You good cops KNOW who the BAD cops in your organizations are. Putting aside the growing numbers of muslim inspired killings, if you’re content with the thought that these bad cops – the TRIGGER HAPPY “cowboys” – will continue to overstep and abuse their authority and citizens, driving unstable and aggrieved the citizens surrounding and outnumbering you to the sorts of killings of other GOOD COPS now on the increase, then do nothing.
If, however, you want to increase the odds that you will go home to the wife and kids at the end of your shift, you’d better do all you can to get the “cowboys” out of your department and lobby very hard to see that the “White Shirts” in command see that he NEVER works as a LEO anywhere again.
Someone who worked with this cop must have known he was an idiot and should have said something before now because we all know this won’t end well for everyone.
I so agree with your comment.
ANY organization is only as good as the worst behavior it tolerates. One bad apple does spoil the whole bunch if the people responsible for removing it fail to do so.
As a former LEO myself, I can only say that I’ve never seen a “trigger happy cowboy.” At least in my jurisdiction, even drawing your weapon for anything other than a felony stop was rare. Of my peers, some were less mature than others, some were superstars, and some were lazy—In other words, the same cross section of personality types and foibles you see in other walks of life.
Sometimes the most intelligent and dedicated officer would have an unexplainable lapse in judgement and stack up his car, and sometimes the guy you had pegged for a well-intentioned idiot would surprise you with flawless performance under pressure.
My point is, whatever the reason this officer fired, I doubt his peers (or even him) saw it coming. The one thing I *never* saw was a cop signing into service all excited over who they might get to shoot today.
That said, choices have consequences. Cop supporters often cite the life-risking aspect of the job in their appreciation for the police, but the far greater risk in the profession is making a career-ending decision in the blink of an eye.
The latter often has a direct influence on the former as going through the mental flowchart on your use-of-force pyramid induces action latency that can get you killed.
In this case, it does not appear to be a clean shoot. I’d speculate adrenaline and improper weapon safety before assuming nefarious intent. It’s unfortunate for the therapist, and for the officer involved...But even more so for dutiful cops across the country whose lives will be at increased risk as a result of this video.
Hold on second and I am not trying to be mean to you.
How do you know that the officer that shot this guy is a bad cop? Maybe he is just a bad shot. Ever tried shooting when your heartrate is 220 BPM? How many do you think you would dump off the black at even ten meters?
Maybe he is a bad shot that has a medal of valor for pulling a person from a burning house? None of us know. If you had to be judged, do you want all the evidence or just some of it?
You can tell intent from this video clip? Because intent is the key to prosecution. I am not at all convinced that prosecution is even an option, unless its some type of reckless negligence, again very hard to prove. The civil lawsuit is a surefire payday though and Mr. Kinsey should be compensated for his pain and suffering. He isn’t going to get as much as his attorney thinks, and the reason is below.
It isn’t about what you or any other person perceives the threat to be. It is about what an officer at the scene perceives the threat to be. I didn’t make that up, it’s longstanding established case law (Conner v. Graham).
From the information released so far, the officer was convinced enough that the autistic man was a threat to a person he was sworn to protect, (and had priority over the potential suspect) Mr. Kinsey, the unfortunate recipient of the bullet intended for the autistic man. Mr. Kinsey, bless him, was worried about his charge, however in his desire to protect his charge, he deliberately injected himself into dynamic, uncertain and evolving situation that the police were legally and lawfully summoned to and were in charge of the very second they arrived. Had he listened to the officers to stay away from the autistic man, as difficult and emotional as that would have been, he most likely would have not been shot himself. And this is why his compensation may very well be reduced.
FWIW, I have an autistic child, and I am grateful to God this young man was not shot, for he had no clue what was going on. I am also sorry that Kinsey did get wounded. But that was tragic and unintentional.
None of us know how that officer is exactly feeling right now. I can tell you from experience of working my share of officer involved shootings how officers feel the minutes and hours after a shooting. There ain’t a damn bit of high-fiving going on and no one is happy about pulling the trigger. Initially, the natural response of relief that you are still alive is evident, but that quickly dissipates. Then begins the soul searching, anger at being forced to do something that no rational person wants to do, disbelief, uncertainty of your future, all fashion and form of negative emotions that again, no rational person wants for themselves. Cops shooting people is only glamorous on TV. In real life, guys vomit, cry, curse, lose control of bodily functions, and second guess themselves. You take their gun for evidence, and sometimes they turn the replacement on themselves in a fit of depression. I’ve known cops who lost their will to serve and got the hell out and they were in justified shoots.
I’ll close with this. Every bad cop that has ever been prosecuted was arrested by a good cop.
I have two under belt, not proud of it, just saying it.