I was a federal law enforcement office and worked with the USCG, FBI &DEA etc, so that is point of view I’m coming from.
This is as very tragic incident where a man died, no denying that. I’ll promise you that for 99.9% of the officers in this country this is a nightmare scenario. Not because the man is black or because of the media but because in the line of duty someone died.
The officer’s responsibility is to enforce the law, not to pick and chose which laws he/she will enforce. So let’s not argue that point here.
I’m very confident that the officers here have practiced this scenario many times and may have even used it successfully many times. I believe if you look at the video you will see that the pressure is applied, by the officer on top of the man, to the side of the man’s neck with the officer’s upper arm and forearm. The officer’s elbow leaves the front of the man’s neck clear (no pressure). You can hear in the video the man is able to speak clear enough to be heard even on the phone recording the incident. There is no evidence of a “chock hold” in the video.
Just a few questions: (For an arrestable offence)
1. If a person resists arrest should the office(s) not make an arrest?
2. What level of force should the officer(s) use to make the arrest?
3. Should the officer(s) take into account that something bad might happen and not fulfill the duties they are sworn to?
Separate Question:
If in this case the officer didn’t take the man down and the man took a gun from one of the officers, how many of the officers could he have killed?
Notes:
There are officers that die every year because they don’t use a high enough level of force for the situation they are in.
This was not the first time this man had encountered the police, based on his statements, so I’m not ware of the history and I don’t believe anyone else here is?????
I’m deeply saddened that this tragedy and the Michael Brown death are used by people who care less about the deceased and more about the political opportunity.
May God have mercy on this country!
I’m curious; as a former law enforcement officer I’d like to ask you if there is any situation you could contemplate where a citizen would refuse to do what you told them to do and where you’d walk away instead of escalating the situation?
“The officer’s responsibility is to enforce the law, not to pick and chose which laws he/she will enforce. So let’s not argue that point here.”
...but, Obama heads law enforcement in this country, and he seems to be doing a lot of picking and choosing...and you had better believe that “picking and choosing” goes on every minute at ground level in this country, right down to cops observing people who don’t use turn signals.
So, I WILL argue this point.