Rickyvol77
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I can't link the video but wanted to get others thoughts on the video of the Metro Nashville Police officer involved shooting yesterday.
IMO this video clears police, classic suicide by cop situation. Officers did what they could to de escalate. The Mt Juliet officer in particular did everything he could IMO to avoid the outcome.
You shoot a guy you fear has a gun with a taser at distance and your odds of a successful deployment are probably south of 40%, lower if he's wearing a thick coat.It's questionable in my mind. They had him surrounded with 5 or 6 cops for something like 30 minutes within 15- 20 feet. Seems like they could have put him down with a taser long before he made that stupid move with the "shinny object".
You shoot a guy you fear has a gun with a taser at distance and your odds of a successful deployment are probably south of 40%, lower if he's wearing a thick coat.
Those aren't good odds and could actually cause him to react and fire. They made the best choice under the circumstances IMO.
Edit to clarify, tasers are reportedly somewhere around 50 to 60% effective. There is conflicting info about their use with thick winter clothing.
I still stand by assertion that the odds aren't great, if there is a suspected firearm involved or makes a low percentage taser deployment even riskier.
You would have a point if it would have been only 2-3 cops on scene but there was 5 or 6 surrounding the guy. One could have shot him with a taser while the others had him covered, ready to fire if the taser failed and he pulled a firearm.
Taser wouldn’t have worked in that situation and you don’t deploy a taster when a guy may have a firearmIt's questionable in my mind. They had him surrounded with 5 or 6 cops for something like 30 minutes within 15- 20 feet. Seems like they could have put him down with a taser long before he made that stupid move with the "shinny object".
You always assume they may have a firearm especially with what he was saying and doing. Also tasers only work from close range and he had too much clothing for the probes to attach successfully
Turns out he wanted to commit suicide by cop, they did the right thing by keeping him talking and trying to connect. Whatever he was going through was too heavy for him. The officers didn't do anything wrong here IMO.It appears they were wrong in that also. The more you defend them the worse they look.
I didn't catch the thickness of his jacket. But I will say I read a study a few years ago about tasers and I often wonder why they are used. It is roughly a 50 to 55% rate of success for most jurisdictions for a successful deployment. They are notoriously inaccurate/inneffective. In fact there are some reports that the newest models are less reliable.They were within 10-15 feet of the guy, not sure what he was wearing but looked like a light jacket and shirt. If tasers won't work in that environment why the hell do they even have them?
No, not disagreeing with their actions. I said they are very lucky they were not shot... and before that, I said if there were any justice, they would have been shot, meaning they were fortunate to not have gone on the wrong property.Yes threatening murder of people because you disagree with their actions is definitely normal thinking
I’ve successfully talked at least 12 people from killing themselves in similar situations. Some people want to die and don’t want to be saved. It’s not the police’s fault that this guy wanted to die and chose to take those actionsSo, just looking at the first few minutes of this Nashville video, I don't think officers understand that saying we don't want to hurt you while pointing a gun at someone is not going to deescalate a situation. They hear what your mouth says, but your actions say something totally different.
The opening of the video states the officer came up on the guy because he was sitting on the side of the road and offered him a ride home or whatever. If that is the case, I don't have an issue with that. But I'm wondering how it escalated into the guy pulling out his box cutter. Also, if the guy wanted to use his gun on an officer, that would have been the time to do it... not flash a box cutter.
Lastly, I kind of feel bad for this officer based on what I've seen thus far. It is an indictment on the officer profession that even mentally unstable people can't even buy into their negotiating skills or trust cops when they say "we're here to help" or "you're not going to jail". Frankly, this victim showed a reasonable amount of fear inspite of what the cop was saying. A gun pointed at you tends to cancel out whatever words you may be saying.
