Post by tantalyr on Nov 25, 2014 23:21:02 GMT
Phar, first off I absolutely LOVE your turn of phrase "multiple terminal kinetic energy poisoning events"!!! I hope you don't mind if I use that phrase in the future (with proper attribution of course).
Second, you're quite correct in observing that Officer Wilson did not "know for sure" that Brown was the perpetrator of the convenience store robbery. But according to the DA, Wilson had heard the two dispatches about the robbery, the latter of which described the color of the shirt and socks (yellow if I remember rightly) and the approximate size of the perpetrator, and Brown' size and clothing matched that description.
And that, of course, leads to the question of what should a police officer do if and when he comes across someone whom he reasonably believes is a suspect in a recent crime. I'm going to speculate that common police training has officers first call for backup and then immediately attempt to arrest (or at least question) the suspect. If the officer simply sits in his/her vehicle awaiting the arrival of backup units, the suspect may well run (or drive) away.
On then to the legality of the shooting. Since at least 1985, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly (and usually unanimously) held that police officers are empowered to use deadly force if they reasonably believe that the suspect/victim poses an imminent danger to the officer or to any other person. My guess is that the grand jurors believed--based on the testimony from several witnesses other than Wilson that Brown was charging Wilson at the time he was shot--that Wilson reasonably believed that Brown posed a danger to him.
Would it have been better if Wilson had tasered Brown instead of shooting him? In one obvious sense the answer is yes--Brown would likely still be alive. But in another sense the answer is no--there have been multiple reported instances of tasers failing to affect the person tasered in the least bit. That's especially been the case when large folks--like Brown--have been tasered. So it is quite possible that had Wilson tasered Brown, it wouldn't have affected Brown at all and the latter would have kept charging Wilson.
All that said, I certainly do agree that things should--and could--be changed to reduce these kinds of cases in the future. The simplest--indeed cheapest--change that I think should be made is the mandatory installation of dash cameras on every police vehicles which automatically start recording the moment the officer exits his still-running vehicle. That would create a video record of the events in question, rather than leaving it to the unfortunately "he said, she said" situation you often have. And nope, Wilson's vehicle was not equipped with a dash cam.
In addition, though this is MUCH more difficult to accomplish given civil service laws, especially in Ferguson there MUST be more ethnic diversity among the police force. I read sometime ago that although the suburb of Ferguson is presently 2/3 African-American, some 90% of the Ferguson police force is white. That's a legacy of the fact that up until about 15 years ago, that suburb was a predominately white "bedroom community." The problem is that you just can't fire a police officer (or any other civil servant) and replace him/her just because of the color of their skin. So Ferguson--and any other police forces in similarly situated communities--can only start diversifying through attrition of officers presently employed.
One last point--I would not be surprised at all if the federal Department of Justice seeks an indictment of Wilson for violating Brown's civil rights. Whether or not such an indictment would violate the Constitution's prohibition against double jeopardy (US Supreme Court says no) or SHOULD violate the double jeopardy clause (in my mind it absolutely should) is the subject of a whole 'nother debate.
Second, you're quite correct in observing that Officer Wilson did not "know for sure" that Brown was the perpetrator of the convenience store robbery. But according to the DA, Wilson had heard the two dispatches about the robbery, the latter of which described the color of the shirt and socks (yellow if I remember rightly) and the approximate size of the perpetrator, and Brown' size and clothing matched that description.
And that, of course, leads to the question of what should a police officer do if and when he comes across someone whom he reasonably believes is a suspect in a recent crime. I'm going to speculate that common police training has officers first call for backup and then immediately attempt to arrest (or at least question) the suspect. If the officer simply sits in his/her vehicle awaiting the arrival of backup units, the suspect may well run (or drive) away.
On then to the legality of the shooting. Since at least 1985, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly (and usually unanimously) held that police officers are empowered to use deadly force if they reasonably believe that the suspect/victim poses an imminent danger to the officer or to any other person. My guess is that the grand jurors believed--based on the testimony from several witnesses other than Wilson that Brown was charging Wilson at the time he was shot--that Wilson reasonably believed that Brown posed a danger to him.
Would it have been better if Wilson had tasered Brown instead of shooting him? In one obvious sense the answer is yes--Brown would likely still be alive. But in another sense the answer is no--there have been multiple reported instances of tasers failing to affect the person tasered in the least bit. That's especially been the case when large folks--like Brown--have been tasered. So it is quite possible that had Wilson tasered Brown, it wouldn't have affected Brown at all and the latter would have kept charging Wilson.
All that said, I certainly do agree that things should--and could--be changed to reduce these kinds of cases in the future. The simplest--indeed cheapest--change that I think should be made is the mandatory installation of dash cameras on every police vehicles which automatically start recording the moment the officer exits his still-running vehicle. That would create a video record of the events in question, rather than leaving it to the unfortunately "he said, she said" situation you often have. And nope, Wilson's vehicle was not equipped with a dash cam.
In addition, though this is MUCH more difficult to accomplish given civil service laws, especially in Ferguson there MUST be more ethnic diversity among the police force. I read sometime ago that although the suburb of Ferguson is presently 2/3 African-American, some 90% of the Ferguson police force is white. That's a legacy of the fact that up until about 15 years ago, that suburb was a predominately white "bedroom community." The problem is that you just can't fire a police officer (or any other civil servant) and replace him/her just because of the color of their skin. So Ferguson--and any other police forces in similarly situated communities--can only start diversifying through attrition of officers presently employed.
One last point--I would not be surprised at all if the federal Department of Justice seeks an indictment of Wilson for violating Brown's civil rights. Whether or not such an indictment would violate the Constitution's prohibition against double jeopardy (US Supreme Court says no) or SHOULD violate the double jeopardy clause (in my mind it absolutely should) is the subject of a whole 'nother debate.