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He is suing because he was traumatized because of having to deal with this altercation. He does realize he decided to become a police officer?
What's next, American Airlines pilots sues airline due to fear of flying.
The policeman didn't instigate the lawsuit. It was the FAMILY of the teen that sued. The officer COUNTERSUED in the same lawsuit, claiming trauma. He's got a point. The whole series of events that evening was caused by the teen's intentional actions of trying to hit the officer in the head with a bat.
It's about time officers and police departments started countersuing when they get these huge lawsuits from perps' families. Maybe the families will end up helping to pay for the costs caused by the intentional actions of their relatives, and help pay for the trauma and costs experienced by officers.
Yes, being an officer is a tough job. That doesn't mean a member of the public isn't responsible for the harm caused by his actions in trying to kill someone doing his job.
It's about time officers and police departments started countersuing when they get these huge lawsuits from perps' families. Maybe the families will end up helping to pay for the costs caused by the intentional actions of their relatives, and help pay for the trauma and costs experienced by officers.
When the "justice" system routinely fails miserably to hold officers accountable for breaking the law the last resort to get any type of justice and put pressure on the city and or police department is to file a civil suit.
Maybe if more and more people get big payouts on these suits then the people paying taxes in those cities will start bringing some pressure to bear on the people in charge of these officers.
The 19 year old was a college student so Im sure his "estate" consisted of a used car and 100k in student debt. So sure the cop should get a piece of that estate, Id say....about 50k in debt should be given to him.
The deaths could have been avoided if the officer, instead of shooting to kill, had shot to disable the person he felt was threatening him. He said the kid was coming at him with a baseball bat. Why not shoot at his feet, or an arm?
There is no such thing as shooting to disable. Any time you shoot someone, no matter where you aim, you have a significant chance of killing them.
Getting shot in the leg is just as lethal as getting shot in the head with a 9mm (thanks to all of those big arteries in the leg compared to the chances of deflecting off the skull with a 9mm).
Arm is not so lethal, but just like the bullet went through the victim's body and killed the woman behind him, a 9mm shot to the arm is almost certainly going to go through their arm and hit them in the head or torso. Getting shot in the foot would with a 9mm would likely not be lethal (though still possible) and is not going to pass through and hit another part of the body, but also probably is not going to disable someone.
(As well, look at the recent killing of Jason Goodding in Seaside to get any idea of what can still happen when you disable someone.)
The deaths could have been avoided if police knew how to handle mental health crises in ways that dont involved immediately shooting or jailing the mentally ill individual. LaGrier was in the midst of a mental health crisis. He called 911 three times asking for help and was hung up on on at least one occasion. Had police gone out when he had originally called, maybe all of this could have been avoided. Maybe LaGrier didn't pick up that bat until after police rebuffed his cries for help. Regardless if his life was truly in danger, if he was having some sort of breakdown, he would have thought it was. People complain that he was being dodgy on the calls but that could have been further proof of his mental state (imho, the 911 operator heard the voice, saw that the calls was coming from the West Side of Chicago, and immediately dismissed it as being BS).
Police often do not know how to handle mentally ill people. In some cases, people having a mental health crisis are shot and killed; in other cases, they are arrested and sent to jail instead of the hospital where they need to be. Many mental health advocates tell people, especially parents with grown, mentally ill sons, to avoid calling the police if possible during a crisis because police tend to escalate the issue and pose more danger to the ill person.
Quintonio LaGrier was, according to accounts, mentally ill. He needed help, asked for help multiple times, and was killed instead (and poor Bettie Jones got caught in the crosshairs). Again, maybe if his initial calls had been investigated, things wouldn't have escalated to the point they did.
The deaths could have been avoided if police knew how to handle mental health crises in ways that dont involved immediately shooting or jailing the mentally ill individual. LaGrier was in the midst of a mental health crisis. He called 911 three times asking for help and was hung up on on at least one occasion. Had police gone out when he had originally called, maybe all of this could have been avoided. Maybe LaGrier didn't pick up that bat until after police rebuffed his cries for help. Regardless if his life was truly in danger, if he was having some sort of breakdown, he would have thought it was. People complain that he was being dodgy on the calls but that could have been further proof of his mental state (imho, the 911 operator heard the voice, saw that the calls was coming from the West Side of Chicago, and immediately dismissed it as being BS).
Police often do not know how to handle mentally ill people. In some cases, people having a mental health crisis are shot and killed; in other cases, they are arrested and sent to jail instead of the hospital where they need to be. Many mental health advocates tell people, especially parents with grown, mentally ill sons, to avoid calling the police if possible during a crisis because police tend to escalate the issue and pose more danger to the ill person.
Quintonio LaGrier was, according to accounts, mentally ill. He needed help, asked for help multiple times, and was killed instead (and poor Bettie Jones got caught in the crosshairs). Again, maybe if his initial calls had been investigated, things wouldn't have escalated to the point they did.
Just what would you have had the police officer do to 'handle the situation properly' when the mentally ill subject became violent? Trying to crush someone's skull with a baseball bat qualifies as violent and life threatening IMO. Once a situation escalates to out of control, and people's lives are threatened, there's not much else you can do. What if this guy had had a firearm instead of a bat? Would you still recommend restraint on the part responding police?
Just what would you have had the police officer do to 'handle the situation properly' when the mentally ill subject became violent? Trying to crush someone's skull with a baseball bat qualifies as violent and life threatening IMO. Once a situation escalates to out of control, and people's lives are threatened, there's not much else you can do. What if this guy had had a firearm instead of a bat? Would you still recommend restraint on the part responding police?
My point is that had police answered his initial calls, it's possible a baseball bat may have never been involved. The bat didn't come into play until after he made several calls to the police and was ignored (will have to double check how long afterward, but his father called the police after these calls were made). If he felt like his life was in danger, then it's easy to see how he decided to take matters into his own hands (i.e. a bat). There are ways for police to "talk down " a mentally ill person. The 911 operator(s) who took his original calls are being investigated to see if the ball was dropped somewhere, if maybe some information wasn't communicated to the ROs and if the problem could have been solved before it turned violent.
Board/forum rules prevent me from posting what USA Today said (8 Feb 2016). But after reading the posts in this topic, and reading the rag, it comes as no surprise some of the comments folks have made. Even more disgusting is the TV clip showing mom of the candidate for saint-hood choir boy only proving what the cops' lawyer said about 'winning the lotto'.
Obviously I do not live near the Patterson pig sty which means I don't get any of the local news. I must derive the full story from posts here. And guess what ... the rest of the world doesn't even come close to getting the whole story either ... especially in light of "unbiased news media" bloodlust headlines.
Kudos to the cop ... thumbs down to most of the media ... and a huge thumbs down for the parents for A. filing the suit and B. filing before the perp was even planted. Yep, they think they won the lotto.
BTW ... one national media report mentioned that the drug 'speed' was involved. Hmmm ... "mentally ill subject" ... NOT.
Doesn't matter if the guy was nuts. Coming at you with a baseball bat will get you shot. I would have never warned him after the first "Drop the Bat." The next action would be "Bang." Shame the bystander got shot. That's the Cops problem. He should have picked a better shot, or a sooner one.
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