Chris Beckwith wrote:
>Indeed. The textbook sounds rather suspect. More
>importantly, we'd like to know where in the textbook
>it says 15 bullets are required to immobilize a
>street schizophrenic. Shall we look in the index,
>perhaps under "Overkill?"
<sigh>
The man would not put down his machete. Taser
fire was ineffective. If you were a police officer,
would you take the chance of being chopped into dog
food in order to handcuff this man? You have to stop
him from continuing to roam the neighborhood, and
your tools are limited. Current training calls for
you to continue shooting until the suspect stops.
There might be other and better methods that
could be used, but they are not part of the MPD's
toolbox at this point. If we are going to allow the
mentally ill to wander the streets until they
become "a danger to themselves or others" the MPD
is going to need those tools.
>Wouldn't a single bullet to the leg have been
>sufficient?
The members of the U.S. pistol team weren't available to respond to the incident,
and no, a
single bullet would not have been sufficient.
Seriously, hitting somebody in the leg (or arm,
or hand) is damned difficult shooting under the
best of conditions except for a trained sniper,
and even they are not trained to hit people in
the leg/arm/hand. If you want to stop someone
with a gun, you have to hit them in the chest
or stomach. You are most likely to hit them and
stop them that way. Anyone trained in the use of
firarmss knows this, whether they are hunters,
police, soldiers or Marines.
The only place this "shoot them in the leg
with your pistol" nonsense works is on TV or
in the movies.
The deaths of mentally ill people shot by
the MPD are not the sole responsibility of the
"trigger-happy" police. All of us who supported
deinstitutionalizing the insane bear partial
responsibility for their deaths. These people
needed close supervision in a supportive setting,
and instead they wound up being shot to death
because the police are simply not equipped to
deal with them. I hope Mayor Rybak and the
Council can get the police what they need, since
I'm afraid the other half of the problem won't be
solved anywhere near as quickly.
Kevin Trainor
6-10, Phillips
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