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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

#91

Post by msteffen »

mzhaase wrote: post #26
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.

How about firing them and sending them to jail?

I'd say that by the time you're considering jail, it's too late—these situations are better avoided than rectified.

Per the article, one of the officers was evidently particularly stupid—he failed police academy once and was disciplined for entering a women's restroom because of crimes he imagined could be happening in there. No one wanted to say "you're too stupid to be making high-stakes judgment calls", so they let him keep trying until he was running into an alleged emergency "with no plan," where he shot an innocent person eight times...and then handcuffed him...

I think actuaries have a way of employing statistical realities that would, in a legislative context, precipitate too much defensiveness and bickering to ever be the basis of a rule. Like I think it was quite a while before neuroscience could fully explain why insurance companies wouldn't cover rental car drivers under 25, instead of 16 or 18.

An insurance company would give departments a reason to say "anyone who has ever failed police academy gets pepper spray and that's it." Departments can decide how to deploy that person.

(Ideally that person wouldn't be a cop at all, but departments will probably always be pushing to hire. This way the argument is between departments and the comparatively highly-informed insurance market, and not voters)

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

#92

Post by dvdyzag »

cyanregiment wrote: post #7
hamper653 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some protection!

In San Francisco the cop cars don't say "To serve and protect" they say "Safety with respect" lmfao cuts to 6 cops beating a guy with clubs

They got rid of the clubs since Rodney thing in the 90s. They were much safer IMHO. Bruised but alive!

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

#93

Post by tzs »

exabrial wrote: post #74
utternerd wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is factually accurate that he pulled out a weapon when police were responding to an active shooter call.

Which also, is literally not a crime. Don't blame the victim.

> Which also, is literally not a crime

I believe that the person you are responding to is arguing wisdom, not legality.

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

#94

Post by pibaker »

helterskelter wrote: post #11
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.

Taxpayers will just foot the bill. These cops need their personal funds taken, and before they blow it all on legal bills defending themselves from criminal charges. Come to think of it, this is America dammit. Cops should be licensed, bonded and insured, and if their training or records aren't up to standards they don't get covered. We have higher standards for plumbers and pest control than we do police.

I don't get the taxpayer line. It's a democracy. The taxpayers are the ones deciding what kind of policing we get.

If they don't want to foot the bills for police misconduct, maybe the taxpayers should elect someone who actually holds the police accountable and doesn't just blindly approve any policing budget and look the other way when the police wrongfully harms someone?

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

#95

Post by giancarlostoro »

OutOfHere wrote: post #86
giancarlostoro wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think judges are often overlooked, they are the barrier stopping an internet troll from sending a small military on to your property on a whim. Too many false swatting should lead to a judge mandatorily stepping down, especially if there are casualties.

Judges are not involved in a police response to a call.

You cannot swat someone without a warrant, they absolutely are in the loop. Every single time. Did you forget the third amendment exists?

If police are doing this without a warrant or hard evidence, then that's part of the problem.

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

#96

Post by giancarlostoro »

jerlam wrote: post #78
giancarlostoro wrote: post #53

Police agencies arent the only ones alone to take blame here, the judges who on a whim sign these warrants should face liability or be removed from their position if there are casualties as a result of a false report.

I don't think judges and warrants are involved in these swatting incidents. The whole point of swatting is to make up a dangerous scenario where the threat to life is so high and immediate that the police are allowed to forgo many procedures and processes that would prevent accidental injury or death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exigent_circumstance

This sounds like an exception to the third amendment that should be reconsidered if police don't improve their approach to these types of calls. If you cannot prove before you send a whole military to a house that what is claimed in a phone call is actually happening in a residential home, then you should not go in guns blazing.

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

#97

Post by elonfboy »

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.

You mean QUALIFIED IMMUNITY isn’t enough? Give me a break. Their job is literally safer than being a garbage collector. Go ahead, I’ll wait while you look it up.

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

#98

Post by cyanregiment »

dvdyzag wrote: post #92
cyanregiment wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In San Francisco the cop cars don't say "To serve and protect" they say "Safety with respect" lmfao cuts to 6 cops beating a guy with clubs

They got rid of the clubs since Rodney thing in the 90s. They were much safer IMHO. Bruised but alive!

A mere concuss is never sus!

Maybe a little blood and puss.

Don’t be a wuss![1]

[1] This rhyme only works in certain dialects of British English. For most English speakers, it won’t. It’s a bit like that Nickelback song Never Made It As A Wise Man when he rhymes “story” with “sorry”. Nickelback didn’t realize he developed a moat, an uncompetitive advantage, and nobody would be able to sing his wonderful songs. Nobody, except him.

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

#99

Post by insane_dreamer »

> Melendez did grab a "legal, registered" gun once he heard the glass shatter, Sethi said, but he ducked behind a partially closed door.

It's horrible what happened to this boy, and the police should be sued/charged, but this is (yet another) reason why you're better off _not_ having a gun in your house. (You're statistically more likely to die from a gun in your own household than someone else's.)

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

#100

Post by anigbrowl »

user43928 wrote: post #55
atmavatar wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 actual…

I am as horrified by the outcome here as the next person, but what exactly do you imagine police should do when responding to a call about an active shooter where they encounter a suspect armed with a handgun?

The very smart and obvious thing to do would be to announce themselves loudly on arrival; all squad cars have very loud speakers on them and most police departments have at least one armored vehicle specially for high risk situations. Breaking in through a bathroom window and then running around the house with guns drawn is a recipe for disaster. If this kid had had good pistol skills (not that unusual unusual in the US) it might just as easily have ended with one or both of the cops getting shot.

Police in many jurisdictions will just walk onto your property in pursuit of a suspect and get mad at you if you open a window or door to see what the hell is going on outside your home.

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