cops acquitted in sean bell case- Page 2

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 4/25/08 at 1:53pm

Thanks Jane!!

[WOSQ]

Posted: 4/25/08 at 3:51pm

You Jane. He Jonny. The people who shot Sean Bell are free.

Will there be a civil trial which is the way Mister Simpson finally was allowed to face the music?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 4/25/08 at 3:53pm

first the feds have to decide if they'll go after them.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/25/08 at 6:02pm

The one who fired 31 shots should never have been a cop. He had a history of violent outburts while in uniform

Normally I side with the cops but this clown should have had the book thrown at him. The others should have been given stiff fines & suspensions.

The main problem, from what I have read , was the prosecution was almost as bad as in the OJ case & many of their witnesses contradicted each other. Federal charges will probably follow.

[misschung]

Posted: 4/25/08 at 6:05pm

This whole thing makes me sick.

And didn't they say that they were correct to fire shots because "some of the people outside the club could have possibly been armed"

What kind of sense does that make?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/25/08 at 6:36pm

This makes me sick.

[Clarinetbiter135]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 2:55am

I thought I read somewhere that there was currently a 50 million dollar lawsuit brought on the NYPD from the family. Which, more than likely, they will win a good portion of. The difference between a crim. trial and a civil trial is that in a crim trial the evidence has to prove 'beyond a reasonable doubt' while the standards met for a civil trial are much lower. And plus, these guys waived their right of a jury, so it was just a judge weighing the evidence.

I also read somewhere that the fact that the judge couldn't even consider the fact that 50 bullets were fired. Which just makes me a little sick to my stomach.....

[DG]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 7:09pm

"Sharpton vows to 'close this city' after officer acquittals"
Think he can do it?

[nmartin]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 7:18pm

Papa, I'm not a cop ,but can I get in on this booze and coke fueled hooker(hustler for me)-fest?

[mc1227]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 9:37pm

"And what sort of policeman cannot impair a possible suspect with only a shot or two?"

Maybe the kind that is being run down with a vehicle that the driver won't stop after 1 or 2 warning shots. Everyone in that car had a history with firearms and trouble. It's very unfortunate that someone had to die, but if they cooperated when told to, this never would have happened. Let's not make Sean Bell out to be holier than he was. If these policemen were your brothers or husbands or fathers, you might be able to see it a bit differently. If my life is threatened by someone, then I am going to do whatever it takes to save it. It's human nature and all the training in the world isn't going to change that.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 9:43pm

I agree, mc. What we have in this country for law enforcement is the police. That's what we have. If they ask you to stop, and you don't, then you're asking for trouble.

[mc1227]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 9:47pm

I would also like to see Al Sharpton and other "leaders" come to the assistance of the policemen who risk their lives to keep people safe every day. I know we will never see that happen with a white officer, but he can at least do it with a black officer.

[BkCollector]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 9:48pm

THat's craziness. You guys are waaay to into authority. It gets abused all the time, and only when you call people on it will it stop. It wont go away on your own.

WHY ARENT YOU OUTRAGED YOU SHEEP!

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 9:53pm

Who ya gonna call? The police!

[mc1227]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 9:57pm

Next time you're being assaulted, robbed, raped, etc, call the Kalua bar. I'm sure someone there will help you. I'm not outraged because the very double standard that people view "authority" exists in our everyday lives. When you're in trouble the first call is to authority. You need to live by the rules in order to keep order. Sean Bell's death is an unfortunate incident, but the streets of NYC are safer than if 3 policemen doing their jobs were put into jail. Are there abuses of power? Yes, of course. While 50 shots may seem excessive, we have not heard the entire truth from media, who love to stir the racial pot. This was NOT a racial incident. If these young men listened to authority, did not have tinted windows (which last time I heard were against the law), this incident would not have happened. End of story. The police have the right to protect themselves when they feel they are under threat. I guess they should be happy with the 30K a year they get for putting their lives on the line every day, but its not so easy. Try it sometime and then tell me if you feel the same way.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 9:59pm

Very well said, mc.

