The cops gave him the opportunity to stab them by getting outside their vehicle and placing only themselves in jeopardy (since it looked like the perp moved away from the "civilians", so they wouldn't be in the line of fire.)
Just because you have a knife doesn't mean you have the opportunity to place people inside a fucking knife-proof box in jeopardy. A vehicle travelling 5 MPH in a knife fight is absolutely fair and just.
Just because you have a knife doesn't mean you have the opportunity to place people inside a fucking knife-proof box in jeopardy. A vehicle travelling 5 MPH in a knife fight is absolutely fair and just.
I see your point but the fact still remain, the guy had a knife in public causing a disturbance. Again, I don't know how this all went down (I'm curious now) but getting out of the car to first try and defuse the situation is a normal response. You suggest using his vehicle would've been a better option, ha! Then the officer would've really been in hot water. think if it this way... What if perp took off toward a crowd with his knife at the ready? There's no way anyone sitting in a car can react in enough time. Consider that officers don't have the entire story when the get on scene. And don't forget you can't predict people's actions.
Watch the video like I did, then.
Pretty sure one of the things we were taught by a retired police officer in "academy" was that if a violent criminal posing a deadly threat heads into the path of your deadly weapon (your vehicle), YOU HIT THEM WITH IT. You can't defuse a situation when a suicidal perp with a knife is only a few feet away from your unshielded body.
7.33 FPS is better than 1100 FPS to neutralize and not exterminate the threat.
The cops suicidally escalated the situation.
I'm not saying they didn't escalate the situation, I don't know. I'm not following this case and only read about it on this forum. You said the guy was walking away from the crowd, why would they run him over at that point?
And keep in mind, while it's more justifiable for citizens to use their car as a deadly weapon... Officers are held by a much higher standard given their training (tactical and communication). So you can't put citizens in the same boat as officers. Not the same class. Plus keep in kind, they're trained to use their guns as force, not their cars.
Please reread my quote.
You're not going to "run someone over" braking past 5 MPH (the last grade on an analog speedometer before 0), you will however knock them on their ass (and possibly force them to reflexively drop the knife) just before you come to a stop, at which point, you give yourself some time to roll him over and apply cuffs, or even just consider less-lethal options to overcome resisting arrest. Immediately getting out of your vehicle while he's only a few feet away gives you at least a split second before his knife can make contact with you.
A professionally trained police force doesn't engage in tactical suicide to escalate to having to shoot every threat when they have better options for all involved.
