# Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread #2 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531 "2020-06-23T20:29:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 117
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2328 "2021-12-23T18:56:32Z")
[https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/former-wisconsin-children-s-court-judge-sentenced-to-federal-prison-for-distributing-child-pornography-from-county-courthouse/ar-AAS5HhF](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/former-wisconsin-children-s-court-judge-sentenced-to-federal-prison-for-distributing-child-pornography-from-county-courthouse/ar-AAS5HhF) Children’s Court Judge…child porn in the court from the damn courthouse. Irony. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2329 "2021-12-23T18:57:33Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Children’s Court Judge…child porn in the court from the damn courthouse. Irony. “Irony” is the mildest possible term for this horror. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2330 "2021-12-23T20:22:10Z")
[https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/former-police-officer-kim-potter-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-in-daunte-wrights-death/ar-AAS67Ah?li=BBnb7Kz](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/former-police-officer-kim-potter-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-in-daunte-wrights-death/ar-AAS67Ah?li=BBnb7Kz) > Defense attorneys said Potter [mistook her firearm for a Taser]but was justified in using deadly force to prevent another officer from being injured. “She didn’t do it, but if she did do it, it was OK” I guess the jury did not see it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2331 "2021-12-23T20:34:08Z")
Do you think they jury reached the correct verdicts, **Typo**? Manslaughter not murder, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2332 "2021-12-23T21:12:38Z")
No, I do not. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2333 "2021-12-23T21:24:19Z")
Was Murder ever on the table? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2334 "2021-12-23T23:49:22Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > [MSN](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/former-wisconsin-children-s-court-judge-sentenced-to-federal-prison-for-distributing-child-pornography-from-county-courthouse/ar-AAS5HhF) > > Children’s Court Judge…child porn in the court from the damn courthouse. Irony. 12 to 15, fucking hell, this shitbag needs _real_ punishment ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2335 "2021-12-24T02:11:47Z")
Los Angeles: > **[LA police kill teen girl while firing shots at male suspect](https://apnews.com/article/shootings-los-angeles-hollywood-de8207bf9c584a60a6d6a8e47563d5a9)** > > LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police fatally shot a 14-year-old girl who was inside a clothing store dressing room Thursday as they fired at a suspect who had assaulted a woman earlier, authorities said. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2336 "2021-12-24T07:38:40Z")
I am sure the police are conducting a thorough investigation…of the 14 year old girl. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2337 "2021-12-24T10:14:47Z")
Looks like the dressing room was behind what appeared to be a solid wall. It wasn’t. But the cops, like any other shooter, should have known what was behind their intended target before firing. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2338 "2021-12-24T17:36:59Z")
The suspect wasn’t even armed! Why is the _first_ response always to fire away? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2339 "2021-12-24T19:46:02Z")
When you have a hammer, all problems look like nails. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2340 "2021-12-24T22:58:30Z")
Was it a black nail? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2341 "2021-12-25T00:39:04Z")
We have a name: Valentina Orellana-Peralta, RIP. We also have some statistics: > [@](#): > > LAPD officers have shot at least 37 people — 17 of them fatally — in 2021 after another police shooting occurred on Friday, according to [the Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-12-24/14-year-old-girl-killed-by-lapd-in-burlington-shooting-identified). Those figures mark a dramatic rise in cases where officers shot or killed people in either of the last two years — 27 people were shot and 7 of them killed by LA police in all of 2020. In 2019, officers shot 26 people, killing 12. > > In the last week, LA officers have killed four people — including two men in separate incidents on Saturday, the newspaper reported. Complete story here: > **[Coroner IDs girl killed by police in Los Angeles shooting](https://apnews.com/article/police-shootings-los-angeles-hollywood-a8e0d5c9cc3d880cf2704d72f40f3539)** > > The coroner’s office has identified the 14-year-old girl who was fatally shot by Los Angeles police Thursday when officers fired on an assault suspect and a bullet went through the wall and struck the girl as she was in a clothing store dressing... ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2342 "2021-12-25T01:21:30Z")
FWIW: **Brian Wells** , the “pizza bomber.” As shown on video, the police have him on his butt, hands cuffed behind his back. They’ve cut away his shirt to see a bomb: two pipe bombs and two kitchen timers; one with a metal bar glued to the dial so that it will make contact and trigger the bomb. They _could_ stick a pencil in there to prevent that contact from occurring - no fiddling that might trigger the bomb - but instead they stand back and aim their weapons on Wells as his time runs out. Imagine begging for help from “the good guys,” just to see them only know how to keep you on their gunsights. **Rogel Aguilera-Mederos** was a truck driver who, for some reason passed up a runaway truck ditch and caused a flaming wreck that killed four people. Sentenced to 110 years (Derek Chauvin got 22.5 by comparison). Tell that to the “cops shouldn’t be punished for split-second decisions” crowd. Also, it sure looks like the Teamsters should double the salary to hire whoever is heading the police union. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2343 "2021-12-25T02:59:45Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > As shown on video, the police have him on his butt, hands cuffed behind his back. They’ve cut away his shirt to see a bomb: two pipe bombs and two kitchen timers; one with a metal bar glued to the dial so that it will make contact and trigger the bomb. They _could_ stick a pencil in there to prevent that contact from occurring - no fiddling that might trigger the bomb This was such a bizarre case, though. I think I’d be inclined to give the police a pass on not knowing what the hell to do in this situation. If it was that obvious how to disarm it and he was really a victim rather than a co-conspirator, couldn’t he have done it himself before he was apprehended and handcuffed? Or was it behind his back or something? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2344 "2021-12-25T06:32:39Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > **Rogel Aguilera-Mederos** was a truck driver who, for some reason passed up a runaway truck ditch and caused a flaming wreck that killed four people. Sentenced to 110 years (Derek Chauvin got 22.5 by comparison). There are a couple of layers to this, though. For starters, the driver with the unfortunate initials was aware well in advance that his brakes were starting to fail. And those big trucks can be slowed down to a significant extent with the engine (as he was coming down out of the mountains, not as he was approaching the traffic jam). What appears to me to be the real culprit is the bossman. Rogel continued driving at fairly high speed with an iffy truck. For some workers, it is not possible to assess what the consequences of doing the responsible thing that will prevent you from getting the job done quickly/on time are. In other words, we can only assume that he continued on the road because he was concerned about either losing his job or at least getting his pay docked. This much is beyond his control, and possibly even somewhat outside the control of lower management, but Rogel is the one who pays the price for acting responsibly or for causing the disaster, while the people above him who drove the driver to make bad decisions face no consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2345 "2021-12-26T16:09:43Z")
An example of a non-controversial encounter between law enforcement and civilians: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zj1sCDMIMhQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Officer Buys Hat and Gloves for a Woman Caught Shoplifting") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj1sCDMIMhQ) I commend Officer Hjellming; this is what good policing looks and sounds like. He disrupted lives as little as possible and made his _entire_ community safer and better. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2346 "2021-12-27T22:40:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I commend Officer Hjellming; this is what good policing looks and sounds like. He disrupted lives as little as possible and made his _entire_ community safer and better. I would be more impressed if wasn’t a white girl. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/2347 "2021-12-28T06:06:38Z")
Some video now available of police shooting of 14 year old Valentina Orellana-Peralta: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bjcdanUhmSY/maxresdefault.jpg "North Hollywood Area OIS 12/23/21 (NRF065-21)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjcdanUhmSY) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531.md?page=116) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531.md?page=118)