Zooey

We had a recent discussion on police firing of guns. Yesterday I had an opportunity to speak directly with an attorney (my son) who has defended police in excessive force cases. He agrees that for whatever reason those who desire to be cops bring a certain mentality of unabashed aggressiveness that often under pressure results in clear misconduct and in violation of proper police procedure. In his words those don’t often go to trial as they are settled for an acceptable monetary amount and officer is either fired or disciplined in some form. However, as to shooting he said every police manual he knows instructs officers that if the officer has a reasonable belief that his life is in danger he not only should use his gun but also aim for what in cop language is called “center mass”. The reason he said is for safety of bystanders and the cop. Moving legs and arms and whatever target that might otherwise disable the assailant is extremely difficult no matter how good you are with a gun in the face of an assault. That endangers not only the cop but also nearby people around because of missed rounds. The only sure way to disable an assailant is the “center mass”. And that is what they are trained to do. I suspect the same lesson would hold if someone breaks into your home and threatens the live of you and members of your family-and you have a gun. BTW: my son is far more liberal than I and he and his wife are Bernie supporters-or at least were. Defending cops was simply part of his occupation.

There are always two sides to an issue.

• This topic was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by waterfield.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by waterfield.