Union: Pistol-whipped detective didn't shoot attacker because of headlines

[hrsepwrguy]

(CNN)Basically, the detective didn't want to be the next police officer accused of needlessly killing an unarmed man.

The Birmingham, Alabama, cop who was pistol-whipped unconscious last week didn't shoot the motorist who attacked him because of the outcry surrounding the recent spate of police shootings, the head of the local police union said Thursday.

"He hesitated simply because of what's going on in society right now," said Heath Boackle, a sergeant with the Birmingham Police Department and president of the city's Fraternal Order of Police. "We have officers walking on eggshells because of how they're scrutinized in the media."

"We should be thanking the good Lord because he could be dead right now."

Police Chief A.C. Roper sees the episode -- as well as the reaction, including celebratory and vitriolic comments posted online alongside images of the wounded officer -- as symptomatic of a larger problem, in which some don't respect law enforcement.

"The nobility and integrity of policing has been challenged," Roper said. "As a profession, we have allowed popular culture to draft a narrative which is contrary to the amazing work that so many officers are doing everyday across this nation."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/13/us/alabama-birmingham-police-detective-pistol-whipped/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[brice1967]

They are trained.  

[orphanedhawk]

I believe that police officers are no longer being trained to disarm but are taught to shoot to kill. It's the only thing that explains the kinds of unlawful shootings that have taken place. They also are no longer dealing properly with the mentally ill. Again, they need proper training.
I could be wrong but I think at one time, there was better training, or perhaps because cops often lived in the neighborhoods they patrolled they behaved with more compassion.
Now, I know I'm make a broad generalization and there are good caring cops out there and perhaps the cops where you live, do behave in ethical ways.

[brice1967]

I think your expectations of the police in general is completely off the mark.  We've discussed this numerous times.  The fact is, cops are trained better today than they ever have been.  They are trained in hand to hand combat including disarming techniques but you have to understand that when the cops show up, bad guys just don't give up.  Cops are better trained because the types of crimes and criminals have changed.  the training had to as well.

I mean no disrespect when I say this, but I think you have unreasonable expectations of the police.  Realistically, how do you tell if someone is mentally ill, OH?  How long does it take to diagnose someone with a mental illness, and then how long does it take to diagnose someone with a mental illness when they have engaged you in a physical altercation or is shooting up the general public?  How does a cop differentiate between the various mental illnesses and assume that this "mentally ill" person is going to be a text book case of said mental illness?  (mental illnesses vary)  How is a cop supposed to be able to determine what the bad guy is going to do?

I'm not sure that you understand that not every situation a cop gets into is the same as the previous situation.  There are cookie cutter scenarios on the streets.  Bad guys just don't always give up and don't always comply.  

Cops are trained to some extent to notice certain behaviors.  Cops are trained in basic first aide and cpr.  Cops trained in de-escalating techniques.  Cops are trained in hand to hand combat including disarming techniques.  Cops are trained in procedure.  Cops are trained to secure crime scenes.  Cops are trained to conduct interviews and what is legal and not legal (procedure).  

These people are highly trained.  just like doctors, some are far better than others.  

[brice1967]

I'd like to put this out there too.  I know at least 4 different people who are ex-cops.  One thing they all have in common is, part of the reason they quit is the politics of the job.  

Different factors under the politics umbrella is what they could and could not do across the board.

[Barb135]

In this case, the officer did not have to disarm anyone else; he was pistol whipped with his own weapon, because he hesitated to stand up for himself...

We all know we can thank the liberal media for this kind of thing because they've turned the criminals into heroes and the cops into criminals. Now criminals are braver and cops are walking on eggshells in order to stay out of the news.  It seems that even people who would not have been criminals in the past, are now becoming brave enough to become criminals because they know cops are hesitant to do their jobs because the media will make mince meat of them if they even give the appearance of a misstep.

It's become way easy to scream "police brutality", these days...

[mikesimon]

I think you're really overstating the case against the media. It isn't as if the recent news stories about police killing unarmed blacks are being fabricated out of whole cloth. There really is something going on here. We have seen a few videos that are quite dramatic and convincing. We've disagreed here about them but I thought the choking of the New York guy accused of selling single cigarettes was extremely difficult to defend. The black guy who was shot in the back while running away was impossible to defend from the policeman's perspective. And there are others which I won't bother recounting.
My point is that there is an underlying problem here and it is not always the media that is to blame. When more police are wearing and using body cameras I suspect we will see a drastic reduction in these types of confrontations and it won't be due to any lack of media attention or media bias. Time will tell but I do believe that when the cameras are rolling and the police know they're rolling their behavior will change.