Unsavory
Watch this video. There was a high speed pursuit in LA. Must be a day that ends in "Y." The suspect is wanted for murder or attempted murder (I'm a bit hazy on that) in Indiana. He ran off when the CHP attempted to pull him over, which probably triggered a license plate search that revealed the murder/attempted warrant out of Indiana. So he drives on the freeways until arriving at Burbank/Universal Studios/Toluca Lake, near where I grew up.
On Cahuenga (for those of you cheating on the "are you an LA native" test, it's pronounced co-eng-uh) and Barham, he hits traffic and Burbank PD decide to use that as a chance to draw their weapons and force him to exit the car at gunpoint. He veers towards the officer, when the car is clearly past the officer, he fires inside, and misses the suspect. More adrenaline. A few more turns on Cahuenga, and he is almost at the entrance to Universal Studios. This is not the main entrance off Lankershim, so I would not expect much pedestrian traffic. But still, when the suspect runs at this point, the Burbank PD shoot him once.
I'm not standing up for this scumbag. I personally feel a little gratified that this coward who stabbed his girlfriend got some hot lead. But at the same time, to say that Burbank is a police department with issues is an understatement. Even the helicopter pilot recognizes the novelty of their actions. "I've never seen the LAPD do this." And when you're making the LAPD look restrained, you've reached the depths. And I guess that brings me to the title of this post. There's something about this series of events that's unsavory. Small town, suburban cops with a history of excessive force and apparently rampant racism. Adrenaline rush. Voila. You have deadly force. Isn't this what most police departments now teach to contain?
Slight update here.
On Cahuenga (for those of you cheating on the "are you an LA native" test, it's pronounced co-eng-uh) and Barham, he hits traffic and Burbank PD decide to use that as a chance to draw their weapons and force him to exit the car at gunpoint. He veers towards the officer, when the car is clearly past the officer, he fires inside, and misses the suspect. More adrenaline. A few more turns on Cahuenga, and he is almost at the entrance to Universal Studios. This is not the main entrance off Lankershim, so I would not expect much pedestrian traffic. But still, when the suspect runs at this point, the Burbank PD shoot him once.
I'm not standing up for this scumbag. I personally feel a little gratified that this coward who stabbed his girlfriend got some hot lead. But at the same time, to say that Burbank is a police department with issues is an understatement. Even the helicopter pilot recognizes the novelty of their actions. "I've never seen the LAPD do this." And when you're making the LAPD look restrained, you've reached the depths. And I guess that brings me to the title of this post. There's something about this series of events that's unsavory. Small town, suburban cops with a history of excessive force and apparently rampant racism. Adrenaline rush. Voila. You have deadly force. Isn't this what most police departments now teach to contain?
Slight update here.
posted by Armen Adzhemyan at 1:04 AM
9 Comments:
It's strange how the reporter is basically trying to justify police actions throughout the clip.
"He just fired a shot..he might have observed that as an assault with a deadly weapon...using a vehicle against a police officer, he felt threatened he fired a shot...They believe at one point, the suspect was aiming his car at them, most likely, and that's why they did use lethal force."
Not to mention that the helicopter zoomed completely out as soon as the suspect got out of the car. As if he anticipated that the police were going to shoot the guy. Which they did.
It's also strange how Carbolic is basically trying to justify Armen's post throughout his comment.
Nothing in the sources Armen cited actually says the man was shot. To the contrary, the reporter speculates it was non-lethal force, and in fact non-lethal force could also account for the broken window in the car.
I'm not saying the man wasn't shot. I have no idea. Neither did Armen when he wrote this, I suspect, and that's why I am surprised at Carbolic's comment. Ordinarily I would expect a bit more push-back from Mr. C. Maybe he's having an off day.
What a strange comment. Even the story accompanying the video said the suspect was shot. I usually don't associate hot lead with bean bags. So yeah, I did know he was shot when I wrote the post. Do you have anything germane to say?
6:41 - It's crazy. I happened to be sitting a hospital ER last night where they had Fox News turned on. O'Reilly was discussing the racial slurs hurled at members of Congress and throughout the segment he kept saying to Al Sharpton, "Where's the proof they did this?" He would then say, "I'm not saying it wasn't said." And then question the assertion that it had been said while stating that it was wrong to call people racists.
I'm not saying you're Bill O'Reilly. It's just that you're a lot like Bill O'Reilly.
Seriously, how do you know that the man wasn't born with that bullet hole in him? Some people are just plain insensitive.
Or you could just argue that a person who drives a lethal weapon (ton of steel) at high speeds in an urban area is a danger to others and SHOULD be shot.
A person wanted for attempted murder drives his car at high speeds in an urban area and then towards officers. The officers ask him to surrender to no avail. Then they shoot him when he does not.
I really fail to see the problem. It is not as though this guy was wanted for car robbery or theft... he was wanted for attempted murder and then drove in a way that posed a serious threat to the lives of others.
Actually, the only question I have is why the cop missed him the first time.
Where's he going to go? In my lifetime, I've only seen one suspect dodge the cops after a high speed chase. He was on a motorcycle, sped away, and pulled into a covered garage at a mall to blend in with the crowd.
He was arrested the next day when he reported his motorcycle stolen at a police station. For most of the chase he wasn't really driving erratically, certainly not by a long shot compared to the average TV covered chase. Yet we still have the cowboys of Burbank PD firing into traffic AND MISSING. So it's not like there was near certainty that the bullet wouldn't go through the window of the car next to him. But that's just the first shot. The second one is really puzzling. They just shoot him to avoid running.
Honestly, I was most impressed by the quick running commentary of the reporter. He should do basketball play-by-play.
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