HPD kills a federal agent after high speed chase? Options

[impala454]

Ok Lance, here ya go man, a big fat juicy one. Surprised you haven't posted it yet
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5741363.html

Mystery continues to envelop a man shot and killed by Houston police Tuesday morning after a high-speed chase that ended near the Galleria.

The victim was identified by friends as Roland Vincent Carnaby, 52, of Houston. But who he really was — or more precisely, what he was — is something police are still trying to piece together.

...

Whatever his real story, Carnaby's life came to an end about 11 a.m. after police forced his vehicle to a stop. He didn't acknowledge the officers who encircled him with guns drawn. And he "refused to put his hands where the officers could see him," said Houston Police Sgt. John Chomiak.

"The driver refused to comply, talk or roll down the window," Chomiak said.

He opened the driver's side door only after one of the officers smashed the passenger-side window, police said.

"He stepped out of his vehicle, turned around and reached under the seat," Chomiak said.

When he did, two officers each fired one time, authorities said. The officers were identified by police officials as HPD Sgt. A.J. Washington and Officer C.A. Foster. Carnaby was later pronounced dead at Ben Taub Hospital.

The incident lasted most of an hour. It began with a routine traffic stop when Carnaby was pulled over for speeding along Texas 288 near Orem. Carnaby raced away after the officers learned he had a license to carry a concealed weapon, police said.

...

Although an initial examination revealed no weapons inside the man's car, that changed once it was taken into custody for a more detailed search.

"We have located three weapons inside the vehicle — two pistols and a shotgun," said HPD spokesman John Cannon. "At least one of them was within reach of the suspect."

There is definitely something fishy here. If nothing else, as to why the guy ran in the first place. I don't really question the police much in what they did, as the video on the news clearly showed him get out, then reach under the seat for something. I'm really curious if it was really a gun or something else. Not sure what the outcome will be, but when a 52 year old white man gets shot by da popos, it's bound to get a second look...

[cmac]

you're absolutely delusional. come back to the real world bud. your armchair QBing of this situation is pathetic. you'd be shot dead while fumbling with your nerf gun. I love how sad it is when people decide something should be done a certain way, but then also release the responsibility of it by saying "well it's not up to me, but I think it should be done this way". How about you become a cop, and go pull over some drug dealers and we'll see just how great your bean bags & tranqs match up agains what the criminals are carrying.

yeah, pretty sure that's what we accomplished in the other thread.

and if i'm going to be shot dead fumbling for my beanbag gun, why couldn't i just as easily be shot dead while fumbling for my real gun....

[Hartmann]

yeah, pretty sure that's what we accomplished in the other thread.

and if i'm going to be shot dead fumbling for my beanbag gun, why couldn't i just as easily be shot dead while fumbling for my real gun....

I could care less about fumbling.

You're post earlier said that since "killing the criminals doesn't work" we should stop doing it. I never suggested that we kill all criminals or any at all. I was talking about what happens in real situations in real life. A criminal, with a gun (or knife), decides he is going to rob someone (which is against the law, so apparently those aren't working either). What is a law enforcement officer supposed to do?

Yeah, bean bags and mace are great ideas for certain cases, but in others you need knock-down, take-out, force. If the criminal that I pointed out above was threatening another person's life (holding a woman as a hostage) would you want to continuously try to talk the person out or attempt to talk the person out and then start making a move to save the woman's life?

There are plenty of cases of hostage takers who were given multiple opportunities to surrender, they refuse, and the police force thinks they still can get them out, then those hostage takers kill someone. SWAT has a pretty good ability to use non-lethal force but they also get the benefit of usually being able to plan their moves well in advance, whereas a police officer does not have time to sit around make life-ending/saving decisions, they just have to make them. And you know what, I'd much rather have an officer making that decision for me rather than a criminal.

There are also plenty of documented cases of murder and assault in foreign countries that could have been stopped had the hands of police and citizens not been tied. The one that stands out is the video of the woman being stabbed repeatedly by her husband and people try to do all they can before enough of them gang up and are able to get the guy off of her, by then it was too late.

What about heavily armed bank robbers? Remember the video of the Los Angeles robbers walking down the street with AK-47s (which are not legal to have) shooting up a storm. What would you do in that situation. Those tards were wearing bullet-proof vests, I'm not sure your bean bags would have an affect.

You state that we should not do things that are wrong, but what are the criminals doing? THE WRONG THING. Why not stop taking up for them as though they deserve better than the people they hurt. Since when did being a victim of crime start being the passe thing?