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If you’re recommending that the officer should have shot an aggressor in the leg, you obviously don’t. For future reference, if you are ever in a situation where someone is attacking you with a knife and you have a firearm, make sure you shoot them only in the extremities. After all, not killing the aggressor is far more important than saving the victim, right?
Posted by someone who has never fired a gun of any kind - much less while under stress - and relies on movies to enforce their view of reality.
OMG JimRom, I agree with you about firing the gun, but this coming from the guy that was quoting James Cameron movies a few pages back to explain why you didn't want AI replacing humans for policing? Do better.
A certain police officer in Columbus came upon a chaotic scene. People screaming, one lady down was being kicked in the head, another had a knife and was heading right for someone. This officer had a grand total of about two seconds to take in the scene, determine the situation, formulate a response, and act. Those who would sit in judgment of him have had days, soon to be weeks, to pick over every single micro-second of the encounter with a fine tooth comb.
It reminds me of a passage in the book Unfriendly Skies, written by an airline captain. He was discussing the situation after a harrowing near-crash, but it could just as easily apply here:
"When all else is failing, and the world is going crazy, and your plane is disintegrating, there's one airplane part that never, never malfunctions: it's that little black box that's recording all the decisions you're making. If by some stroke of fortune you manage to survive this somehow, and you're hauled into court, and you've got a battery of lawyers staring at you, they'll pull out this paper, and it's got all your maneuvers on it, and a dozen armchair experts will start Monday-morning-quarterbacking you. 'Now tell me, Captain So-and-So, when you fell past 12,000 and still had five seconds in which to deliberate your future, why in God's name didn't you pull out the whooziwhatsis? What were you, drunk? Didn't your airline company train you properly?' It's really quite galling."
Now, I happen to think that the officer in Columbus did it right, and he should be commended for his level thinking and steady aim during a crisis situation. But for those who are saying stuff like "Why didn't he use his taser?" or "Why did he shoot her four times?" or "Why didn't he shoot for her arm?" or "Why didn't he try to de-escalate the situation?" and stuff like that, I would say, let's see how well you would do if you had to make these decisions in a split second, under intense pressure, with no opportunity for a re-do.
When people criticize such officers even though they've never had to face anything remotely similar . . . well, it's really quite galling.
There is nothing to debate. There are many decisions in life that are black and white. In this officer's mind and in my mind, there was no grey area in this case.
There was a woman a split second away from stabbing another woman. The officer did not have time to assess age or fault. The perpetrator was not under immediate threat. She acted DESPITE the officer's presence - she was the aggressor. The perpetrator is completely at fault for her death without question.
Last edited by Mad_Jasper; 04-23-2021 at 10:11 PM..
If you’re recommending that the officer should have shot an aggressor in the leg, you obviously don’t. For future reference, if you are ever in a situation where someone is attacking you with a knife and you have a firearm, make sure you shoot them only in the extremities. After all, not killing the aggressor is far more important than saving the victim, right?
Honestly, I do. Cops aren't trained to shoot limbs. I know that.
Unfortunately I have to agree with you but I don't think he should be commended at all. In situations like this why can't police shoot them in the arm or leg. Shoot me anywhere and I'm on the ground crying. Why shoot to kill.
Why shouldn't the officer be commended? The whole reason that we have police is to protect the innocent from those who would do them harm. And that's exactly what this officer did.
Quote:
Originally Posted by natalie469
Sorry to disappoint, but I know how to use a gun.
Then you should know that aiming for an arm or a leg makes the target harder to hit than aiming for the torso. And even if you do manage to hit an extremity, the aggressor might be so pumped up with drugs or adrenaline that he (or she) doesn't even feel it, much less stops what they're doing.
When I'm at a gun range, I am under no stress; neither I nor anyone around me is in any danger; my target is stationary; and I have all the time I need to properly line up my shot. And yet, sometimes I still miss. The fact that this officer was able to hit his target, under the conditions then pertaining, is really quite impressive.
Not against researching it. Against implementing it until tremendous testing in real life based scenarios occrs over extended periods of time, in all types of locations (rural/urban/difficult topography, etc). In short, your industry needs to be spending as much as Operation WARP Speed did to insure it is viable, not just on a theoretical basis.
Why shouldn't the officer be commended? The whole reason that we have police is to protect the innocent from those who would do them harm. And that's exactly what this officer did.
Then you should know that aiming for an arm or a leg makes the target harder to hit than aiming for the torso. And even if you do manage to hit an extremity, the aggressor might be so pumped up with drugs or adrenaline that he (or she) doesn't even feel it, much less stops what they're doing.
When I'm at a gun range, I am under no stress; neither I nor anyone around me is in any danger; my target is stationary; and I have all the time I need to properly line up my shot. And yet, sometimes I still miss. The fact that this officer was able to hit his target, under the conditions then pertaining, is really quite impressive.
I understand cops are basically trained to shoot to kill, not that they want to kill. They just want to stop them. And no, it's not impressive what he did.
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The aggressor will not be stabbing anyone ever again. That is the best result we could have hoped for.
