Tragedies like this one makes it so hard for me to be against the DP...

[Catherine Vincent]

http://www.click2houston.com/news/9909160/detail.html

Man Charged In Police Officer's Killing

POSTED: 6:55 am CDT September 22, 2006
UPDATED: 8:10 am CDT September 22, 2006

HOUSTON -- A man has been charged with capital murder after he allegedly shot and killed a police officer from the back seat of a patrol car, officials told KPRC Local 2.

Police said Juan Leonardo Quintero shot Houston police officer Rodney Johnson after he was placed into custody during a traffic stop on Randolph Street near Braniff Street at about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Officials said the Quintero managed to get a gun and shoot Johnson in the head multiple times. Johnson was transported to Ben Taub Hospital, where he died a short time later. "Officer Johnson paid the ultimate price protecting this city," Capt. Dwayne Ready said. Investigator stripped Quintero of most of his clothing to test for evidence.

Police said a woman who was in the vehicle with Quintero during the traffic stop left the scene, but has been in contact with investigators.

Officials said Quintero's criminal history includes charges of sexual assault of a child and driving while intoxicated.

more....

[atreides1]

1. Not a very good pat down was it?

How did the suspect "manage" to get a gun after being placed into custody?

[Coyote_Bandit]

2. Careless police work

Needless tragedy. The officer has some duty and right to take measures for his own protection. That would include a thorough pat down for weapons and the use of handcuffs behind the back. Seems obvious the victim misjudged the threat posed by the offender. Sometimes there are no second chances and mistakes are fatal.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. "..use of handcuffs behind the back"

The suspect did have handcuffs on but unfortunately it wasn't enough. He still managed to shoot the officer several times in the head.

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. I didn't see anything

that said the suspect was cuffed with his hands behind his back. Hands cuffed in front of the body are much more maneuverable - not to mention visible and more comfortable - than those cuffed behind the back. Had the suspect been handcuffed behind the back, a reasonably attentive officer likely would have noticed some unnatural postures as the suspect removed the handgun from his waistband and then maneuvered into position to try to aim and fire the fatal shots. Hands cuffed in front of the body permit the suspect to remove the handgun and conceal it - perhaps under a shirt or on the floorboard or under the front seat. They also permit the suspect to remain forward facing while taking aim and preparing to fire.

The suspect used a handgun that he took from his own waistband. Clearly there was not a good pat down for weapons performed before the suspect was placed in the back of the police vehicle.

I am also forced to ask why the officer had not called for backup before the shooting occurred. Apparently he was the only officer on the scene. He had one suspect cuffed and in custody - and there was a second occupant of the suspect vehicle. It is not unreasonable to assume that occupant could have posed a threat.

In many jurisdictions I believe the protocol would have been for the officer to instruct the suspect to lie face down and cuff him behind the back. And then to leave him lying there until backup arrived. This is a difficult position to rise from quickly or easily. Restricting the movement of the suspect allows the officer to observe the actions of the second vehicle occupant - and to call for backup. It does not put the officer in the position of trying to search one suspect while another potential suspect is free to move about - and pose a threat to the officer's safety. And it does not put the officer in the position of sitting inside his patrol vehicle in front of a suspect that the officer was unable to pat down carefully.

Meanwhile, in the stupid criminal category we have a guy who is handcuffed in the back seat of a police vehicle that shoots and kills a cop. Assuming the back doors to the police cruiser were shut, the guy had no ready means of escape at the time of the killing. There probably weren't handles to open the back doors and since he was handcuffed he probably was unable to pull himself over the front seat to exit out the front and flee - and there may well have been barricades in the cruiser which blocked this means of escape. Odds are the suspect tried to flee. Had his passenger helped him he might well have escaped. Instead, he was caught still sitting in the back seat with the murder weapon. Not exactly the brightest bulb in the closet.

Yes, the loss was tragic and needless. But based on what I see the victim was careless and did not take action that might have served to prevent the tragedy. Doesn't excuse what happened - but it just might explain why it occurred.

[Jacobin]

4. How about the Green River Killer?

He killed 50 or more people after raping them. He got life. Because they wanna ask him where some bodies are.

But kill the Houston cop killer?

The death penalty is so outrageously applied to minorities for purposes of vengeance, our criminal justice system is so horrid (20% of people on death row in Ohio found innocent after DNA tests) that I will never, ever be in favor of the death penalty.

I am, however, in favor of locking up first degree murderers and throwing away they key.

[Catherine Vincent]

5. I'm just saying this story (and others) makes it hard for me

to continue being against the DP. I'm still against it.