What Is This World Coming To.

[LadyP]

I don't know how many of you have heard of this case but there was a young man named Sean Bell who was shot in the back 51 or so times by police officers after having an argument out side of a club in new york. Sean Bell - The New York Times

 

Now I am not taking the side of Mr Bell because I was not there but I have a problem with a young man being shot in the back 50+ time by police.

 

Today these police officers were acquitted. One officer shot this man 31 times this means that he had to reload his firearm and continue to shoot.

 

3 Detectives Acquitted in Bell Shooting - New York Times

 

MY problem is with this new law of officers being able to stop and frisk your if they want to bothers me. Lawrence's only outlet is his vehicles... He works hard and likes his jeep with the 24in rims and sound system. Is the money he uses dirty Hell no but police have stopped him just because of his car to find his record clean. When do we draw the line on profiling??

[Copita]

I remember when this happened. He was shot and killed the night before his wedding.

WTF! It is wrong and the cops shouldn't have been let off. They did kill can innocent man and it's such a sad sad story.

[LadyP]

Now the cops are free and his wife is left alone still with no justice. People are angry and want answers

[lucy106]

I am going to try to write my response in a coherent manner but as a police officer I have a lot to say on this subject so I will try to keep it short and sweet...

 

I went through and read a few of the articles from the NY times so I would be a little bit educated on this subject.

 

As police officers we are taught to eliminate the threat. From what I have read Mr. Bell was in his vehicle (a lethal weapon) and driving. Mr. Bell drove his car at the officers. This put them and others in the area in fear of receiving great bodily harm or loss of life. This gives us the right to stop the threat. I know the # of shots fired sound excessive but our accuracy goes down with adrenaline and I would imagine the officers involved were trying to elimnate what they perceived as a threat.

 

I am sorry you feel that profiling occurs. Sometimes it is a matter of population. In my town we have a high Hispanic population, therefore it our stats coordinate with that. What that means in numbers it shows we stop and arrest more Hispanic people but they are a higher percentage of our population so it all coordinates.

 

I hope this helps a little bit and I am sorry for what Mr. Bell's family is going through. But there really is two sides to the story.

[boscobel]

Wow, tragic story, on all accounts really. I will have to do some reading on this over the weekend.

[MelissaH]

I think this might help to understand how fast 31 shots can be fired off...even with having to stop to reload

 

Sean Bell - NYPD 31 Shots Experiment - iReport.com

 

And I'm with you, Mo, I'd rather DH come home safe to me each night, regardless of how selfish I sound too.

 

It's sad that this man was shot, but these officers obviously felt they were in great danger and took whatever action they felt necessary at the time. These things aren't dealt with lightly - there would have been a HUGE investigation into it and they obviously found a great deal of evidence to support that the officers were justified to use lethal force.

 

None of us were there that night, so none of us are really in a position to judge.

 

Sorry if I've offended - but that's my view on things.

[Angel]

It is terrible that it happened and I feel for the family. My FI is a police officer and I know what needs to be done in situations like that, from what he tells me and I fully understand. But 50 some shots is a lil excessive.

Wesley Snipes is going to jail for 3 years for not paying taxes and 3 detectives are getting off for killing a man. WOW!!!!

[LadyP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucy106 I am going to try to write my response in a coherent manner but as a police officer I have a lot to say on this subject so I will try to keep it short and sweet... I went through and read a few of the articles from the NY times so I would be a little bit educated on this subject. As police officers we are taught to eliminate the threat. From what I have read Mr. Bell was in his vehicle (a lethal weapon) and driving. Mr. Bell drove his car at the officers. This put them and others in the area in fear of receiving great bodily harm or loss of life. This gives us the right to stop the threat. I know the # of shots fired sound excessive but our accuracy goes down with adrenaline and I would imagine the officers involved were trying to elimnate what they perceived as a threat. I am sorry you feel that profiling occurs. Sometimes it is a matter of population. In my town we have a high Hispanic population, therefore it our stats coordinate with that. What that means in numbers it shows we stop and arrest more Hispanic people but they are a higher percentage of our population so it all coordinates. I hope this helps a little bit and I am sorry for what Mr. Bell's family is going through. But there really is two sides to the story.

Ok I and FI are licensed to carry am I a legal threat because I carry a weapon in my vehicle. Racial profiling is a terrible thing. I hate to think that because my son who likes to at this point of the age 5 with a hoodie jacket jeans and boots. Does this make him a threat because he looks like the next black kid?


51 bullets would take down an elephant. The office had to take the time to reload his weapon so in that time he could not tell that Bell was no longer a threat.
I think it went way overboard and for nothing to happen. It is just becoming way to common for the police to shoot at an individual and it be justified.
A young man was shot 13 times on New years eve because the police thought he was a threat. The boy 17 had one of the sound makers blowing it at 12. They are suspended with pay. A PAID VACATION

[LadyP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelissaH I think this might help to understand how fast 31 shots can be fired off...even with having to stop to reload Sean Bell - NYPD 31 Shots Experiment - iReport.com And I'm with you, Mo, I'd rather DH come home safe to me each night, regardless of how selfish I sound too. I feel that ay as well It's sad that this man was shot, but these officers obviously felt they were in great danger and took whatever action they felt necessary at the time. 51 bullets in the BACK how much of a threat am i when I am not facing you These things aren't dealt with lightly - there would have been a HUGE investigation into it and they obviously found a great deal of evidence to support that the officers were justified to use lethal force. None of us were there that night, so none of us are really in a position to judge. Sorry if I've offended - but that's my view on things.

I am afraid every night that FI is out because if the way he dresses and the vehicles that he drives. I have seen first hand how they approach his vehicle and how they speak to him because of this profiling crap. His parents sued their township because he was pulled over and harrassed in front of his house because we were sitting outside one night. The town at that time had very little african americans. They came with 4 cop cars for 1 man sitting in a car.

[MelissaH]

I'm sorry, but this really pisses me off.

 

2 of the 3 officers who were charged were BLACK and 3 out of the 5 officers who were on scene that night were BLACK. They were in the parking lot of a seedy strip club known for guns, drugs and prostitution. It could have been ANYONE in that car and they would have done the SAME THING.

 

I think the race card gets played far too often.

 

That's all I'm going to say.