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Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

tucsonsentinel.com

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Re: Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

#31

Post by pstuart »

kaikai wrote: post #24

There needs to be insurance for police, just like there is for doctors. Once an individual cop has repeated judgements against them they won’t be insurable, instead of the current result of them moving to a different city.

I've long promoted this idea as well. They should be insured, backed by the union's pension plan. They have zero skin in the game.

The other thing that would help immensely would be to revisit qualified immunity. Conceptually its perfectly understandable -- failures can happen that are not their fault and they should not be on the hook for that.

But in these times, it's just full immunity. They can do whatever they want and only in the most heinous crimes where they didn't have the opportunity to destroy the evidence they only then do time.

One last thing should be noted: the War on Drugs is designed to create crime and is weaponized against the citizenry. "Dangerous" drugs aren't illegal to protect you, they're there so they can fuck you over.

Re: Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

#33

Post by atmavatar »

elevation wrote: post #8
efnx wrote: post #5

They need to get sued _hard_ and lose millions, as well as have cops put in jail before real change happens. I feel sorry for this kid but he's doing the right thing.

> cops put in jail Right. The real justice comes from treating this incident like you would if there were no municipal coffers at play, and simply punish criminals for criminal action.

Real justice when it comes to swatting is multi-faceted.

Sure, the person making the bogus call to police should suffer some consequences vis a vis jail time.

However, swatting only works because police regularly take a shoot first and ask questions later stance. They go from an anonymous tip about an ongoing crime at an address to shooting up said address in short order without any effort to verify a crime is actually taking place, perhaps in no small part due to the fact that qualified immunity ensures they'll never see any consequences for any property damage and/or casualties which occur as a result.

I'd liken it to initiating a gang hit, except at least in the gang hit, the gang members responsible for carrying it out have a chance at facing some accountability.

Cops need to face the possibility of (at minimum) termination and even jail time for recklessly endangering civilians, and cop training needs to be fundamentally changed to eliminate this "us vs. them" mentality seen in so many of those in blue.

Re: Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

#34

Post by greedo »

helterskelter wrote: post #21
infinite_spin wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "To Serve and Protect," is a phrase made famous by the Los Angeles Police De­partment and adopted, in various forms, by law enforcement agencies across the United States. https://www.policemag.com/articles/to-serve-and-protect-v2 > In February 1955, the Los Angeles Police Department, through the pages of the internally produced BEAT magazine, conducted a contest for a motto for the police academy. The conditions of…

Huh, yeah you're right. I swear I remember hearing about this on an NPR radio piece about how police really don't need to do anything to protect you.

Police are under no legal obligation to protect you.

Re: Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

#35

Post by clovoak »

utternerd wrote: post #28

It explicitly said in the article that he pulled out a gun. He shouldn't have been swatted, obviously. That said, if you pull out a gun when police are responding to what they believe is an active shooter, the chances of you being shot are extremely high. Additionally consider what would have happened if this had been an active shooting and they simply disregarded the phone call.

I suspect he pulled it out because he heard someone breaking into his house.

Re: Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

#36

Post by autoexec »

utternerd wrote: post #28

It explicitly said in the article that he pulled out a gun. He shouldn't have been swatted, obviously. That said, if you pull out a gun when police are responding to what they believe is an active shooter, the chances of you being shot are extremely high. Additionally consider what would have happened if this had been an active shooting and they simply disregarded the phone call.

> It explicitly said in the article that he pulled out a gun.

A gun that he legally owned and had every right to have on his person as an unknown individual was breaking into his home. If police don't identify themselves they should expect an armed population to meet them with guns in hand. It's their responsibility to assess the situation, understand who the occupants are, and respond appropriately. Smashing a bedroom window with a shovel and then "indiscriminately" firing into it is not a reasonable response.

Re: Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

#37

Post by ProfessorLayton »

bartread wrote: post #29
mzhaase wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about firing them and sending them to jail?

I like your way better. I like your way a lot better. A: It’s actual justice, and B: Otherwise it just becomes another way for insurance companies to make money - in this case by charging swingeing fees that will come out of public coffers.

> Otherwise it just becomes another way for insurance companies to make money - in this case by charging swingeing fees that will come out of public coffers.

I believe doctors pay out of pocket (At least the ones that setup their own private practice do), so it would incentivize them to keep costs low so they can pocket the money.

Re: Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

#38

Post by tverbeure »

utternerd wrote: post #28

It explicitly said in the article that he pulled out a gun. He shouldn't have been swatted, obviously. That said, if you pull out a gun when police are responding to what they believe is an active shooter, the chances of you being shot are extremely high. Additionally consider what would have happened if this had been an active shooting and they simply disregarded the phone call.

It also says that he heard glass breaking, thought they were criminals, grabbed a gun and hid behind a door.

If you’re going to mention the gun fact, why not provide the whole context?

Re: Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

#39

Post by [deleted] »

utternerd wrote: post #28

It explicitly said in the article that he pulled out a gun. He shouldn't have been swatted, obviously. That said, if you pull out a gun when police are responding to what they believe is an active shooter, the chances of you being shot are extremely high. Additionally consider what would have happened if this had been an active shooting and they simply disregarded the phone call.

[deleted]

Re: Man seeks millions after being shot by police in game-related swatting incident

#40

Post by alex1138 »

SWATing is a very common thing so police depts should be aware there's always a risk of it happening

Take the call seriously, but be prepared it's not what you think it is, especially if you see a shocked gamer sitting at their computer monitor with no apparent hostages

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