not guilty

[marcinstl]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/05/23/409003419/cleveland-officer-not-guilty-in-fatal-shooting-of-unarmed-suspects

Although 13 officers discharged their weapons during the incident, only Brelo, 31 was charged with voluntary manslaughter because "prosecutors said he waited until the car had stopped and the occupants were no longer a threat to fire 15 rounds down into the windshield while standing on its hood."
In total, Brelo fired 49 of the 137 shots, prosecutors said. Russell was hit 23 times; Williams was shot 24 times.

[berettabone]

I'd say...............if Brelo fired 49 rds., and the suspects were hit a total of 47 times, that could be some damn fine shootin........................................... ...............or not........................................

[CJB]

There are several misconceptions that have not been adequately adressed as of yet, and so I will attempt to point them out.

1. The decision to use a weapon, is never to kill, but instead to stop an assailant. Death is a byproduct that may, or may not occur. The decision to stop an assailant is based upon an act in progress, or, often based on fear of a continuing act that justifies the use of any means to stop the committers of that act. Emphasis should be given on reasonable fear of what may yet occur. Put in everyday language, the officer shot not out of retaliation, nor judgement, nor retribution, or anger, but instead because he didn't know WTF was coming next, and based on what already transpired, made the decision that the situation needed to end in order to prevent an ongoing dangerous condition.

2. Once the decision has been made to stop the assailant, any and all available means can be utilized. You cannot over stop someone. The officer, or you, or I, cannot be asked to make the continual ongoing decisions regarding the metered use of the stopping force - in this case a firearm. Because the vehicle had stopped, it did not mean the situation had finalized. The judge stated (I believe wrongly) that the vehicle stopped and the assailants no longer posed a threat. This is a myopic view, as the police officers were facing an unknown situation as it very rapidly evolved. After danger is presented to officers with a vehicle, there simply is no way to ascertain if weapons may be next. What was ascertained was the criminal intent and willingness to use force (the vehicle) against the officers. Knowing that, using any amount of force to bring the situation to a close is justified.

The aquittal was reported to be reached by almost a techicalitiy. That is, the judge stated that the bullet that killed could not be proven to come from the gun of the officer charged. That is a dangerous technicality in light of #1 and #2 above.

[muggsy]

Just the outcome that I predicted.

[Ken L]

I wonder what kind of precident this will set

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-cleveland-justice-department-reach-policing-deal-044830721.html

It's been discussed about the militarization of the police, and also if the .gov would take over police departments. Could this be the first step to either one of those possibilities?

[muggsy]

I don't believe that the Cleveland Police have a history of using excessive force. I've never heard of a single incident where the Cleveland police used any more force than was necessary to arrest a law breaker. What we do have are criminals looking for a pay day or lighter sentence. In my opinion the Cleveland police need only to keep on keeping on. They do an excellent job of policing.

[Longitude Zero]

Case was a weak sister. The DA was throwing stink on the wall hoping beyond hope that something would stick. Thankfully it did not.

[Bawanna]

Blue lives matter!

[marcinstl]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/us/cleveland-police-accept-use-of-force-rules-in-justice-dept-deal.html?_r=0

well it's always fun to see the management scurry around trying to make things look better, nothing as good as a promise filled news conference, blah, blah. the cops out on the street are just like the soldiers on deployment, basically on their own- dead if they screw up or scapegoats if they screw up. good luck.

[marcinstl]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/27/chicago-cops-hunting-photo_n_7452702.html

cops, criminals in Chicago got to have a sense of humor.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/27/chicago-cops-hunting-photo_n_7452702.html)