[BkCollector]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 10:07pm

You're naive if you think this wasn't racially/socially motivated.

And don't give me that "two of the cops were black" crap.

This is more about class than race.

[DG]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 10:37pm

"This is more about class"

Like the fact that they were getting into a fight outside a strip club at four in the morning?

I agree.

"Whatever happened to class?"

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 10:40pm

You're making me laugh, DG!

[DG]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 10:42pm

Even though I know what BK is getting at, it still gripes me. Too much victimization for my taste.

[BkCollector]

Posted: 4/26/08 at 11:00pm

Well then DG, I guess you're just part of the problem instead of the solution.

Be proud.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 12:59am

*rolls eyes*

[mc1227]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 8:06am

BK, the solution is already there. The problem is that people like you think you are above it. You're not.

[etoile]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 5:50pm

"And what sort of policeman cannot impair a possible suspect with only a shot or two?" Police don't shoot to impair.

How much television and movies do people watch when they feel the goal of using lethal force is to impair? The concept of a Marshal Matt Dillon winging or shooting a Colt out of someone's hand from 50 yards away is the stuff of make-believe.

Is there a police officer alive that doesn't understand the potential for life altering ramifications each time he pulls a weapon out of its holster? Yet, he's still willing to do the job.

When a police officer in the wee dark hours of the night makes that decision in the fraction of a nano second, while his heart is pounding and his breathing is sporadic and his adrenalin is pumping, when he makes that decision that will be reviewed and picked apart for years in the courts, in the media, in precincts, in churches, on talk shows, message boards, blogs and can result in physical, emotional and financial consequences, when he makes that decision to prevent death or injury to himself or another by the use of lethal force, then the intent of that force is to be lethal. When you perceive the intent that deadly force is being used, and a vehicle can most certainly be a deadly weapon, then you meet it with deadly force.

Police don't shoot to warn, to scare, to wing, or to impair. They shoot to kill. That's what they're taught. That's how they're trained. If people take issue with that, then I suggest they take it up with their state legislators since that's where the authority, responsibility, and privilege to use force has stemmed.

You make that decision to use deadly force then you follow through with that force until you determine the threat no longer exist. As long as you feel the threat is continuing you keep firing your weapon until that threat has stopped, or until you're incapacitated, or until you run out of ammunition. Isn't that what you would want and expect if it was you or your loved one in danger? Nothing less. Sometimes that might mean firing more than 50 rounds. Excessive? I don't know. I wasn't there, and I suspect neither was anyone else posting in this thread.

The reality of police work is that they are often dealing with people who are non-compliant. Police don't go to work each day hoping for any type of confrontation, whether it be verbal, physical, or heaven forbid lethal. Confrontation is the nature of some enforcement because unfortunately not everyone is compliant. Some people don't want to do the right thing. They want to do what they want to do, and that leads to the conflict. Should the police ignore their bad behavior? Or ignore the behavior because someone's a bridegroom? And for each bridegroom who is a husband to be, father, brother, or someone's son, there is also a police officer who is a husband, father, brother, and someone's son and who at the end of his shift just wants to go home safely and in one piece. He doesn't want to shoot anyone but he certainly doesn't want to be anyone's target. Nor should he be. He'd rather be judged by twelve strangers than carried by six friends.

Seems in this case it was one judge who heard all the testimony and evidence and ruled to acquit. So since I wasn't in the courtroom privy to the same information as the judge, and I wasn't at the scene of the shooting at 4am, then I'm not going to pass any further judgment on these officers.

Behavior has consequences and if civil action is warranted I'm sure we'll all read about it. I haven't walked a mile in these officers' shoes so I'm willing to let the courts play it out. I feel the police in New York City have an extremely difficult job. They have my admiration, my respect, my thanks and my compliance.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 5:53pm

Great post, etoile.
Thank you.

This case has made me so angry.