Article Link
I came across the above article this morning while sipping on my coffee and trying to get my head out of an insomniatic fog, so I only really processed it at about 30% capacity. None the less, when I read the article header I at first thought about how terrible it was that a police officer who killed a man would be honored. However, as I read on (and later read about the original case) I realized that in the situation described, the officer had every right and a duty to other officers and citizens to stop the young man before he could harm anyone else. I do not understand why anyone would think that an officer being hit by a car (in a fire lane... by an obviously intoxicated man... who did not stop after hitting someone... and was driving towards innocent people...) is in any way an acceptable action. As is, the man behind the wheel would have been in prison 25 to life for hitting the police officer with his car, and it would have sealed the deal when he DID NOT STOP after hitting him. That's like saying "I did not know the gun was loaded when I shot him by accident, but I was drunk so I kept pulling the trigger and aiming at him."
I am one person who has always said that too much power is a bad thing, and that authority has it's place but in this case I concede that the officer in question had every right to fire his sidearm and deserves the award in question for potentially saving the lives of those around him.
I came across the above article this morning while sipping on my coffee and trying to get my head out of an insomniatic fog, so I only really processed it at about 30% capacity. None the less, when I read the article header I at first thought about how terrible it was that a police officer who killed a man would be honored. However, as I read on (and later read about the original case) I realized that in the situation described, the officer had every right and a duty to other officers and citizens to stop the young man before he could harm anyone else. I do not understand why anyone would think that an officer being hit by a car (in a fire lane... by an obviously intoxicated man... who did not stop after hitting someone... and was driving towards innocent people...) is in any way an acceptable action. As is, the man behind the wheel would have been in prison 25 to life for hitting the police officer with his car, and it would have sealed the deal when he DID NOT STOP after hitting him. That's like saying "I did not know the gun was loaded when I shot him by accident, but I was drunk so I kept pulling the trigger and aiming at him."
I am one person who has always said that too much power is a bad thing, and that authority has it's place but in this case I concede that the officer in question had every right to fire his sidearm and deserves the award in question for potentially saving the lives of those around him.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment