--I believe domestic violence calls are statistically among the highest risk of injury to police officers. Plus, although cops are supposed to want to protect the innocent, DV calls can be complicated and frustrating since even victims in real danger make seemingly incomprehensible decisions all the time. That of course is NOT a license to go in with guns blazing, only a comment to recognize that cops might be predisposed to be on edge with such calls.
--Of COURSE anyone should be appalled that cops more or less have license to blow away 4-foot-tall 98-pound mentally ill brown people for brandishing vegetable peelers. But perhaps we should also be appalled that some cops really are not given any tools except their firearms for defusing situations like this. At least I am starting to think about this point after this case and several cases in Seattle where people, nearly always people of color, in many cases actively mentally ill people, have been shot by police officers in situations where the danger could be believed but one still expects that there should be nonlethal options. (As an aside, "less lethal" otions seem to be limited to buying pellet guns to shoot and demonstrators with no indication that such are used in any other situation.)
--Diversity training! Diversity training! "This is a lethal weapon." "This is a vegetable peeler." And by the way, the buzz on the street is supposed to be "if you point anything at a cop remotely resembling a weapon, expect to get blown away." Of course this doesn't work if there are language barriers or mental illness in the picture in the first place.
From a superficial look at this case, I also noticed is that this finding occurred in an open grand jury not a coroner's inquest which is what happens in Seattle. I imagine that has to do with peculiarities of Californina law. If I were a better scholar I might attempt some comparison of the legal environments.
DoreneC
In a message dated 11/1/2003 10:10:05 PM Pacific Standard Time, entheogens at yahoo.com writes:
>
>
> I am wondering how much national attention this case
> has been getting. I find it even more horrible and
> outrageous than the Rodney King beating and verdict
> (at least he didn't die)...A 98 pound Vietnamese woman
> with a vegetable peeler gets blown away by a cop
> within 7 seconds of entering the former's apartment.
>
> http://www.latimes.com/la-me-sanjose31oct31.story
>
-------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20031104/5443d1ea/attachment.htm>