"Bad decisions"

[sendero]

Of course we are all glad that there is a chance justice will be served in the murder of Walter Scott by a police officer. But something has been bothering me since I read the statement from the police chief.

The chief spoke of a "bad decision" made by the officer. We've probably all made some bad split-second decisions, but can we just acknowledge that even our split-second decisions are informed by our attitudes, beliefs and prejudices?

What I'm saying is that this split-second decision had to have been made in the context of someone who is thinking:

1) this man's life is worth nothing

2) I can get away with this

This was not just a bad split-second decision, this was a decision borne of bias, entitlement and a sense of impunity. These attitudes are what we are faced with eliminating or changing.

[hlthe2b]

1. I agree...

[madokie]

2. You are so right

Its those split-second decisions we make that defines who we are. He is exactly what you typed plus he is a murderer

[-none]

3. Somewhere, some time before this incident, this cop had already decided he could shoot and kill

someone and get away with it. The cop had already worked it out in his head. Walter Scott was the unlucky one to fulfill this cop's fantasy.
Except for the video, the cop would have gotten away with it too.

I also think Micheal Brown was another victim of a similar fantasy. We will never know for sure, as we only have the word of the cop who shot and killed him. And Wilson had plenty of time and probably help in fixing his story.
One of the few good things about the Brown shooting is now people are starting to pay attention to cop killings and questioning why they are necessary and the often disconnected between the police version and known facts.

[Phentex]

4. Yes. They are already expecting the worse...

like the guy killed here recently when they tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. He had already tried to run over police before and they expected him to try it again. What? They couldn't arrest him as he came out of the bathroom at work? They wait for him to be in his car?

What about the teen shot by a cop because he answered the door and was holding a Wii controller? The cop EXPECTED there to be a confrontation.

I could name more incidents but you get the point. The cops are not trying to diffuse a situation anymore.

[brush]

10. I wondered also if someone had recorded the Michael Brown killing . . .

in Ferguson would we have seen something very similar?

Sure seems like it — the shooting at the retreating black man and all.

This cop seems to have been a better shot than that killer cop Wilson though as he hit his victim in the back.

Wilson missed the shots to the back and didn't kill Brown until he'd turned around to surrender.

I'm pretty sure both killer cops had like mindsets of being the one "in charge" and no mere black guy was going to challenge that — had to put him back in his place and had the gun and the authority to do it, knew if the guy was dead his version would be the only version and would be backed by his department.

Wilson was lucky that no one got a video of his crime, this newest killer cop wasn't so fortunate as he was recorded and his made up story was shown to be nothing but pure cover-his-own-murderous-ass lies.

Thank God for the brave man in South Carolina who recorded it and turned it over to the dead man's family (I understand he first waited to see what the cop version would be before he turned it over — what good instincts this hero has).

[-none]

16. You will notice the "To Serve and Protect" slogan in missing from most police cars now.

And they are now a menacing looking, monotone black of robo-cop fame, instead of the friendlier looking, black and white of old.
our police are armed and trained as militarized police, as in 3rd world countries.
"We the people..." are becoming the enemy. We have the world's highest per 1000, incarcerated in the world.
Are we a great country or what?
Whut?

[catbyte]

18. Sad and scary, but true, -none. Welcome to DU!

[-none]

19. Thank you

Been lurking for awhile. Figured I'd give DU a try.

[jwirr]

23. I agree. Whatever happened to anger that cop it did not just start at that point. I think that it

has to do with white ego trips - if the person being confronted does not bow down far enough then the temper kicks in and any brains the cop has are shut down. And I think you are also right about this being like Michael Brown in this instance.

I also read this morning that this is not this cop's first time using excessive force. I wonder how many cover ups this department has?

[marble falls]

5. Its bad cops and bad cop culture. It has to change. Scott's killer felt he was going to get away....

with it. Watch the video one more time. When walks back to body to dump the taser there is another cop there. But ot took a brave witness to report the entire scene. Why didn't the other cop report the taser being moved? Why do we allow cops to investigate cop shootings?

[1StrongBlackMan]

6. Very well put. n/t

[99Forever]

7. You are so correct.

This wasn't some spur of the moment slip-up. It was coldblooded, calculated murder that is repeated all too often by the largest criminal gang in this nation, the one that carries badges.

[Nitram]

8. A big part of the problem is that so-called "good cops"...

...always cover up for the "bad cops". Our police force culture is sick and it needs a major shake-up.

[sarge43]

9. Called it.

We don't make decisions in a vacuum, even spilt second ones. All our memories and experiences come into play.

[vlyons]

11. I don't believe that the cop thought that far ahead

If he stopped Scott for a tail light, all the cop had to do was call for a tow truck, write down license plate #; and then take some backup to arrest Scott in his home at a later time. Or even before it came to an altercation, he could have just informed Scott that he was going to write a citation ticket and that would be it. Why did it escalate to a confrontation? I think that the cop was just a lazy out of shape bastard, who didn't want to run after Scott. You can see on the recording that after Scott is down, the cop SLOWLY walks over to the body.

[CanonRay]

14. Looked to me like the victim could hardly run

That cop looks in shape, and probably could have caught him easily. No, I believe he'd worked it out in his head that nobody would ask any hard questions, and the other cops would back him. His first excessive force complaint taught him that. He KNEW he could get away with murder.

[Nitram]

25. What I found particularly creepy was the way the cop looked so practiced...

...the way he casually walked back with the taser and dropped it by the body without looking down.

[Rex]

12. True, his actions are those of someone that has done this before. That is the scary part.

How many has he murdered 'in self defense' over the years?

[NJCher]

13. excellent observation, sendero

I am going to show this to my writing class tomorrow. I am trying to show them how writing can help us probe a little deeper. That is just what you did in only a few short paragraphs--you helped us see that the chief's observation was facile. We can't let them get away with it, because if we do, the root of the problem will not be addressed.

This point you have developed is worth a letter to the editor to the newspaper in their city.

But back to your point: something else is quite troublesome, and that is that they are not telling who the other officers were who helped in the cover-up (before they realized the murder had been recorded).

They need to own up to this and those officers, too, need to go.



Cher

[tblue37]

15. True. I have heard of people who are "mean drunks" though otherwise nice. But I think that

if mean is what comes out when a person drops his inhibitions, the mean is probably a core aspect of his character.

I was also bothered by the "bad decisions" comment, but for a different reason: it makes cold blooded murder sound like an insignificant error, like cutting class or hanging out with a bad crowd.

[riverbendviewgal]

17. it seems obvious to me this city's cop shop has been covering up for years.

I read this on another link from DU today

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150409/us--police_officer-fatal_shooting-9a73d32ba3.html

We may be seeing more people come forth telling their arrest experiences like the man in the above link.

It is time to police the police.

[uponit7771]

22. So Slager was a straight up asshole... The CPD knew this too, I have no doubts they knew this

[uponit7771]

20. +1

[L0oniX]

21. K & R

[jwirr]

24. Rachel caught my interest when she started her coverage talking about how they (cops who have

just killed an unarmed person) all use the same words "I feared for my life" and other common phrases. This culture even has it's own language and laws that allow them to cover up murders. I stop believing the cop as soon as he says these words.

In our area if you have a tail light or head light out the police may pull you over but they merely tell you to get it fixed and at the most give you a ticket. Apparently in SC this offense has a death penalty.

[Nitram]

26. Only if you're black

[2naSalit]

27. In the video...

it looked so routine for this guy to simply whip out the gun and shoot to kill.

Very telling and illustrative of what's wrong with our society... well one of the big things that are wrong with it.