Should Police Shoot Bad Guys? Or Not? My Wife Doesn’t Understand Me…
By Mike Martin
Clash Daily Contributor
I have written about what I consider to be several shootings by the Police that I did not consider to be justifiable . My wife tells me to be careful because we don’t want the POLICE to turn against us . I have always considered the truth to be a valid defense. A person feels what he feels and the 1st amendment gives him the right to express those feelings . On the other hand, it also doesn’t pay to be too one sided when viewing a situation either .
I also don’t understand the Police, they shoot when I feel it’s not justifiable, and don’t shoot when I feel that it’s justified . I feel that they don’t shoot on occasions because they are afraid of public fallout or adverse sentiments that may occur as a result. Then again, it may be a matter of how things are presented. I view things, and then present my views on what I think occurred .
Boarder Patrol Officers . I have seen video of them being pelted with rocks and not shoot back when, in my opinion, a thrown rock is a potentially deadly weapon and should meet anyone’s use of force criteria – almost . If a child of four or five years throws a rock, generally I wouldn’t consider that to call for a lethal response . 8 or 9 years old probably doesn’t call for a lethal use of force. I say probably because I don’t think 8 or 9 year olds can throw a big enough rock to be considered lethal. Not positively because they could be dropping something much larger than pebbles from a sufficiently higher altitude that could constitute a lethal threat. 12-14 year olds would, in my opinion, generally fit in the lethal category – depending on the size of the rocks thrown. Anything larger than say 1/2 fist size may justifiably considered lethal . 15 and older I think should be at the Police’s discretion, depending upon the amount of threat they feel that they are facing.
I don’t want POLICE to think that I’m just against them. They do an important job that needs to be done. It also needs to be understood by both/most parties . I want to give the same scenario , but from possibly two different viewpoints . There are peaceful protesters ( protesting whatever ) that the police want to move off. They can start arresting people and move them out several at a time, but I think they frequently don’t want to make mass arrests. Some protesters may start throwing bricks ( done at a recent demonstration ). In my opinion, a thrown brick merits a bullet back for self defense . Unfortunately, many people have not grown up as they were never subject to discipline when they where younger ( whose fault that belongs to would take a longer article that Clash will publish ), and may need a harsh lesson.
On the other hand, Police may want to move protesters out and wade into them with billy clubs, saps and tasers . This may justify self defense of throwing bricks by the peaceful protesters, if the police hadn’t warned them that failure to move out would result in the use of force. I seem to have created at least a mild dilemma in that which side started the use of force ? In fact, I would err on the side of the Police if bricks were thrown and deemed lethal force justifiable . My wife is used to me explaining my position as why didn’t the police shoot the suckers. She deems it unreasonable for me to say someone should be shot (unless they are Islamic terrorists posing a threat.)
It would seem to me that a good solution ( from my days of reading Doc Savage ) would be for the POLICE to also have tranquilizer rounds. Put them to sleep, into the paddy wagon, and sort everything out later. I think that in many situations that would protect both the POLICE and the CITIZEN.
What say you ? My wife can’t understand how I can criticize Police for using lethal force in some cases and also criticize them for not using lethal force in other cases … go figure. Some times I think force should be met with force . That’s why Police say it’s better to be judged by 12, than carried by 6. The same logic also applies to civilians.
Image: Courtesy of: http://fabiusmaximus.com/2014/01/19/police-murder-62272/
