Really? They were close enough that ducati’s rant made go :dubious:
Der Trihs often takes the contrary position just to stir shit up, but this isn’t one of those times.
Because he’d written off the hostage. Whether or not he was right to conclude that he couldn’t save her, that’s what resorting to weight of fire as a solution means.
It’s obvious the criminal was using the hostage as a shield. He knew that if he harmed the hostage the police would immediately kill him. Thus he had no incentive whatsoever to kill the hostage.
What’s not clear as to who the police were: were they the half-dozen or so squad cars who could get there first or were they a trained SWAT team? If the former they should have withdrawn to a perimeter and waited for the SWAT team–officers trained to deal with this type situation, rather than just start shooting.
If you’re not going to presume to judge the cop until all the facts are known and investigated, maybe you should hold off on assuming it’s the victim’s fault for shoving her head in front of that bullet.
First off, Ducati that would have been a great post if you would’ve left Der Trish out of it. But I can look past that.
As you said, the hostage is of the utmost importance. I don’t see how firing multiple rounds would be more effective than one clean head shot. If you don’t think your good enough to make that shot, what would make you think 8 rounds would be a good idea?
Perhaps an officer should have ventured into the fray to cause a distraction or get a good shot and quite possibly sacrifice him/herself in the process. Whatever it takes to get the hostage safe.
My solutions are certainly a wild hypothetical but like I said I just don’t see how firing 8 rounds is the most effective solution because even as you said yourself, the hostage could get in the way of a bullet.
I also think it’s perfectly fair to criticize the cop. He did kill her. A fellow citizen of mine. More citizens should take it personally. This is not to say I don’t have sympathy for the cop too. I’m sure he/she did their best. Overall, it’s just a tragic situation.
Makes me wonder what that guys prior arrests were and what had led his life into such turmoil? Most likely drugs. Who enforces those laws? Oh that’s right - Cops.
Of course, they are just doing their job. They are only following policy set by our representatives. And how did those people get into those positions to make those decisions? Oh, that’s right - we voted them in.
I’m just rambling at this point. I guess you could say there’s plenty of blame to go around.
I’d say there’s actually very little blame to go around. And all of it falls on the douchebag who took her hostage.
How about whatever judge let him out on parole, despite his history as a violent criminal?
I don’t think you can ask a police officer to take that risk like that.
There’s the ordinary risk of the job, and then those kind of mad heroics.
Certainly a valid point. I agree with you to an extent. It doesn’t address the root cause leading up to the situation in the first place though. I imagine this was a desperate man. Desperate times will call for drastic measures and people will do what they need to do in order to survive.
I’m reminded of great Kahlil Gibrans quote.
"Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all."
Well, they signed up for it. The hostage life comes before the cops.
People, you’re in MPSIMS. If you want to call each other idiots – or insult each other in any other way – go do it in the Pit. If you want to debate any element of the criminal justice system, start a thread in Great Debates.
Thanks,
twickster, MPSIMS moderator
When do police officers sign up to “sacrifice” their lives (not “risk”, but “sacrifice”) for the public? Do you have a cite for that?
To protect and serve is the motto, no? I assume that goes by whatever means necessary.
i always thought a hostage situation like that would be easily negated by a dead faint, pretend or otherwise, by the hostage - no need to aid the guy by propping up the shield you know? i know it wouldn’t make for a tense scene, but perhaps movies should instead do that more often to educate would be hostages.
And we all know that everything you see in a movie is 100% accurate. :rolleyes:
you disagree that more people would not be such unwitting meatshields if that is not the convention shown on tv?
Hollywood producers are interested in entertaining people, not in creating educational films. Nobody buys an action movie as being exactly like real life. You’re never going to see it. How many times has anyone ever said, “I saw this in a movie” and had it work in real life? I think your expectations of what producers ought to put in movies and TV shows is completely unrealistic.
Because she was “beautiful,” according to headlines.
Had she been ugly or black (or not as hot in her sexy super hero costume), cops probably would have let the guy kill her himself.
And what threat to life did the student present?
Now, that’s uncalled for.