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There are currently 5 responses to “Do Police Have A License To Kill”

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1. 1 On November 21st, 2007, Sincere said:

   seems like parts are missing.. I have read and heard the 911 transcript where his mother is saying that he has a gun (and you can hear him saying it in the background as well) and is threatening her. and he also barricaded himself and when he came out told the cops he had a gun. i’m not justifying cops killing innocent blacks and lying about it, but in this case I believe they really were lead to believe that he had a weapon…

2. 2 On November 22nd, 2007, MrsGrapevine said:

   Well I heard it straight from a cops mouth, they have the right to draw their weapons, anytime they feel threatened. This is why it’s so hard to prosecute cops, as long as they can prove they felt threaten or endangered their actions are justified. Now if the cop has a record of doing this then internal affairs will investigate the matter and apply precautions as seen fit.

   Honestly, I am not for police brutality, but it’s certainly hard to figure if a person has a gun or not in crisis. If the suspect cooperates and does what the cop says by keeping his hands in plain view, then 9 times out of 10 the situation will end peacefully. Simply resisting arrest is cause for a weapon to be drawn and excessive force to be used. If you are ever in a situation do as the cop says rather it’s just or not, keep your mouth shut, and the only think you need to say is lawyer…lawyer…lawyer.

   Until these laws are changed internally, cops will beat and kill and get away with it, for the, most part.

   You have to ask yourself what can happen if the cop presumes that the culprit is not armed. Either way someone can end up dead. Hopefully it’s the lesser of two evils: cop vs citizen.

3. 3 On November 22nd, 2007, Barbara J. Spraggins said:

   Police have the right to pull and use their firearms if they perceive they are in imminent danger. However, just as you have stated, it appears that police officers only feel in imminent danger when they are dealing with Black folk. I have seen many situations where police have approached Whites with weapons and have talked these people down. What I think that we are not realizing is that police officers on the whole around this country do not come into our communities to protect and serve. They come in our communities to dispel problems by any means necessary. We need to take these shootings seriously. Too many Blacks are being killed by law enforcement and we seem to want to justify these killings. Police officers do have a certain amount of training to deal with people, especially when they are confronting angry people. What we need to realize is that if these shootings were being committed across all races, that would be one thing, however everytime we look at another news article about these particular types of shootings, it is most likely a Black person whom is killed. Police are not trained adequately to handle disputes in the Black neighborhoods. They have never had to be trained to deal with our people. If we studied the statistics, we would find that police officers are more likely to be killed by Whites than Blacks. If they came into the communities not pre-ladened with the idea of force, some of these shootings could be prevented. Until we, as a community say it loud and clear that these killings must stop and that we want officers to be held responsible when they commit such acts, these shootings will continue. Our history itself with law enforcement has never been to settle problems without force. While all of us can sit back and say what this kid did, how many of us would feel the same way if it was our father, son, or brother? We also need police officers to be trained more thoroughly in matters of the Black community. They certainly have been trained on how to profile Blacks. And, as long as they are not held responsible when they take a Black life, they will feel no need to try to diffuse a difficult situation without force.

4. 4 On November 26th, 2007, D. Yobachi Boswell said:

   Sincere, at first I started to think the same thing, as far as the police might have rightfully shot, but the more I follow it, the less right it seems.

   Plus I don’t trust the police or their word. Again, why are they always shooting unarmed Black people. They’re too quick with the trigger, and too short on human empathy anytime it’s one of us. And they never admit to being wrong. If you go by what they say, the’ve never unjustly killed anybody.

5. 5 On November 26th, 2007, D. Yobachi Boswell said:

   Mrs. Grapevine, I understand what the police policy is, my contention is that it is wrong. Police should not be able to execute people on mere unsubstantiated feelings.

   By that token racism becomes justifiable homicide because a racist cop can feel threatened simply on the basis of the suspect being black.

   “You have to ask yourself what can happen if the cop presumes that the culprit is not armed. Either way someone can end up dead. Hopefully it’s the lesser of two evils: cop vs citizen.”

   The thing is, they clearly give that benefit of the doubt to white people regularly.

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