video of cops shooting dead mentally ill man

[fairmaiden]

Before I start, I just wanted to say that no, I don't necessarily view this as a ''race issue''.

Link removed due to graphic content. -HN

A body-camera video of the June 2014 police shooting of a mentally ill Dallas man has been released, showing the chilling moments that led to the man's death.

The family of Jason Harrison, a 39-year-old man who suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, released the graphic video Monday to show the public how the police handled the mentally ill man. .
The video clip, the first body-camera footage released of an officer-involved shooting in Dallas, WFAA reports, shows two officers responding to an Oak Cliff home on June 14, 2014.

Harrison's mother answered the door after contacting police for help with her son. Family members told WFAA that it was not the first time police were called to help control the man.

However, what happened next was far from what anyone expected.
The body-camera footage shows Harrison's mother stepping away from the home as she told the police, Officers John Rodgers and Andrew Hutchins, that Harrison was 'bi-polar and schizo' and 'off the chain.'

The 38-year-old is seen standing in the doorway twirling a screwdriver in his hands. The officers, noticing the potential weapon, yell for the man to drop it as his mother is heard in the background screaming 'Jay! Jay!'

Harrison appears to take a step away from the doorway and the two officers immediately fire at the man. In the video, a stun gun is seen in one of the officer's holsters but was never used to control Harrison.

Harrison stumbles toward the garage, covered in blood, and falls as his mother is heard yelling 'You killed my child!'

The officers reportedly shot the man five times.

'It was the most heartbreaking experience in my life,' Harrison's mother, Shirley, told NBC.
'To stand there helpless, he's helpless. I couldn't help him. To be gunned down right before my eyes.'

In October, Harrison's family filed a wrongful death and violation of civil rights lawsuit against the officers, arguing that Harrison, who the family says was not a violent person, posed no threat to the cops, NBC reports.



This makes me incredibly sad ): I personally don't think the man did anything wrong, as all I saw was him standing with a screwdriver in his doorway before he was gunned down. He wasn't charging towards police, he was simply just standing there. He might have moved a step forward with the screwdriver in his hands, but I think that the police should have tasered him rather than shooting him dead. What's the point of having a taser if you're just going to shoot civilians dead most of the time? And to shoot him 5 times was completely unnecessary.


edit; I know this happened last year, but the newspaper article which contained the video of it was only released recently.

[Stronk Serb]

Wow... Those fuckeres should be put down like rabid dogs.

[Left Now]

They had a stun gun and then they used their lethal ones?What do they learn in their trainings then?

[thatcountrykid]

Ok you guys saw how fast that happened. Under stand that they stand in a ready stance to reach for their firearm because that is the most effective at stopping an immediate threat.

You can clearly see that the man charged towards them and the woman and the officer used means to protect himself. They could not have drawn their takers in time before he was on top of them. He was already to close imo.

As for how many shots where fired, you fire until the threat is down which I saw that the officer stopped firing as he fell. I may have missed it but even at that close of a range who knows how many rounds where hitting as he was firing. I know from my training using a firearms simullater and from shoot house training that you can enter that high stress simulation and fire your weapon believing you only shot six or seven times when in reality you emptied your mag.

People seem to forget that officers are human and are subject to the same effects of stress as yoh except what they face is much worse.

[Exocet]

Why purchasing Tasers if they don't use them ?

[fairmaiden]

Ok you guys saw how fast that happened. Under stand that they stand in a ready stance to reach for their firearm because that is the most effective at stopping an immediate threat.

You can clearly see that the man charged towards them and the woman and the officer used means to protect himself. They could not have drawn their takers in time before he was on top of them. He was already to close imo.

As for how many shots where fired, you fire until the threat is down which I saw that the officer stopped firing as he fell. I may have missed it but even at that close of a range who knows how many rounds where hitting as he was firing. I know from my training using a firearms simullater and from shoot house training that you can enter that high stress simulation and fire your weapon believing you only shot six or seven times when in reality you emptied your mag.

People seem to forget that officers are human and are subject to the same effects of stress as yoh except what they face is much worse.
Right. Your post clearly shows that you'll defend the police force no matter what they do.

The police (in this instance) are clearly in the wrong. The man did not ''charge towards them'', as he barely even took a step forward.

We are fully aware that police officers are humans, however they are trained to defend the public in a certain manner that an ordinary civilian is not expected to do. This means that they would have been trained on how to handle situations similar to this, and I'm pretty sure that they should only use lethal force when lives are in complete danger or if it is impossible to diffuse the situation using non-lethal force.


They have tasers/stun-guns for situations such as this. Supposing the man was a ''threat'', they should have used non-lethal force. They killed a mentally-ill man, who had a screwdriver. This is different to a gun, because a gun can be fired from far away, but this poor man had a screwdriver. Unless the man was Usain Bolt, or knew how to throw screwdrivers as if they were ninja/throwing-stars, the police should not have used lethal force.

[thatcountrykid]

Right. Your post clearly shows that you'll defend the police force no matter what they do.

The police (in this instance) are clearly in the wrong. The man did not ''charge towards them'', as he barely even took a step forward.

We are fully aware that police officers are humans, however they are trained to defend the public in a certain manner that an ordinary civilian is not expected to do. This means that they would have been trained on how to handle situations similar to this, and I'm pretty sure that they should only use lethal force when lives are in complete danger or if it is impossible to diffuse the situation using non-lethal force.


They have tasers/stun-guns for situations such as this. Supposing the man was a ''threat'', they should have used non-lethal force. They killed a mentally-ill man, who had a screwdriver. This is different to a gun, because a gun can be fired from far away, but this poor man had a screwdriver. Unless the man was Usain Bolt, or knew how to throw screwdrivers as if they were ninja/throwing-stars, the police should not have used lethal force.

Did you see how close he was? The fact that the officer had to turn to fire at him and that he fell behind them shows he was charging!

Tell me how he had Time to reach across his body for the cross draw positioned taser, draw, turn it on and take his one and only shot all within a second. Or reach for his firearm right by his hand when the man Is already charging with his knife. Mentally ill or not he was a threat.

I'll be the first to call out an officer in the wrong but you can be damn sure I'll support on in the right or at least give them a fair chance that you people don't give. You peoe immediately get angry because it's easy.

[fairmaiden]

Did you see how close he was? The fact that the officer had to turn to fire at him and that he fell behind them shows he was charging!

Tell me how he had Time to reach across his body for the cross draw positioned taser, draw, turn it on and take his one and only shot all within a second. Or reach for his firearm right by his hand when the man Is already charging with his knife. Mentally ill or not he was a threat.

I'll be the first to call out an officer in the wrong but you can be damn sure I'll support on in the right or at least give them a fair chance that you people don't give. You peoe immediately get angry because it's easy.

Angry? I'm not angry. I'm saddened by the unnecessary death of a mentally-ill man because of two officers who shot him ''out of fear''.

''I'll be the first to call out an officer'', pff, please, yeah right. You'll defend the police no matter what; there's already been two incidences in which police officers were clearly in the wrong and you've chosen to defend them purely because you have this attachment to them. I'm not going to go into more detail because it would be off topic.

If they had to shoot him, they could have shot him in non-lethal areas, such as the legs, thighs, etc.

I still maintain that he did not charge at the police officers, and it's a shame that the body-cam was so shaky.

The mother told the officers that he was bipolar/schizophrenic yet the police officers still chose to go down that route and kill him unnecessarily. His mental health may have suddenly deteriorated and he was most likely confused and scared for his own life.

[That's the Spirit]

They had a stun gun and then they used their lethal ones?What do they learn in their trainings then?

https://i.imgflip.com/j0f21.jpg (https://imgflip.com/i/j0f21)

[Exocet]

image (https://imgflip.com/i/j0f21)


http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/pew-pew-pew-merica.jpg

[That's the Spirit]

image (http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/pew-pew-pew-merica.jpg)

Aha gold, :D

[phuckphace]

image (http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/pew-pew-pew-merica.jpg)

:lol3:

maybe they should invent a Taser that fires pew-pew bolts like a Star Wars blaster, then maybe cops would use them more often

[CreativeUsername]

Angry? I'm not angry. I'm saddened by the unnecessary death of a mentally-ill man because of two officers who shot him ''out of fear''.



''I'll be the first to call out an officer'', pff, please, yeah right. You'll defend the police no matter what; there's already been two incidences in which police officers were clearly in the wrong and you've chosen to defend them purely because you have this attachment to them. I'm not going to go into more detail because it would be off topic.



If they had to shoot him, they could have shot him in non-lethal areas, such as the legs, thighs, etc.



I still maintain that he did not charge at the police officers, and it's a shame that the body-cam was so shaky.



The mother told the officers that he was bipolar/schizophrenic yet the police officers still chose to go down that route and kill him unnecessarily. His mental health may have suddenly deteriorated and he was most likely confused and scared for his own life.



Did you see how close he was? The fact that the officer had to turn to fire at him and that he fell behind them shows he was charging!



Tell me how he had Time to reach across his body for the cross draw positioned taser, draw, turn it on and take his one and only shot all within a second. Or reach for his firearm right by his hand when the man Is already charging with his knife. Mentally ill or not he was a threat.



I'll be the first to call out an officer in the wrong but you can be damn sure I'll support on in the right or at least give them a fair chance that you people don't give. You peoe immediately get angry because it's easy.


Let me first say that I am not defending the officer, and believe that this was a terrible thing that happened. But I can see how the officers thought there was a threat. It's hard to tell from the video, and I may be wrong, but you need to realize that police officers have to make these decisions in a split second. There was a video released by my local news station where a reporter went through the training officers go through, and you can see how hard it is.

And yes, it's tragic that the victim was mentally ill, and that that may have affected his judgement, but just because he isn't thinking clearly doesn't mean you let him get close to you while he is holding a potential weapon. And yes they have tasers, but that's not something you get the chance to you use when a possible threat is two feet away from you. If you ever get attacked by someone holding a screwdriver, and you have a gun, what would you do?

[Hideous]

Horrible :(

[fairmaiden]

Let me first say that I am not defending the officer, and believe that this was a terrible thing that happened. But I can see how the officers thought there was a threat. It's hard to tell from the video, and I may be wrong, but you need to realize that police officers have to make these decisions in a split second. There was a video released by my local news station where a reporter went through the training officers go through, and you can see how hard it is.

And yes, it's tragic that the victim was mentally ill, and that that may have affected his judgement, but just because he isn't thinking clearly doesn't mean you let him get close to you while he is holding a potential weapon. And yes they have tasers, but that's not something you get the chance to you use when a possible threat is two feet away from you. If you ever get attacked by someone holding a screwdriver, and you have a gun, what would you do?

What ''I would do'' is completely irrelevant, purely because I have not been trained to the standard that police officers are. I thought police officers are trained to deal with situations such as this without causing death. I mistook the stun-gun that was in the officer's holder for a taser. However this means that the officer could have used his stun-gun as stun-guns are designed to be used at close-range, are they not?

[Left Now]

What ''I would do'' is completely irrelevant, purely because I have not been trained to the standard that police officers are. I thought police officers are trained to deal with situations such as this without causing death. I mistook the stun-gun that was in the officer's holder for a taser. However this means that the officer could have used his stun-gun as stun-guns are designed to be used at close-range, are they not?

In here,polices are not permitted to use their guns,unless getting direct permission from main HQ of Security Forces in each province (which only give them this permission when there are serious situations like when something like kidnapping and terror-making turn into a threat against whole National Security which in this matter the subject cannot get over with it so easy),and the thing which makes it worse is that they don't have anything like stun-guns or tasers to use them in these situations neither.

So they only can and have to rely on their own skills and physical conditions to handle the things,which 38% of times end with polices either being killed or injured in some ways but do their work successfully,30% of times polices cannot make it at all,and 30% of times polices will make it out unharmed and doing their job successfully,and 2% of times polices cannot neutralize the subject alive.

But you know what?When it comes to matters like this,polices comparing to the other side are most of the times in a 4 against 1 ratio,so usually everything ends well with criminal(s) surrender himself(themselves).

[CreativeUsername]

What ''I would do'' is completely irrelevant, purely because I have not been trained to the standard that police officers are. I thought police officers are trained to deal with situations such as this without causing death. I mistook the stun-gun that was in the officer's holder for a taser. However this means that the officer could have used his stun-gun as stun-guns are designed to be used at close-range, are they not?


My point is that even if you had the training, when you are in a high stress situation, your instincts take over, and you protect your life.

[fairmaiden]

In here,polices are not permitted to use their guns,unless getting direct permission from main HQ of Security Forces in each province (which only give them this permission when there are serious situations like when something like kidnapping and terror-making turn into a threat against whole National Security which in this matter the subject cannot get over with it so easy),and the thing which makes it worse is that they don't have anything like stun-guns or tasers to use them in these situations neither.

So they only can and have to rely on their own skills and physical conditions to handle the things,which 38% of times end with polices either being killed or injured in some ways but do their work successfully,30% of times polices cannot make it at all,and 30% of times polices will make it out unharmed and doing their job successfully,and 2% of times polices cannot neutralize the subject alive.

But you know what?When it comes to matters like this,polices comparing to the other side are most of the times in a 4 against 1 ratio,so usually everything ends well with criminal(s) surrender himself(themselves).
I suppose this proves that the police force where you live are trained very well and can usually handle high stress situations without causing death :)

My point is that even if you had the training, when you are in a high stress situation, your instincts take over, and you protect your life.
I was under the impression that they are trained to learn to deal with high stress situations. If they aren't, then they wouldn't be any different to the average civilian.

[thatcountrykid]

I suppose this proves that the police force where you live are trained very well and can usually handle high stress situations without causing death :)


I was under the impression that they are trained to learn to deal with high stress situations. If they aren't, then they wouldn't be any different to the average civilian.

Oh don't even fucking go there. How many people are killed by the police and how many are arrested. Tell me that. If they were like you say they are every person getting pulled over would be shot because every call, every stop, and every street they drive on duty is a high stress situation

[CreativeUsername]

I was under the impression that they are trained to learn to deal with high stress situations. If they aren't, then they wouldn't be any different to the average civilian.


I can see that you are too stubborn to at least not be so extreme. You make it out that all cops are Devils, and then you try to say they're important.

[SethfromMI]

it is a touchy subject. we can say the police overreacted, but we are not in their shoes. we can say we would have done it differently, but doing it differently as a police officer can be the difference between you living and going home to your family and your family having to bury you. not an easy choice to make and something we should take into consideration before we jump to conclusions

[CreativeUsername]

it is a touchy subject. we can say the police overreacted, but we are not in their shoes. we can say we would have done it differently, but doing it differently as a police officer can be the difference between you living and going home to your family and your family having to bury you. not an easy choice to make and something we should take into consideration before we jump to conclusions


Thank you. Exactly what I was trying to say.

[fairmaiden]

Oh don't even fucking go there. How many people are killed by the police and how many are arrested. Tell me that. If they were like you say they are every person getting pulled over would be shot because every call, every stop, and every street they drive on duty is a high stress situation
What is the point of training if they're not taught how to deal with high-stress situations? Sure, pretty much every situation is ''high-stress'', but isn't that why they are called out to restore order?

My point is, I was under the impression that police officers are taught how to deal with situations similar to this with non-lethal force.
I can see that you are too stubborn to at least not be so extreme. You make it out that all cops are Devils, and then you try to say they're important.
Lmfao what? When did I say all cops are devils? I have stated numerous times that my uncle was a police commissioner and I have various other family members who are currently in the police force (http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3021746&postcount=24). I have no issues with the police force (as a whole) whatsoever. I have problems with individuals who have not done their job properly, thus leading to an unnecessary death.

