Good point. You get my thumbs up.
Not correct. You would make a bad cop or simply did not read the police manual. If a 5 yr old aimed a loaded gun to a cop, would the cop need to shoot to kill? Certainly the cop is fearful for his life since he does not know what the child will do. Each scenario has its individual response. No blanket assumptions, please. Cops can also use their PR 24 (the belly club with the side handle). Williams clearly is one of those individuals that could have easily been pushed down. Equally, photos show Birk a safe distance away. I would argue Williams would have more to fear from the healthy, well armed and strong young cop than his carved little piece of wood and closed switchblade.
Nope. You would make a bad cop in the force. A shot is not warranted for all occasions--even if the weapon is not put down by the individual. A 5 yr old hold a loaded gun playfully at an officer, would the cop need to shoot? If a drunken man has a closed knife, he is at safe distance, would you not call back up before you fired? You need to take each individual scenario on its own, not a blaket summary. Equally it can be said that Officer Birk could have used other measures and not the ultimate on Williams. In fact, according to a photo Birk and a back-up officer seem to be at a good distance from Williams (where is the fear?).
Seems to me that SPD's Officer Friendly messed up. As a karate expert since 1980, I cannot justify the overkill action against John Williams, a street drunk. The young, tough, healthy and well armed officer Ian Birk says he felt fearful facing Williams (I would argue, Williams did instead). Never mind the false excuse “the switchblade fell on the ground and the blade closed”.
Williams at the very least could have been handled with a kick, push or punch... and even with the officer’s PR 24 (the belly club with a side handle). Williams couldn’t even walk as seen on the video. Though a gun is useful in different law enforcement scenarios, in this case it seems the almost teenage-cop went nuts. Lord knows what the lawyers would argue had there only been drunk Native Americans to witness the incident. Birk needs to be accountable.
Indeed. Equally, hunters can be traced through various other means (i.e. registrations, weaponry used, etc.). And of course, there is the all powerful "guilt" factor. You may walk away at first but later, it eats at you--particularly if you have never done such level of violence. Also, you always don't know if there was actually someone else who withnessed something (got iphone?). How many "gotcha" cases do we see now on youtube? This makes people think... "what if..."
Frankly, it could have been another hunter with green camouflage wear. Hunters are not so visible themselves, either.
I don't think it matters if you are wearing a dark coat. These weekend warrirors who are simply cowards with a shotgun against defenseless animals, don't realize the responsability that comes with hunting. In a perfect world you would expect bike riders to also wear a neon orange vest and lights while in traffic--race has nothing to dowith it. Hunters themselves are also invisible with their commando green wear.
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