental problems. I know. How to be sure and prevent this? The problem here is they "may" have saved lives but they took one.
ReplyDelete"Hamel, a mentally ill 40-year-old who lived in a downtown shelter, was cornered by police, ordered to drop his weapon, pepper-sprayed, and ultimately shot."
ReplyDeleteI suppose they could be issued rubber bullets. I am surprised they didn't try Tasering him. Maybe they don't have those either.
It's actually very hard to shoot someone in te leg, even if he's standing perfectly still. Try it sometime, if you have a gun. Go to a range, and see how often you can hit a 8" wide target. And then, of course, there's that femoral artery to worry about and the problem of what happens if you miss. And all that training about aiming for "center mass" to overcome. And if you miss his leg or it goes through the fleshy part of his thigh, where might that bullet go? After all, at least one bullet missed the target and ended up in the body of an innocent passerby.
Which begs the question: Why was he there? Why didn't they have the entire block locked down?
No, I am afraid the only easy answers come well after the fact, well after that few seconds you, as a cop, get to make a decision within.
Don't be too hard on them
I'm rarely hard on them. Here's the thing. Quebec is a rather peaceful place (except when boobs go on strike) and so I don't think our cops can be too "trigger happy."
ReplyDeleteAs for the femur. That's the ONE thing that DID make me think about my comment.
Well. I used to skeet shoot at the shooting range. I'm actually joining a club in the next few months.
I'll try then and let you know!