really unfortunate situation. and really good piece. no one wins.
some thoughts:
i know the senshido guys are always talking about
-assume a weapon
-assume he has a friend
with that kind of pressure going on between the push and pull of
piece-keeper and staying-alive, it's easy to see that at the end of
the day things can go horribly wrong.
i can see the first 'emminent danger' piece of a cop being clipped by a car,
then i can only imagine that because of the sheer magnitude of shots[due to 5 officers present], it must have been hard to differentiate 'friendly-fire' [cops] from being attacked. each one [cop] probably fueling themselves on what they assume the other has seen and reacted to. human nature stuff under fear and pressure.
from the perspective of 3 drunk African Americans in Queens [or wherever], i can see at least because of the racial climate at times in the burroughs of NYC, wanting to run rather than sit around in 'holding' during what should have been wedding day.clipping an officer, well no sorry. that at least invites a serious face to pavement response. i've seen a pattern in DC, enough to know that if i'm stopped, as i have been many times by all the different jurisdictions, by MPD--i feel okay and unstressed. why, these guys see alot of action and can differentiate between real threats and misunderstandings. when i'm stopped by secret service police or park police, i'm more nervous because these guys don't see as much action and tend to overreact. i've been once falsely detained on a made up claim that they're responding to a dispatch call on me by the secret service police--and yes, i looked into it. the less action police have behind them in terms of experience, the more dangerous they are to themselves and others. those drills that new officers go through in basics, perhaps should be a monthly--if not already, requirement until gradually real experience is replaced by intense simulations. interesting to note that none of the officers had fired a round in real circumstances before this event.
it behooves the department to minimally let them go as professionals--regardless
of how feasible it would be to repeat itself in the hands of other officers. 50 rounds
is grounds for a riot in those circumstances. for better or worse, i always place myself
in the minds of the victim's family--knowing in advance the public scrutiny that comes from public servants that are paid out of civilian taxes, only to be in such circumstances. but because of my interests, i always eventually explore both sides of the equation--knowing that it is at best only only mildly inaccurate. they'll probably make a fall guy out of the bloke that let go of 31 rounds. for sure. and let the others retire in obscure shame after token sentences.
the drills the reporter went through were interesting to me. stepping away from the main issue for
a moment, allowed me insight into police SOP that can be perhaps applicable in combatives. ignorring the victim for a moment [bank manager] and focussing on the potential shooter. that was food for thought. i don't spend alot of time thinking of gun SOP's .
anyway. no one wins. sad for the family of the victim, how do they move past such a thing.
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