IL - Sonya Massey Shot To Death In Her Own Home by Sangamon County Deputy After Calling to Report a Prowler, Springfield 6 July 2024

[Artis]

Unfortunately, there are two types of police officers: those who take an oath to ensure the safety of the citizens they are hired to protect and those who see the citizenry as the enemy. It appears that Grayson is firmly in the second camp. And many police forces seem to hire those officers because they are enthusiastic about their careers. Many of those officers are also former military vets who are trained to kill not deescalate a situation. Living in Canada, I can safely say that the hiring process for police officers is pretty exacting. They have the usual requirements but they lean heavily into psychological screening as well. Being a former military member isn't always a plus for the applicant. The testing is stringent and very few get through that would fit Grayson's profile. A caveat, I would say though, is that our police don't assume that everyone and his brother has a weapon readily available to them which I suppose makes every call a possible fatal confrontation. However, it's not the cop who ends up dying most of the time.

Instead of spending time on the range police officers should be taking courses on how to identify individuals who are undergoing a psychic breakdown to properly assess the situation. No more shooting first and asking questions later or reverting to the old saw of 'I feared for my safety'. If you go to every situation with that mindset, you are in the wrong line of business.

This situation reminds me of two other needless deaths. One being Daniel Shaver who was shot multiple times after having conflicting orders hurled at him while he was instructed to crawl along the floor. The other was a case in Toronto where a young man called Sammy Yatim who was clearly in the throws of a mental breakdown was shot multiple times by late-to-the-scene Officer James Forcillo. Link to 10 years later inquest:

Sammy Yatim inquest: Speaking for the dead, or a Toronto police marketing campaign?

What do coroner’s inquests do, what don’t they do, and why are they often dominated by police perspectives rather than the community’s or the victim’s?

theconversation.com

The murder of Daniel Shaver is one of the best examples of what I've been stressing. If anyone here hasn't seen the video, go look for it. Probably pulled from Youtube but I'm sure it's on other platforms. Absolute nightmare. Same for the horrendous beating murder of Kelly Thomas. In both cases, the cops got off.

 

[branmuffin]

I mentioned this case and Sonya's "rebuke" phrase to my husband. He was raised a devout Catholic, and he instantly thought she intended to throw the boiling water on the officer, because apparently that phrase is what a Catholic says before throwing holy water on someone. While I don't think Sonya intended to threaten the officer, it makes it more understandable that he thought she was.

Just a completely different perspective, and one I never knew about.

Still doesn't explain why he didn't just back out of her house and leave her alone, though.
"Heya...look, we're done here and none of us need to do anything we can't undo. There's no sign of a prowler and we LEOs have other places to be, so we'll see ourselves out now. You take care and call us again if you feel you need to."

As a former Catholic I do not remember that phrase being used other than a version of it in the Confirmation ceremony (Do you renounce Satan, and all his works and empty promises?). Or if a priest is dousing someone who has been taken over by Satan, but the only time I ever saw that was in the Exorcist. I believe the phrase is much more likely to be used by Christian Evangelists and other religious groups like Baptists.

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

When I was a small child I overheard my parents talking about a police officer who shot a small child several times because the tot was playing with his Dad's keys. Apparently "I thought my life was in danger" worked and he was acquitted. I've searched the web a few times for the scant details I recall -which may be completely erroneous as it was more years ago than I care to admit- but all I find are other stories of police shootings.
Problem is, of course, that if someone hates or is afraid of small children, dogs, elderly people, homeless people, mentally ill people, the blind and the rebellious, they're not suitable to be police officers. Whether they realize it when they sign up or not, wearing a badge and a gun will not make them kind or brave; it will only make their aversions and fears stronger.