[TooColdNJ]

Originally Posted by maggie1

As a former state trooper from Ohio, I agree with your statement. From what I gleen from the newscast covering this incident, the man had fallen asleep in his car while in the take out lane. In my experince I found that the act of resisting arrest usually begins when the offender is being placed in handcuffs - at that point anything can happen, and in this case it did.

There are a number of options the police could have considered taking in this incident that wouldn't have resulted in the man's death. First, if they suspected he was under the influence, but hadn't seen him drive, they could have removed him from the vehicle, had it towed, and called someone to pick him up. As Steve notes, police are allowed to use deadly force only in those instances where deadly force is being used against them, or others. A stun gun doesn't fit that definition. If the officer had been struck by one of the stun gun electrodes, yes he could have become disabled, but don't forget, there was a second officer present, and the stun gun can only be used once.

So, I ask myself what would I have done if I had been faced with this situation? Based on my training on when to use and not use deadly force, my decision would not have resulted in someone dying. I would have known who he is, thus I could pick him up with a warrant later on, I'd have his car impounded, and it wouldn't be released until he gave himself up. What about the stun gun? Well, he might as well be carrying around a box of Q-Tips, because it is no longer of any use as a weapon to be fired at a distance.

I feel badly for the officer, and of course for the decedent as well. The officer was fired immediately, and that is not the way it should have played out. He could have been relieved of duty until all facts were presented, and then suspended/fired depending on the findings. My guess would be that he will be charged criminally, but will probably be found not guilty based on the totality of the circumstances.

Police work is confounding! It involves 80% of boredom, 15% of heart racing interactions, and 5% of adrenaline pumping terror. We must make instantanious decisions that will effect lives on both sides. We are second guessed, we are both admired and despised, but there is one thing that I can say without reservation, we don't start out a work shift looking to kill someone.

Since you were a police officer, I commend you for good judgement, something that’s lacking in so many of these situations. I read this after my lengthy reply. I’m sure there are plenty of officers who think as you do and see that there are exceptions to shoot or be shot. Those who don’t are probably in the minority, but their actions are often racially motivated. Those are the few who quite possible DO come to work thinking about how many (black) people they can get off the streets today. They are the few who abuse their power and ultimately the ones responsible for these unnecessary deaths, in addition to the need for a guy like this to resist and flee- for fear of the treatment he’ll have to endure after seeing it over and over again by those aforementioned LEOs. It’s wrong and more harmful to resist arrest, but I can understand how fear for his own life in this case, possibly due to his drunken and irrational state, is a real issue these days.