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Overkill: The Latest Trend in Policing
Washington Post ^ | 2/5/06 | Raldey Balko

Posted on 02/05/2006 6:23:11 PM PST by elkfersupper

On Jan. 24, a SWAT team in Fairfax shot and killed Salvatore J. Culosi Jr., an optometrist who was under investigation for gambling. According to a Jan. 26 front-page story in The Post, Culosi had emerged from his home to meet an undercover officer when a police tactical unit swarmed around him. An officer's gun discharged, killing the suspect. Culosi, police said, was unarmed and had displayed no threatening behavior.

It's unlikely that the officer who shot Culosi did so intentionally. But it's also unlikely that the investigation into this shooting will address why police sent a military-style unit to arrest an optometrist under investigation for a nonviolent crime and why the officers had their guns drawn when approaching a man with no history of violence.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: bang; banglist; donutwatch; leo; libertarian; libertarians; oopsyouredead
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Follow-up to this post by vrwc0915.

Fairfax Police Say Shooting Was Accident

1 posted on 02/05/2006 6:23:13 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: vrwc0915

Ping.


2 posted on 02/05/2006 6:24:04 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: elkfersupper
Fairfax' prosecutor is a wierd old bird. Not too long ago he let a Prince George's county (Maryland) cop off the hook after he'd stalked, stopped, and shot to death a Fairfax resident who was attending school at night in Maryland.

He'll let these cops go too. "Jus' an accydent" he'll say.

He still thinks Amir Kansi's car was retrieved successfully after the killings at the CIA a decade ago. We saw it spray painted silver by a group of Saudi, Yemeni and Pakistani cab-drivers across the street from where Gilbert Colon (a Bill Clinton staffer who carried the cash from Riady to the Presidential campaign fund).

They all disappeared on 9/11.

This situation has to be investigated thoroughly ~ simply to discover why the cops had to dispose of this particular witness.

3 posted on 02/05/2006 6:32:21 PM PST by muawiyah (-)
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To: elkfersupper

Accident my ass. What ever happened to keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on the target. Any cop who shoots somebody by "accident" is way to incompetent to be carrying a weapon.


4 posted on 02/05/2006 6:35:33 PM PST by tickmeister (tickmeister)
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To: tickmeister

This was Maryland. This was no accident. It's almost like the Mafia have their own state.


5 posted on 02/05/2006 6:41:19 PM PST by ThanhPhero (di hanh huong den La Vang)
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To: elkfersupper

The Rise in Paramilitary Policing
http://www.copi.com/articles/gstorm.html


6 posted on 02/05/2006 6:45:10 PM PST by B4Ranch (No expiration date is on the Oath to protect America from all enemies, foreign and domestic.)
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To: muawiyah

Very interesting.


7 posted on 02/05/2006 6:45:19 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: B4Ranch

I've seen that. Thanks for posting it for those who have not.


8 posted on 02/05/2006 6:48:02 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: ThanhPhero

Fairfax County is where I live. It is still firmly in Virginia.


9 posted on 02/05/2006 6:51:16 PM PST by muawiyah (-)
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To: elkfersupper
There's no such thing as an 'accidental discharge' with a firearm. There are only intentional discharges and negligent discharges.

There are no other choices.

L

10 posted on 02/05/2006 6:51:20 PM PST by Lurker (In God I trust. Everybody else shows me their hands.)
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To: Lurker
Exactly.

I like the language in the editorial.

"An officer's gun discharged, killing the suspect."

11 posted on 02/05/2006 6:56:50 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: freepatriot32

Almost forgot you ping.


12 posted on 02/05/2006 6:57:42 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: elkfersupper
Boy, wouldn't you like a look at this gamblers books? I wonder whose names one might find in there.

L

13 posted on 02/05/2006 7:00:46 PM PST by Lurker (In God I trust. Everybody else shows me their hands.)
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To: Lurker
There's no such thing as an 'accidental discharge' with a firearm. There are only intentional discharges and negligent discharges.

There are no other choices.

I disagree. An AD occurs when there's a mechanical malfunction of the weapon. I've seen it happen, when the disconnector on a 1911 broke, and the gun went full auto. The first round fired was on target and was intentional. The next 7 were accidental. But they were all fired safely downrange.

Mark

14 posted on 02/05/2006 7:13:17 PM PST by MarkL (When Kaylee says "No power in the `verse can stop me," it's cute. When River says it, it's scary!)
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To: elkfersupper

This is what happens when police bureaucrats and government apparatchiks are given their own personal armed forces.

They can't just sit around looking intimidating because that won't justify next year's budget increases - they HAVE to be used!

Brought to you by the folks who gave us Waco and Ruby Ridge... Play with fire and you WILL get burned.


15 posted on 02/05/2006 7:21:09 PM PST by 43north (Liberals are obsessed by the vulgarity of their lives & the obscenity of their behavior.)
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To: MarkL
I'll bet you a thousand dollars that there was no mechanical problem with this officers weapon.

L

16 posted on 02/05/2006 7:22:48 PM PST by Lurker (In God I trust. Everybody else shows me their hands.)
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To: elkfersupper
Besides playing dress-up, alot of cops are genuine a--holes.

Anyone just have to watch any of these cops shows. And these people are probably handpicked by their bosses. If this is the cream of the crop what are the others like?

Just about any Federal regulatory body is armed similarly.

Related: While it may be a few cops that are giving government law enforcement a black eye, it appears that the bad cops are becoming more and more visible. The visibility may just be a symptom of video cameras everywhere. May be what we didn't know didn't bother us in the past.
17 posted on 02/05/2006 7:24:32 PM PST by School of Rational Thought (Republican - The thinking people's party)
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To: MarkL
And in your example, you still meant to fire that first round. Granted you didn't mean to fire the next 7, but the first one was intentional.

I had an M60 'run away' on me once. Scared the crap out of me and I was the one firing it.

L

18 posted on 02/05/2006 7:24:33 PM PST by Lurker (In God I trust. Everybody else shows me their hands.)
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To: School of Rational Thought
May be what we didn't know didn't bother us in the past.

Or maybe the past was different. It used to be that peace officers kept the peace. Now law enforcement officers enforce the law.

A previous long-time sheriff in the rural NM county where I was born and raised would not permit his deputies to issue traffic citations unless it involved a wreck or flagrant endangerment.

The current one has deputies trolling dirt roads looking for seat belt violations.

19 posted on 02/05/2006 7:40:07 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: elkfersupper
JBT syndrome...

I'll never forgive the NRA for backing down on their "Jack-booted Stormtrooper" ad after Waco...

20 posted on 02/05/2006 7:46:53 PM PST by TXnMA (TROP: Satan's most successful earthly venture...)
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