This morning's verdict in New York acquitting all the officers in the slaying of Sean Bell who was killed in a reported hail of over 50 bullets the night of his bachelor party should be a lesson to all of us that if we are pulled over for a traffic stop you have to expect that your life is in danger even if you have no weapon and no malicious intent.
In today's age of cell phones, Blackberry's, iPhones, Treo's, iPods and other electronic devices strapped to our belts or placed in cup holders and other devices in our cars we must all unfortunately keep in mind that if you are pulled over you should not reach for anything, you should not make any sudden movements, you should keep your hands where the officers can see them at all times, and you should address the officers with an even calm tone and respect because you simply cannot know what state of mind the police will be in and if even one of the officers feels threatened in any way they can and will take your life.
I'm not saying this is right...just reality, and as an Idealist, this is a scary thing for me or anyone to think about.
No one will probably ever know exactly what happened in this case. CBS news is reporting that, "the men...were ordered...to halt and...other officers began shooting only after Bell bumped an officer with his car and slammed into an unmarked police van while trying to flee."
Other reports on CNN state that one of the officers saw someone in the car reach for something.
The fact that over 50 shots were fired by police seems a little over the top considering that no weapons were found on the victims.
Speaking for myself I remember only several months ago when I was pulled over by an officer for speeding his partner walked up on the opposite side of my car which I could see through my passenger side mirror. She had removed the strap which kept her gun in its holster on her hip, and she had her hand firmly on the pistol ready to draw and fire at a moments notice. Don't think I wasn't hyper aware that my life was in danger and that if I made any sudden moves or reached for anything inside my car that I might not have been shot!
Granted we need police protection, but officers of the law must make split second decisions and those decisions must be based on very good judgement where lethal force is employed.
Police are people too, and they have bad days, arguments with their spouses, sleepless nights, and all the other problems people experience, but we must hold them to the highest standards of reasoned judgement since their fingers are literally on the triggers that can take lives.
In today's age of cell phones, Blackberry's, iPhones, Treo's, iPods and other electronic devices strapped to our belts or placed in cup holders and other devices in our cars we must all unfortunately keep in mind that if you are pulled over you should not reach for anything, you should not make any sudden movements, you should keep your hands where the officers can see them at all times, and you should address the officers with an even calm tone and respect because you simply cannot know what state of mind the police will be in and if even one of the officers feels threatened in any way they can and will take your life.
I'm not saying this is right...just reality, and as an Idealist, this is a scary thing for me or anyone to think about.
No one will probably ever know exactly what happened in this case. CBS news is reporting that, "the men...were ordered...to halt and...other officers began shooting only after Bell bumped an officer with his car and slammed into an unmarked police van while trying to flee."
Other reports on CNN state that one of the officers saw someone in the car reach for something.
The fact that over 50 shots were fired by police seems a little over the top considering that no weapons were found on the victims.
Speaking for myself I remember only several months ago when I was pulled over by an officer for speeding his partner walked up on the opposite side of my car which I could see through my passenger side mirror. She had removed the strap which kept her gun in its holster on her hip, and she had her hand firmly on the pistol ready to draw and fire at a moments notice. Don't think I wasn't hyper aware that my life was in danger and that if I made any sudden moves or reached for anything inside my car that I might not have been shot!
Granted we need police protection, but officers of the law must make split second decisions and those decisions must be based on very good judgement where lethal force is employed.
Police are people too, and they have bad days, arguments with their spouses, sleepless nights, and all the other problems people experience, but we must hold them to the highest standards of reasoned judgement since their fingers are literally on the triggers that can take lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment