# Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942 "2014-10-10T07:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 769
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15363 "2019-10-09T19:17:46Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Yeah, because three guys drove five hours from Louisiana to Texas to buy marijuana. And the Guyger defense never thought that it was important to mention the guy’s alleged past drug dealings. The problem with conspiracy theories is, you need evidence to give 'em legs. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15364 "2019-10-09T21:40:00Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The problem with conspiracy theories is, you need evidence to give 'em legs. The problem with conspiracy theories is that you do not need evidence to give them legs. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15365 "2019-10-11T15:37:52Z")
[Former Georgia police chief, family indicted in citation extortion scheme](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/former-georgia-police-chief-family-indicted-in-citation-extortion-scheme/ar-AAIBeCP) > [@](#): > > A former police chief, court clerk, and an officer - all family - have been indicted in an alleged scheme to extort several people, threatening severe charges and jail time if victims didn’t comply. Article states they were doing it 8 years. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15366 "2019-10-11T16:01:40Z")
I’m sure they were the only bad apples, and that absolutely nobody else in the Police Department knew about it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15367 "2019-10-12T22:24:19Z")
A white Fort Worth officer fatally shot a black woman inside her home early Saturday morning after police were called to the house to do a welfare check. > [@](#): > > Police said in the statement the officer, who joined the department in April 2018, saw a person standing inside the home near a window. > > “Perceiving a threat, the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence,” the statement said. “Officers entered the residence locating the individual and a firearm and began providing emergency medical care.” > > … > > The East Allen Avenue shooting was the seventh time since June 1 that a Fort Worth police officer has shot a civilian. Six of those people died. [https://amp.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article236067328.html?\_\_twitter\_impression=true](https://amp.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article236067328.html?__twitter_impression=true) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15368 "2019-10-12T23:52:22Z")
So, looking out of your window is now a threat to police. ---
**Author:** ![Anxious\_Squirrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anxious_squirrel/32/1083_2.png) [@Anxious\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anxious_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15369 "2019-10-13T00:48:43Z")
People really need to quit calling out hits, I mean welfare checks, on other people. Don’t call the cops ever, for anything, unless you absolutely have to. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15370 "2019-10-13T01:42:02Z")
I was just getting ready to post the welfare check murder of a person in their own house. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2019, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15371 "2019-10-13T04:59:58Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > A white Fort Worth officer fatally shot a black woman inside her home early Saturday morning after police were called to the house to do a welfare check. > > [https://amp.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article236067328.html?\_\_twitter\_impression=true](https://amp.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article236067328.html?__twitter_impression=true) [Video here, including body cam footage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_2nFxPSBU8). This shooting was a lot of bullshit. The officer was fucking prowling outside with a flashlight, saw someone in a window and shot them. There was no time for the person inside to react to the officer’s “command” if it could even be heard throughout the walls and window. The mention of the gun found inside is likewise bullshit; it’s meant to smear the dead woman is all. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15372 "2019-10-13T14:28:15Z")
The second amendment only applies to white people. If you’re a black person, possessing a gun in your own home makes you deserving of the death penalty. I predict that nothing is going to happen to this police officer. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15373 "2019-10-13T15:17:07Z")
I just watched that video and it sickens me to think that it can happen. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15374 "2019-10-13T15:23:02Z")
If I saw someone prowling outside multiple sides of my house with a flashlight at night, I’d be worried and might arm myself too. Remember when Dick Tench of Greenville, SC was shot by a cop in similar circumstances? > **[Police said an officer shot a man who opened a door while aiming a gun. Then...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07/31/police-said-they-shot-man-when-he-opened-his-door-aiming-gun-then-bodycam-video-came-out/)** > > "Oh my God, call the cops, please!” the homeowner yells. “I am the cops,” the deputy replies. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15375 "2019-10-13T16:04:58Z")
> [@UCBearcats](#): > > I just watched that video and it sickens me to think that it can happen. The short clip with the victim’s sister was heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15376 "2019-10-13T16:16:44Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > If I saw someone prowling outside multiple sides of my house with a flashlight at night, I’d be worried and might arm myself too. > > Remember when Dick Tench of Greenville, SC was shot by a cop in similar circumstances? > > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07/31/police-said-they-shot-man-when-he-opened-his-door-aiming-gun-then-bodycam-video-came-out/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07/31/police-said-they-shot-man-when-he-opened-his-door-aiming-gun-then-bodycam-video-came-out/) Do we even know at this point if she was armed, or just at the window? Not that it should make a lick of difference, as she was in her own fucking house while unknown people were prowling around it, but I haven’t seen a definitive answer to that yet. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15377 "2019-10-13T19:42:00Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Video here, including body cam footage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_2nFxPSBU8). > > This shooting was a lot of bullshit. The officer was fucking prowling outside with a flashlight, saw someone in a window and shot them. There was no time for the person inside to react to the officer’s “command” if it could even be heard throughout the walls and window. > > The mention of the gun found inside is likewise bullshit; it’s meant to smear the dead woman is all. I know from personal experience that by and large, Fort Worth cops, and Texas cops in general are Not Worth A Flying Fuck. They never were. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15378 "2019-10-13T20:54:16Z")
This is so sad. I suppose the police officer will be “exonerated.” ---
**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:** [October 13, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15379 "2019-10-13T22:00:26Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Do we even know at this point if she was armed, or just at the window? Not that it should make a lick of difference, as she was in her own fucking house while unknown people were prowling around it, but I haven’t seen a definitive answer to that yet. No, we do not. IMO it is significant that the police said “a gun was found in the home” not “a gun was found near the deceased”; they are trying to poison the well. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15380 "2019-10-14T00:48:27Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Do we even know at this point if she was armed, or just at the window? Not that it should make a lick of difference, as she was in her own fucking house while unknown people were prowling around it, but I haven’t seen a definitive answer to that yet. You’re right, it doesn’t matter. Even if she was standing there with her 45 ACP model 1911 in condition 0, the cop should not shoot her. In her own house. Through the window. And of course she wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15381 "2019-10-14T01:16:18Z")
I can’t see how the killing of Atatiana Jefferson is anything other than an appalling, unjust, and criminal act. OK, so it was the wee hours of the morning, and the door was open. (It looks like a screen door was closed, but the main door was open.) So, _maybe_, the cops swinging by to make sure everything is OK is warranted–the next door neighbor (who is now racked with guilt) did apparently think so. But what the fuck is all this sneaking around, shining flashlights and peering through windows, then just shooting the first person you see? How about, I dunno, knocking on the door: _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_ “Fort Worth Police Department!..Oh, hello, ma’am, we’re just responding to a call from your neighbor who noticed the lights are on and your door is open and was a little concerned. Everything OK here? Just playing video games with your nephew? Sounds like fun! Sorry if we disturbed you, have a nice night.” As several people have already pointed out, even if the poor woman _was_ actually armed at the time she was shot, the cops didn’t identify themselves, didn’t (apparently) pull up with flashing blue lights–just, two dudes fucking _skulking_ around outside a house in the wee hours of the morning, shining their flashlights and peering through the windows of a home containing a twenty-something woman and her eight-year-old nephew. In Texas! She damned well would have been perfectly within her rights to be armed in response to that sort of nonsense (and, again, there’s no real evidence that she actually was holding any sort of weapon when she was just senselessly killed). I can’t see any way how the fucking shooter shouldn’t go to prison. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15382 "2019-10-14T12:26:04Z")
Even if she _had_ been standing in her home, weapon in hand, she would have been within her rights. Texas has a limited [castle doctrine](https://gesinjuryattorneys.com/what-is-the-castle-doctrine-and-does-it-apply-in-texas/).\* \*Not valid if you’re colored. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=768) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=770)