Who is that Police Officer?

Question

The training to become an armed police officer in the streets of New York is 14 weeks. In such a diverse community where unfortunately there still exist racial tensions, can we realistically expect an unbias officer after three months of training

In 1999 four New York City Police Officers shot 41 bullets at an unarmed person 19 of which struck him. He died without a cause, but they were not charged with any wrong doing

In 2006 five NYPD officers shot 50 bullets at three unarmed persons one of whom died from his wounds.....One of those officers is a Army veteran who shot once.

Militar service affords the soldier exposure to the wide spectrum of cultures; Should military service be a prerequisite to becoming a Police Officer in these large cities?

Shouldn't the Chief of Police be an elected official as is the case for Sheriff in some small towns?

It is true that the duties of the Police Officer inherits risks and many fall victms to ciminal elements of our society. In fact it is one of the reasons why I didn't become a member of the NYPD, inbetted in an ongoing war of sorts.
I do believe however that the training necessary to become an effective police officer requires more training and schooling in social studies.
And if the Police Chief is selected, should the candidate be required anounce their choice before election, that the people know who would be in chare of their policing.

Answer 1

when discussing the number of rounds fired at a suspect, it is important to distinguish between shotgun blasts and pistol rounds, a 00 shotgun round will fire 12 .32 caliber pellets at once, that is not 12 rounds..always check all factors before passing judgment

Answer 2

Lets talk number of rounds.
Lets say a woman is being raped and is in great stress but she has access to a gun during the ordeal
If she shoots the perpetrator with one shot and he dies the courts say self defense. If on the other hand she shoots two, three, or more rounds and he dies they call it murder. Is this fair?
A man banishes a knife at a police officer and refuses to drop it, the policeman shoots the man any number of times more than once and the man dies. The court exonerates policeman and it's called self defense, some times praised and given a promotion. Is this justice?
Unfortunately in cases like the last example a crime like this gets the most publicity.
If the policeman is white and the victim is black the press has a field day.
Where's the Justice in that?
No matter where the law enforcer gets his training he is never trained to commit murder, that is something that is inbred or unintentional.

Answer 3

First, the "commissioner" of NYPD should never be elected. A Law Enforcement official should never be elected. Politics needs to stay out of law enforcement. Plus, once you get into the elected official thing, then corruption soon follows.

Next, NYPD has in excess of 40,000 officers. That's more than the population of many towns in this country. In any agency, especially one that large, your going to have some issues.

Also, the academy has nothing to do with character or integrity. It teaches you how to be a cop. Honesty, tolerance, character and integrity are part of your personality. Not all cops are good, not all cops are bad.

You are always going to have a few bad seeds. The true judge of an agency is how they handle those rogue cops.

Answer 4

One cannot always play the race card when things happen to minorities. It is hard to believe that white police officers look for the slightest twitch to shoot a black suspect. Police officers by far have one of the most dangerous jobs in the US and if the citizens they are trying to protect turn against them, then it makes it all the more dangerous. As far as I am aware, the chief of police is an elected position, and also is not the same concept as a sheriff, so it really isn't comparable. As far as the police officers having to have military background, it would be very hard to find enough willing to be officers after x years in service.

Answer 5

It is soooooo sad that people ask questions and don't have all the facts.


Hey.....I've got a suggestion......why don't you go to the next police memorial and see how many police officers have been killed.....or shot at....or beat....or stabbed...or as your last incident.....50 shots are three 'unarmed' men...what do you call a car trying to run you down???

Tell you what....let's hook up and I'll drive my car at you and you let me know if you are in 'fear of your life'.

Answer 6

well, first of all , if you quote cases of police shooting unarmed individuals and killing them, you must also report cases of police being gunned down,,,, that is just fair, the ying/yang of the situation they find theirselves in,,, also no, many in our military come back with post traumatic stress, that is untreated,,,, lord knows we have seen some of the side effects of this in the post office, where veterans get a 20 point bonus on testing and thus get hired over the rest of us Americans,,,,,,,, so why would you want to give them guns, and turn them loose?
i dont see it would be well for the Chief of Police to be elected, as opposed to appointed,,, at least with appointment, you can blame someone, if elected, what can you do? blame yourself? your fellow voters?

yes military exposes some to wide diversity, but also to how to kill,, and how to kiss butt to move up,,,,,,,,
i think a solution to this, and some of our other problems, both at home and the world, is to tap into the resource of women between 55 and 65,, they are tough, loving, caring, but will kick your butt down in a quick minute, if your not being nice,, yet they have the wisdom to know when to do what,,

Answer 7

Saint Justice.