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Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814
I expect police officers to be capable of handling scenarios far More dangerous With far less lethal results. They are there to gain control of the scene - they are not military personnel. Riots in Baltimore aside, they are not at war. And if they are, we have another set of problems.
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How do you define more dangerous? It's potential death to the officer, it doesn't get more dangerous to the individual.
Calgary had a similar altercation. Man with screwdriver shot dead by a police officer.
http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/01/09...was-reasonable
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Originally Posted by Expert says Calgary police officer's deadly shooting of Jonathan Rawlings was 'reasonable'
Lawrence said that given the fact Rawlings was an estimated three metres feet from Wilkinson when he brandished the screwdriver, the officer had little time to react.
“In this scenario I think it’s reasonable for the officer to think his life is in danger,” he said.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/08..._n_925680.html
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Originally Posted by Calgary Screwdriver Attack Results Police Shooting Man Four Times
"A screwdriver is an edge weapon," testified Cpl. Greg Gillis, an RCMP expert on the use of force. "It is appropriate for (an officer) to manage that threat with his service pistol.
"We tell people that armed persons should not get within 25 feet."
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Originally Posted by ASIRT: CPS officer justified in fatal shooting of Jonathan Rawlings
“By reviewing the full investigative file and taking into consideration the opinion of Crown Counsel, I am satisfied the officer involved in this incident was justified in using lethal force during the course of the arrest,” says Clifton Purvis, ASIRT Executive Director.
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2 experts and the ASIRT all reaching the same conclusion. Honestly, I believe it comes down to people not realizing just how 'fragile' we are and how fast things can happen. If you can lift an average grocery bag (sometimes I even carry in two!), you got enough strength to easily stab someone with a screwdriver. If you're within 25 feet, nearly 8 metres, the RCMP considers that an unsafe distance. That's a large distance, and it's not being super extra cautious.
Not sure how many times this gets reposted but it's worth a watch if you haven't seen it.
It seems to be lost on people though. Experts, as far as I know, universally agree that a stabbing weapon, usually knife but a screwdriver would count, should be considered deadly within a relatively large distance (much farther than in the incident we are discussing). Yet, people without training or knowledge believe that they could take down the guy with a roundhouse kick or a power-driver or maybe telepathy - I don't know.
Pretty much any other topic where unqualified people go against expert opinions (I'm thinking anti-vaxx crowd and the like) are universally panned but when it comes to deadly force it seems like it's the norm.