North Little Rock, AR cops stand by and watch as convenience store is robbed!

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ^ | 31 AUG 02 | BY JIM BROOKS

[Dog Gone]

That would be true, if the police had proof positive it was GOING to happen, but they didn't...

Good grief, what kind of proof would you require? An informant was driving him to that particular store, and had been told of the perp's intentions. The police believed it enough to surround the store.

What more did they need?

[marajade]

ir was a tip...

[Ben Bolt]

It is 1 point I dare say , and I most certainly am making a judgement on law enforcement . The very judgements that you are making . You trust them to exercise and take certain liberties with people's lives and I do not . It is still a judgement we both are making .

Yes they did know . They knew the tip was factual when the perp arrived . No resources ? Might be a reason to defend yourself when the police use you as bait without your permission or knowledge I would think .

Would you want the police in Arizona to use you in the fashion that the AR clerk was used I asked ?

[A CA Guy]

It happened, just as I said and I support the police.

[marajade]

"It happened, just as I said and I support the police."

Then you have a legitimate beef...

[marajade]

"You trust them to exercise and take certain liberties with people's lives and I do not ."

Maybe the difference is because I've made my living working in law enforcement (support) for over 20 years and I can attest to the kind of job they do...

[Dog Gone]

So, if you were a policeman, and an informant you trusted had told you that he was driving a guy to a location where he intended to shoot the President, you'd stake out the location, and let the guy take a shot, because it was just "a tip"?

[SarahW]

The point being, they knew the PERP had a gun.

They could have stopped, arrested, and sent the guy to jail for YEARS on that alone. Why they felt thought a harder crime with possible deadly consequences for the clerk was in the interest of public safety I cannot fathom.

[Cultural Jihad]

(We can do without any of your editorializing within the article, by the way.)

I have to wonder what the spin here would have been had the police arrested the would-be robber for crossing the threshold of the convenience store with a weapon, or charging him with thinking of robbing it.

[marajade]

"Are you smoking some wacky weed ..."

That meets the definition of a personal attack and meets the criteria of being reported as abuse on this forum...

[FormerLurker]

Would you want the police in Arizona to use you in the fashion that the AR clerk was used I asked ?

I guess marajade wouldn't mind if the cops simply mopped up the mess after. According to marajade, that's what their job is. And of course, their lives are much more important than that of any mere civilian. We wouldn't want to put any police officer in harms way if we can put a civilian there instead...

[marajade]

In response to your post #87...

Your example and what was written in the article isn't the same...

[sweetliberty]

"That would be true, if the police had proof positive it was GOING to happen"

But suppose this HAD escalated to the point where the robber killed the store clerk. By your reckoning, the cops would bear no responsibility because they had no prior proof that the murder would occur. That is an irrational judgement in my opinion. And you can't have it both ways. If you would concede that had a death resulted, the cops would then be accountable, then they would also have to be accountable for taking that risk in the first place.

[marajade]

"They could have stopped, arrested, and sent the guy to jail for YEARS on that alone."

We've addressed this already in this thread... You're right, but with armed robbery he'd be sent away for an even longer time...

You never answered my question about being sworn law enforcement...

[FormerLurker]

That meets the definition of a personal attack and meets the criteria of being reported as abuse on this forum...

Touchy aren't we? I was making a legitimate observation, as your comments are irrational and worthy of such a response.

Do you not agree that you have made some utterly irrational remarks totally void of common sense and reason?

[Dog Gone]

Your example and what was written in the article isn't the same...

Of course it wasn't. I am trying to see how far you're willing to go in defending your line of argument. I'm guessing not that far, since you avoided the question.

[marajade]

Did you read my post #77? If your city is fortunate enough to have enough cops on the force to do what you suggest then that's great... Unfortunately, many do not...

[SarahW]

"Armed robbery is different than murder"


They knew he was going to use deadly force in commission of a crime. It doesn't matter if there weren't sure he was going in specifically to murder. They knew he had a deadly weapon, and that death was a forceable consequence of the perp using it to gain compliance from the clerk.

If a mere citizen had that knowlege, the citizen could be put in jail on accessory charges or even felony murder if the perp had decided to USE the weapon.

[Jolly Rodgers]

ping. :-)

[marajade]

"But suppose this HAD escalated to the point where the robber killed the store clerk."

You're asking law enforcement to now predict what might happen after having received a tip to the contrary? If that's the case, its a wonder if people aren't being murdered everywhere ...