Sassys

I would say that in the case of the American kid...it was murder.
Now in the New Zealand case it could be two ways of looking at it..."Suicide by cop" and also why didn't the cop just shoot the guy in the foot or arm? If he knew that he was waiting for his back up, then it makes sense to shoot NOT to kill. These policemen will eventually reap what they have sewn...not that that is much comfort to the families of these two young men.

Every hour of every day policemen come in contact with the worst that society has to offer. Their lives are literally in danger with every every traffic stop and every person that they come into contact with. Their nerves are in a 'fight-or-flight' state of alertness every minute that they are on the job - at least they'd better be, if they want to stay alive. Hell, just watch some of those shows on Court TV where patrol officers are beaten, shot, knifed, etc. during routine traffic stops. Did you know that more policemen are killed when responding to domestic disturbance calls than on any other kind of call?

When they are threatened, they react. Yes, mistakes are made. Yes, people who are brandishing hair brushes in bad lighting and threatening bodily harm with golf clubs and bats instead of guns get shot. Yes, people who are not cooperating will be tasered and people who are fighting with police officers will be injured during the scuffle. Personally, I'd rather see the people who are brandishing these "weapons" shot than see a policeman injured or killed.

There's a simple, easy solution to all these issues. When a policeman tells you to stop - STOP! When a policeman tells you to drop your weapon - DROP IT - even if it's just a hair brush. That's the law, after all, and it is there to protect law-abiding citizens.

Everyone makes mistakes. To completely erase mistakes made by police officers we would need to have a force comprised entirely of robots - really, really advanced, mistake-proof robots - and maybe someday we will. But even then, people are going to claim that the robot misunderstood what was happening or misunderstood their intentions. There'll be a whole big controversy over robots mistunderstanding human expressions and body language, etc., etc., etc., and people who are refusing to do what the robot tells them to do will still get injured or killed.

on each side of the spectrum. But did you note a similarity between both shooting victims - they both appeared to have some degree of mental health problems. In NZ we dont have armed patrolling police, there are weapons, pistol and shotgun locked in the boot of the vehicle, or the pistol may be worn if the police are aware of the circumstances they are venturing into. When we look back into many of our serious shootings, mental health problems are evident. We in the West have been quick to do away with asylums or mental hospitals where people can be admitted quickly when their condition is plainly evident. Now we have so many checks and balances it can be some time before people are admitted into a MH unit. To be extremely fair, the police are the meat in the sandwich; they dont enjoy having to pick up the pieces - there is plenty of crime out there - the methamphetamine dealers are causing more pain and mayhem than ever before.

Kiwi Riverman

your comments that things were not thought through - reaction instead of considered action.

Kiwi Riverman

in today's world where perps won't even think twice about shooting copy, which was different than in the past, and if someone presents something that looks like a gun, especially in the first story where the mother obviously passed along to the police what her son said. It's tragic, I will admit.

Having said that, though, I keep wondering about the number of shots that are fired at these guys. I mean, 20 shots seems major league obsessive to me, and one would hope that, in a case like this one, the police could coordinate who's supposed to fire the first shot if a shot hasn't fired from the potential criminal.

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a lot of shots for a man armed with a hairbrush.

Kiwi Riverman