If being ''stubborn'' means that I don't like to see innocent people killed, then sure, I'm pretty damn ''stubborn''.

edit; And of course police are important. I've never said that they aren't important, so stop putting words in my mouth. You can have your opinion, and I'll have mine.

[Left Now]

I suppose this proves that the police force where you live are trained very well and can usually handle high stress situations without causing death :)

Actually not as well as American Polices are,but I think being unable to use their guns without direct permission has helped them to handle these types of situations better,because even shooting one bullet in the air without permission and totally acceptable reason can have terrible consequences for the officer.

However as I said,being unable to use guns has both its own advantages and disadvantages,as for here I can say its advantages have been more.

In our country possession of guns are strictly illegal for public in all urban and rural areas,so this has helped the security in a way too.On the other hand,possession of hunting rifles are permitted only under certain circumstances.

[CreativeUsername]

What is the point of training if they're not taught how to deal with high-stress situations? Sure, pretty much every situation is ''high-stress'', but isn't that why they are called out to restore order?

My point is, I was under the impression that police officers are taught how to deal with situations similar to this with non-lethal force.

Lmfao what? When did I say all cops are devils? I have stated numerous times that my uncle was a police commissioner and I have various other family members who are currently in the police force (http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3021746&postcount=24). I have no issues with the police force (as a whole) whatsoever. I have problems with individuals who have not done their job properly, thus leading to an unnecessary death.

If being ''stubborn'' means that I don't like to see innocent people killed, then sure, I'm pretty damn ''stubborn''.

edit; And of course police are important. I've never said that they aren't important, so stop putting words in my mouth. You can have your opinion, and I'll have mine.


My point was that can't you even see how you might be a little extreme. And when I say your too stubborn, I am saying that you can't even admit you were even ever so slightly wrong. And no you didn't call al cops Devils, but you attacked the officers in both of these threads and wouldn't back down. In my mind, that makes it seem like you don't like cops. My point was that both sides are right, you just need to not be so extreme. Can you at least admit that there was a chance that the officers were under attack. At least admit that there is a slight chance that they may have done not the right thing, but not the wrong thing either.

Yes, this event was tragic. And maybe they acted in the wrong, but you need to be able to keep an open mind that maybe that was the only thing they could have done. You should listen to the This American Life episode called Cops See It Differently. It might make you a little bit smarter.

[fairmaiden]

My point was that can't you even see how you might be a little extreme. And when I say your too stubborn, I am saying that you can't even admit you were even ever so slightly wrong. And no you didn't call al cops Devils, but you attacked the officers in both of these threads and wouldn't back down. In my mind, that makes it seem like you don't like cops. My point was that both sides are right, you just need to not be so extreme. Can you at least admit that there was a chance that the officers were under attack. At least admit that there is a slight chance that they may have done not the right thing, but not the wrong thing either.

Yes, this event was tragic. And maybe they acted in the wrong, but you need to be able to keep an open mind that maybe that was the only thing they could have done. You should listen to the This American Life episode called Cops See It Differently. It might make you a little bit smarter.
I'm not being extreme. I have simply stated that I think those police officers handled the situation in the wrong way, and there was no need for them to shoot the man. I don't see what's extreme about that.

Why should I back down? If I believe in something then there is no need for me to back down. It's my opinion, and if you don't like it then that's your problem.

Yep, I didn't back down on that other thread either. Why? Because it was my opinion, therefore I do not have to take back my words or take my responses down for your sake.

For the last time, I do not hate cops! Just because I don't agree with the actions of few doesn't mean that I don't agree with the actions of many. Police officers have an important role in society, and I do respect them. However, I do not respect those who do wrong, so I am entitled to voice my opinion on them.

You seem to have an issue with the fact that I speak my mind. You are entitled to your opinion as I am mine.