SC - Walter Scott, 50, fatally shot by North Charleston PD officer, 4 April 2015 - #1

[LietKynes]

And now Sharpton is on again: http://t.co/JbmNMiJrkX

RSBM

Pity.

 

[al66pine]

Re: possibility of PD "coverup"

High enough that they accepted the statements that they did CPR.
And there has beenno discussion at this point of any investigation of them....

sbm bbm
(Running several hrs behind in reading thread.)

Who is 'they'? Top admin in that PD? What does 'accepting the statements' mean?

Does Officer Slager being charged w murder mean PD top admin PD 'accepted' his statements? Quite the opposite, imo.
IIUC, PD chain of command investigated the employment angle sufficiently to terminate him.
IDK what further consequences will occur/did occur in aftermath (e.g., employment benefits, pension, health ins, etc).
My non-sci. WAG: there may be some union involvement, required notices, etc. re emp. bene's, etc.

What more do you think PD chain of command should do, as far as Officer Slager is concerned?

Personally awaiting more info about other LEOs at scene, their reports, actions, and PD admin response.
JM2cts.

 

[LietKynes]

Have you seen the video with male cops running into a California desert unprepared and with no plan, chasing a guy on horseback, even though there was a helicopter present to advise them where the guy was headed? At least 8 - 10 male cops, no females that I could determine. Gotta figure the females were to smart to put themselves in such a stupid, imo, position. Surely they were waiting for further info before putting themselves in harms way? Atta girl.

Snipped for brevity. Emphasis mine

That the one where the perp had his behind 'whupped' ? Moral of the story... don't steal !!!
:moo:

www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3033027/Probe-ordered-deputies-beating-fleeing-horseman.html

www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Ma...ned-by-Sheriffs-Deputies-in-IE-299250951.html

During a search on foot, with off-road vehicles and by helicopter, deputies learned the suspect had stolen a horse and rode it on dirt trails through rugged, steep terrain, causing numerous injuries to the horse.

Off-topic , but that horse is really pretty ; poor thing !

 

[KaaBoom]

I don't have any real sympathy for Scott, he never should have scuffled with the police or tried to run. What bothers me is that the LEO KNEW he was breaking the law and he didn't care, he may have tried to plant evidence and he definitely didn't think twice about lying.

The whole thing about not shooting a fleeing criminal in the back started in the late 70's, before that police could often use deadly force to apprehend fleeing unarmed felons. If that were still the case I would not have a problem with this shooting.

That was the fleeing felon rule. Based on English common law, where all felonies were punishable by death. So use of lethal force to stop a fleeing felon was considered reasonable. Since by the 1970s most felonies were no longer considered capital offenses, the Supreme Court ended the practice.

Regardless, the Walter Scott shooting would not have been justified under the fleeing felon rule. Since I have seen no evidence that he was a felony suspect. Walter Scott was shot over a supposed minor traffic violation. Before the 1970s a police officer would have been fired for even pulling his gun out for something so minor as a traffic violation, let alone shooting somebody over a defective tail light. Police just didn't do that type of thing in those days.

Police shootings are becoming more common, not less.

 

[Sonya610]

Surely they were waiting for further info before putting themselves in harms way? Atta girl.

Uhhh...pretty sure with a manhunt involving that many officers they have a boss that TELLS them what to do. The females can't just "sit out" cause they want to, their higher ups decide the course of action.

 

[Cubby]

Feidin Santana: I nearly erased Scott shooting video out of fear

--------------------------

"I ... thought about erasing the video," Santana told MSNBC's "All in With Chris Hayes" in an interview that aired Wednesday evening. "I felt that my life, with this information, might be in danger."

"I know the cop didn't do ... the right thing. And like I say, I feel kind of scared about that," he added.

---------------------------------

Santana, 23, also told NBC on Thursday that he didn't see Scott grab the officer's Taser -- an account that doesn't match what the officer told dispatchers about what led to the shooting following a traffic stop.

He said he ultimately revealed the video because what he saw -- a police officer shooting a man who was running away -- didn't match initial reports of the incident.

"As you can see in the video, the police officer just shot him in the back. ... And I knew right away that I had something in my hands," Santana told NBC's Lester Holt on Wednesday.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/09/us/south-carolina-witness-video/index.html

I'm so glad Santana did the right thing and found the courage to come forward with his video. We need more people like him. Thank you, Feiden!!!

 

[SeeAlice]

I don't believe that is attorney tale-telling. For what it is worth, I have been pulled over and quested by the police more then once, and given a warnings for my tail light being out. I do not drive a car without working lights. If my tail light is out, I fix it immediately myself. So when the cops left I checked my lights, and found them all to be illuminating properly.

So I know for a fact that cops do make this stuff up, to pull cars over.

They also will pull over a 60 year old white female with 2 children in the car over for a cracked taillight. (ETA - not me! I'm still 29!)

I was still pretty footloose when my state discontinued requiring all motor vehicles be inspected annually and have the requisite inspection stickers affixed, so this is JMO for purposes of discussion. I assume it was argued that annual inspection stickers were a tax. We discontinued them and then expected LE officers to do spot-checks instead. Disregarding whether they served a valid purpose - highway safety, air pollution control, etc. - and that funds went to maintaining our roads...

Was the new system inherently unfair to particular demographics? (Choose your own: race, gender, annual income, education.)

I say a piece of red tinted acrylic can't be inherently skewed to one demographic or another.

Then it turns into the questions of:

- Who is more likely to be driving with unsafe, non-standard safety equipment on their vehicle?
- Is it fair (right, moral, whatever word you want) to
~ Expect cops to do this job in addition to other responsibilities?
~ Expect all vehicle owners & operators maintain some minimum standards of safety?


(Apologies. This came out a lot better in a face-to-face discussion I had earlier. There really is a valid point somewhere in there.)


JMO

 

[Woodland]

Snipped for brevity. Emphasis mine

That the one where the perp had his behind 'whupped' ? Moral of the story... don't steal !!!
:moo:

Snipped for brevity.

Do you have a statute regarding a perp should have his behind whupped (in the video it's an aggravated assault) for fleeing? Or is that just a given in today's policing world, a given everyone should comply and agree with?

 

[Woodland]

Uhhh...pretty sure with a manhunt involving that many officers they have a boss that TELLS them what to do. The females can't just "sit out" cause they want to, their higher ups decide the course of action.

Chuckles - if I was the boss I would have given the order to stand down and wait for a plan. Just to prevent harm to the testosterone fueled cops if nothing else - who lets unprepared cops run into a desert with a helicopter already hovering overhead? Can see that not happening with a male boss though. Pretty sure females cops do know better and sit certain incidents out. It would be the smart thing to do imo.

 

[Cubby]

The story told to dispatch sounded scripted as well.....moo

......"he grabbed my taser"......liar liar.....I hate liars.

FWIW, the video does appear to show Mr. Scott had reached for something. Something which fell to the ground prior to his turning and running. Even if he grabbed for it, he never had it and was clearly no danger to the cop. Add me to the list of wondering why the cop used the bullets instead of chasing him.

 

[Sonya610]

Chuckles - if I was the boss I would have given the order to stand down and wait for a plan. Just to prevent harm to the testosterone fueled cops if nothing else - who lets unprepared cops run into a desert with a helicopter already hovering overhead? Can see that not happening with a male boss though. Pretty sure females cops do know better and sit certain incidents out. It would be the smart thing to do imo.

Not sure why this is turning into a male bashing rant. I don't think it is something to "chuckle" about and I don't think it is appropriate.

 

[LietKynes]

Snipped for brevity.

Do you have a statute regarding a perp should have his behind whupped (in the video it's an aggravated assault) for fleeing? Or is that just a given in today's policing world, a given everyone should comply and agree with?

RSBM

Well you may have a point; that pounding given to the perp could have been a little overboard ; but in the video in the 2nd link the perp was really kicking the crap out of that horse--- we used to own horses growing up and I didn't like what I saw on that clip.

