Why do policemen kill people?

[biffvernon]

And why has this police killing be so ignored by our media?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... eo-footage

[Totally_Baffled]

Sometimes its necessary sometimes it isn't.

One of the harsh realities of dealing with crime I suppose.

There will always be those that are too trigger happy (look at the charles de menezes case) and those that use it sparingly (as it should be - and hopefully the case in the majority of cases)

If you go out armed (eg armed robbery) and you get shot and killed by the police - well you only have yourself to blame........

[biffvernon]

But Oscar Grant wasn't armed. He was kneeling on the ground holding his arms up when the policeman took out his gun and shot him in the back while the other policemen held him down.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IKy-WSZMklc

[Shira]

Because a lot of police officers are attracted to the idea of having power, and an unfortunate number of them are too willing to exploit and abuse that power. Sometimes it gets taken too far.

[Ben]

And why has this police killing be so ignored by our media?

But hasn't it had huge media coverage in America?

We had to hear all about their Christmas Eve gun massacre (9 dead) in California, we got the 12-year-old boy shooting his mother last week (Arizona) and then we had the five people shot outside the high school today (Chicago). Now we have this San Francisco killing in the Guardian.

I don't think we need to slavishly follow every shooting in America, plenty of real news this side of the pond. Cynical me suspects that most only get reported here coz there are "good pics" to go with them.

At least it puts our stabbings into perspective.

[JohnB]

I don't think we need to slavishly follow every shooting in America, plenty of real news this side of the pond. Cynical me suspects that most only get reported here coz there are "good pics" to go with them.

I don't think I've heard of any of the shootings Ben quoted. I get my mainstream news from Radio 4 and a quick look through the RSS feed from the Beeb web site. I don't watch telly (except under duress) or read newspapers. They seem too much like infotainment to me. I'm sure you get more news in the 2 minute hourly bulletins on Radio 4 than in the main TV news, as most of that is reporters standing outside the scene waffling, pictures of police cars parked round the corner, and idle speculation by "experts" who want their 15 minutes of fame.

[Ben]

John, I think I heard them all on BBC radio (might be wrong) but they made a lot of UK papers as well. Admittedly each one is pretty bizarre, but then America likes to do things bigger and better than others.

But I wonder how our lives are enhanced by reporting each and every one?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... nlaws.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7810192.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8229121

[Kentucky Fried Panda]

Guns are like engagement rings, if you carry one around for long enough, you'll only end up using it.

[clv101]

And why has this police killing be so ignored by our media?

But hasn't it had huge media coverage in America?

We had to hear all about their Christmas Eve gun massacre (9 dead) in California, we got the 12-year-old boy shooting his mother last week (Arizona) and then we had the five people shot outside the high school today (Chicago). Now we have this San Francisco killing in the Guardian.

I don't think we need to slavishly follow every shooting in America, plenty of real news this side of the pond. Cynical me suspects that most only get reported here coz there are "good pics" to go with them.

At least it puts our stabbings into perspective.

Yes, Ben they were all covered in UK media - EXCEPT the San Francisco one which was virtually ignored as far as I can tell. Being a policeman doing the shooting I'd expect it to have had more coverage not less.

You're right, we certainly don't need to follow every shooting, but I put police shootings at least a couple of notches above public shootings.

A similar thing happened with the Greek police shooting and following riots, I thought they were under covered in our media.

[JohnB]

John, I think I heard them all on BBC radio (might be wrong)

Maybe. Most of it goes in one ear and out the other, as I'm getting bored with all the bollocks talked by politicians about getting us out of the mess they've got us into, so I could well have missed it.

[Ben]

You're right, we certainly don't need to follow every shooting, but I put police shootings at least a couple of notches above public shootings.

Fair enough. But even if our media restricted itself to reporting police shootings in America resulting in death they'd still have to cover over one per day and, presumably, plough through the evidence in each case. I suppose the UK media prefer a straight-forward civilian massacre.

I must admit I'd rather read articles about farming and bicycles.

[DominicJ]

Because people allowed themselves to be disarmed and the state to be armed

[JohnB]

Fair enough. But even if our media restricted itself to reporting police shootings in America resulting in death they'd still have to cover over one per day and, presumably, plough through the evidence in each case. I suppose the UK media prefer a straight-forward civilian massacre.

If policemen have guns it's inevitable that occasionally there will be an accident, or a rogue one who goes too far. I'm not justifying it, but I suppose it's the price that's paid for the police protecting us, and far more people would die if they weren't there.

I'm not sure I'd always trust the figures, but it would be good to see some regular statistics rather than just dramatic news stories. Like how many people were killed in shooting incidents, how many died as a result of vehicle pollution, how many people are displaced by war, how many tonnes of carrots were harvested in Britain, how many wind turbines are actually being built in the UK etc. Maybe that would put things into perspective more than the selective reporting we get at the moment.

[gug]

because people are stupid, and policemen are people.

Watch this guy do the decent thing.

Remember, as he says, he's the ONLY one in the room who's trained to use this thing.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mhIJOVD8hwY

[Totally_Baffled]

But Oscar Grant wasn't armed. He was kneeling on the ground holding his arms up when the policeman took out his gun and shot him in the back while the other policemen held him down.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IKy-WSZMklc

I know - re read my post - I acknowledge that some policeman are too trigger happy.

But you cannot use such example to somehow tar all police actions with guns with the same brush.

If we banned everything where the minority did something wrong nobody would be allowed to do anything!

I somehow think that we had to deal with the shit the police had to deal with we may act a bit more aggressively than we normally would (not that I justify this particular action!)