Seeing the article has angered me. There is a problem with over use of force.
While I agree that such a problem exists, and would even go further and say that it is pervasive, this is not a good example of an "over use" of force. I would also say that "over use" of force is not the right terminology. There are either legal or illegal, justified or unjustifed uses of force. They are determined to be one or the other according to the language of the statutes that control the issue. "Over use" is totally subjective. Reading and applying the law as it is written is much more objective, and in any jurisdiction that I've ever heard of, opening fire on a subject threatening any person, cop or otherwise, is both legal and justified.
One bullet was suffice but this is overkill.
One bullet? Time to sign up for some training of your own. No instructor at any level of training will teach you that one round will be enough to stop every threat. In fact, none of them will teach that it will stop
any threat. Double-tap at a minimum, and many teach triple-tap. Some teach always shoot center mass, others teach go for a head shot if possible. No one teaches onesies. That's the best way to ensure you don't survive a shooting incident.
Police need to be trained to down individuals not kill.
I am extremely unforgiving of abusive cops. There are cops on this board that will tell you that. But as far as I'm concerned, when someone threatens me or you or the cop in uniform on the street with a large knife, I will not hesitate to put him down with at least three to center mass, and I'll be darned if I will second guess you or the cop who does the same.
The media will make this out as just a friendly hippie smokin' a little herb was gunned down in cold blood for such a victimless crime. BS. He was shot, according to witnesses, not only the cops, because he threatened them with a knife. It wouldn't bother me at all if we got smart and stopped the so-called "War on Drugs" and made pot, even other heavier drugs, legal, but threatening anyone with a deadly weapon will never be legal, and I pray that it always remains legal to meet deadly threats with deadly defensive force. Bummer for this guy, but he had a lot more to do with causing his own death than the cops did.
Blues