Note to Self: Don't Mess with Toronto PD

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally posted by oilers_fan@Mar 8 2005, 04:17 PM
Maybe if he would have dropped the knife in the first place, he wouldn't have gotten himself in such a predicament where the cops had to pin him between a car and a parking meter. Friggin morons!!

Oh my god, I actually agree with an oilers fan.

Seriously, everyone is so concerned with this guy getting hurt. They should have tried the tazer, they shouldn't have run him over. Well I have a foolproof solution to not getting run over by a cop, or even tazered by one. DON'T GO RUNNING AROUND DOWNTOWN TORONTO THREATENING PEOPLE, AND THE POLICE WITH A KNIFE. I'm sorry, but if a guy has something that he can potentially (and quite easily) kill you with, there isn't much that I would consider excessive force.

[metallicat]

The guy is lucky he didn't get shot. One lunge at the police and that would have been the end of him...and it would have been an easily justifiable shooting.

[CaramonLS]

Originally posted by Mean Mr. Mustard@Mar 8 2005, 08:44 PM
Yeah I would be saying the same thing, you want to step within 5 meters of a deranged man with a knife, I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to.

MMM watch the Video, theres at least 3 cops within 5 meters of him.

This is what tazers are used for. They were in Range.

[metallicat]

From reading on another, LE related, forum, it seems that the TPS either don't have any tasers, or not that many. That would explain the lack of a taser in this video.

[Resolute 14]

Originally posted by BlackArcher101+Mar 8 2005, 01:41 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (BlackArcher101 @ Mar 8 2005, 01:41 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Mean Mr. Mustard@Mar 8 2005, 01:37 PM
BlackArcher do you really want to put yourself in harms way. Tasers while they are a great idea, they are not failsafe and there is possibility that they wouldn't work on the individual in question. The police did what they had to do in this situation

Would you be saying the same thing if they ended up seriously injuring him or killing him?

Tasers work and were made for this situation. To not even try using them is wrong. Why even carry them then?

You make is sound like you need to be standing within an arms distance from the guy to use the taser. You don't have to stand that close in order to use it, which leaves you out of the knifes reach. [/b][/quote]
Assuming, of course, he doesnt charge at you.

This seemed like the perfect opportunity to shoot him in the leg.

This is one of those situations where the cops can't win. If they felt that their lives were in danger, and shot and killed him, people would be whining about how they should have found a non-lethal way of dealing with the situation.

People talk about how they should have used a taser. Well, a quick google search reveal several recent incidents where people were hospitalized after going into cardiac arrest from a taser hit, including one man who died.

Guess what the cops there are having to deal with? They have to explain why they couldnt use an EVEN LESS DANGEROUS means of controlling a person.

It seems that for some people, the situation doesnt matter. If the cops cant subdue a violent person - no matter the circumstances - without leaving a mark, they have committed some violent atrocity.

Simply put, those cops in Toronto found a non-lethal way to tackle the suspect without risking getting stabbed. This idiot is lucky that he only has a broken wrist, and not a bullet through the heart.

There will already be four funerals for dead cops this week. There was no reason why the TPD should have risked adding a fifth funeral.

[metallicat]

If they were going to shoot him at all, it certainly wouldn't have been in the leg. Police don't shoot to wound, they shoot to kill. It is pretty tough to shoot a person in the leg when they are moving around frantically...it's much easier to aim for a large area.

[Josh]

Had this guy pulled the same stunt here in the states he would've likely been shot.

[Resolute 14]

Originally posted by oilers_fan@Mar 8 2005, 05:46 PM
If they were going to shoot him at all, it certainly wouldn't have been in the leg. Police don't shoot to wound, they shoot to kill. It is pretty tough to shoot a person in the leg when they are moving around frantically...it's much easier to aim for a large area.

I agree completely. It was poorly expressed sarcasm that stems from a fatal shooting in Calgary recently, where people whined that the police should have shot the man in the leg.

[spydermal]

I wonder if the driver actually meant to pin him there.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

well the more I think about it, the more I think it was the correct decision.

Were police within 4 metres of the suspect at any point? Yep, but for how long? When the suspect was hit by the car the first time police got in closer, when he was unfazed they sure as hell booted it back. He had not a just a kife but a TWO BUTCHERS KNIVES. If he saw a policeman coming at him with a tazer do you think he would have thrown one? Would you take that chance?

I'll be safe in the squadcar please.

Also I don't think he meant to pin the suspect against the parking meter, but hey sometimes you get lucky. I think he was hoping for the suspect to roll off the hood of the car, fall on the sidewalk, and give up.

I'm not a policeman, I don't plan on being one. I don't put my life in that situation, who am I to say what they did was wrong? He was armed and not listening. If he had a butter knife and dropped it as soon as police told him to, then hit him with thier car, different story.

How can any of us actually say what we'd do in that situation unless we were properly trained and had a badge?

[metallicat]

Originally posted by Maritime Q-Scout@Mar 8 2005, 07:22 PM
How can any of us actually say what we'd do in that situation unless we were properly trained and had a badge?

Exactly. Unfortunately, there are too many people and/or groups out there that jump on the police for everything they do. If they had've tased him, people would be complaining about them doing it on live TV. Heaven forbid they shoot the bas**rd.