Thus far I haven't had any incidents with law enforcement that have changed the way I view them. A few speeding 'warnings' and the one time myself and a younger sibling were given a ride back home by a nice officer after the car was stuck in a snowstorm-- So I possibly might possess some kind of 'tunnel vision' where one thinks all law enforcement act professionally, based on personal encounters.
IMO

 

[Woodland]

Uhhh...pretty sure with a manhunt involving that many officers they have a boss that TELLS them what to do. The females can't just "sit out" cause they want to, their higher ups decide the course of action.

You can scroll on by - your option.

 

[KaaBoom]

Where has there been a coverup, in your opinion?

 

[Woodland]

RSBM

Well you may have a point; that pounding given to the perp may have been a little overboard ; but in the video in the 2nd link the perp was really kicking the crap out of that horse--- we used to own horses growing up and I didn't like what I saw on that clip.

Thus far I haven't had any incidents with law enforcement that have changed the way I view them. A few speeding 'warnings' and the one time myself and a younger sibling were given a ride back home by a nice officer after the car was stuck in a snowstorm-- So I possibly might possess some kind of 'tunnel vision' where one thinks all law enforcement act professionally, based on personal encounters.
IMO

Did not see the perp kicking the crap out of the horse. Was that before he got on it? It wasn't after. Is it linked in the relevant thread?

 

[Sonya610]

Well you may have a point; that pounding given to the perp could have been a little overboard ; but in the video in the 2nd link the perp was really kicking the crap out of that horse--- we used to own horses growing up and I didn't like what I saw on that clip.

Apparently that guy was also convicted of animal cruelty when he shot a dog. If anyone deserved to get the &%$# beaten out of them it was that guy.

 

[Cubby]

Mark Geragos (youtube video, quoted below):

“It’s going to be the usual script that they read from. The fact remains that he was pulled over for a broken tail light.”

“You know, my father was a prosecutor for many years [and] used to say, there’s more guys in state prison for broken tail lights than any other offense. Broken tail light means go hassle somebody of color. That’s what it’s code for go pull over — some B.S. justification.”​

Brother points out the tail light wasn't broken. link

IDK that tail light broken means broken in a cracked or plastic missing way. It could mean it wasn't working, in which case a photo of the car with the lights off doesn't mean anything.

I'm not going to make the leap that because the shooting was unneccesary the traffic stop was bogus also.

 

[LietKynes]

Did not see the perp kicking the crap out of the horse. Was that before he got on it? It wasn't after. Is it linked in the relevant thread?

RSBM


www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Ma...ned-by-Sheriffs-Deputies-in-IE-299250951.html

In the above link, (video in the article) when F. J. Pusok is riding the horse into the desert, he's kicking in the sides and the horse is continuously "startling". Our horses used to do that when one of our neighbor kids wanted to ride and was kicking her too hard. My horse would 'flinch' and toss her head up in the air-- it meant she didn't like being kicked so hard.

Another thought... in the same video I noticed there were 3 Af. Am. deputies and maybe 4 or 5 white ones. So why doesn't the press say anything about that ?
Just hate it when the media tries to turn everything into a race war. It's as if they want to stir up trouble. :gaah: End of rant.

But this discussion about Pusok might be too off-topic.

:moo:

 

[Tawny]

Yeah, THIS COP tried to cover up his actions. How is that indicative that it goes "high up"? They fired and arrested him. That's not a cover up. That's appropriate action...

 

[Cubby]

A person who doesn't like or is afraid of cops.
Someone with a warrant against them. Allegedly there was a warrant due to nonpayment of child support.

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, and forgive me if it is down thread somewhere and I have yet to catch up..... It's my understanding when an NCP has a warrant out for unpaid child support they remain incarcerated until they make a payment of some sort. IIRC a minimum payment determined by a judge as a condition of release.

Clearly he ran because he didn't want to go to jail.... and no reason for the cop shooting him.