# "Cops" show comes to Omaha; 1 dead **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 27, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680 "2014-08-27T20:05:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/21 "2014-08-27T20:47:52Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > So has someone posted some diagrams? To me it would seem the COPS people would be in back of the police–thus I could see him being shot by the villain; but don’t understand how he could be shot by the police. It’s possibly the camera man was outside and the bullet went thought the window or over the should of one of the cops. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/22 "2014-08-27T20:48:22Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Are you suggesting that the cops aggressively shot the cameraman because he was black or something? I think he’s lumping this into the “police brutality” heading. For the record the cameraman was white. [The police say it went down this way](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/27/the-cops-crew-member-injured-in-a-police-shootout-has-died-production-company-says/), and that the suspect shot at them first. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/23 "2014-08-27T20:48:48Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > Police overreach has been my main theme since joining this enlightened assembly. It’d have to be, wouldn’t it, since you don’t appear to have any other themes? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/24 "2014-08-27T20:48:54Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > I disagree. It’s front-page news. Watch the evening news, tonight. My actual thesis ? Cops are overly aggressive and are becoming more so. Should this be in the comics section ? [It is.](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/18/1321540/-Cartoon-Officer-Friendly#) ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/25 "2014-08-27T20:55:17Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Are you suggesting that the cops aggressively shot the cameraman because he was black or something? Because otherwise your quips about “police brutality” or “racial inequalities” make absolutely no sense in this context. The cameraman was white. The killing of the cameraman was, no doubt, unintended. But he’s dead, anyway. Police all over the country are over-trained, overzealous, and act with far too little restraint. The ‘racial’ reference applies universally. Or do you think racism is a thing-of-the-past ? A few months ago, Omaha police chased the brother of a man whose car was being towed for lack of plates. The owner objected, but was otherwise compliant. A cop took him down to the ground, and others swarmed and kicked the man repeatedly. His brother began recording this and was chased into his house, arrested, and had his phone seized. A neighbor recorded all this from across the street. Six cops were suspended, with pay; four were charged with obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence. The county attorney dropped all charges against each of the officers, this week. Getting hotter in Omaha and I don’t mean the weather. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/26 "2014-08-27T20:57:34Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > You’ve watched “Cops”, have you not ? That’s what their cameramen do; follow just behind the police. The robber had an air pistol, looked just like a gun but fires plastic bullets. The round that killed the Cops cameraman came from a police weapon. Over 30 police arrived at the scene. 30+shots were fired by the police, wounding the suspect. The Omaha police invited “Cops” to town to help show how efficient the Omaha police are. They did. [Nebraska is the most dangerous state in the United States of America to be a black person.](http://www.ibtimes.com/omaha-nebraska-most-dangerous-place-america-be-black-1548466). Stats don’t lie, baby. The “COPS” crew wear bullet proof vests while working on the productions. It clearly was of no use in this situation. As a working cinematographer of the last 35 years, I am completely saddened by this accident. This kind of high-risk “reality” show is A) A fucking waste of time, B) Routinely very dangerous to work on and C) Not representative of reality at all. Anyone with a camera trained upon them behaves differently. I personally find the idea of having a crew riding with law enforcement officers to be an incredibly bad idea. I always have. How terrible that this person was killed. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/27 "2014-08-27T20:59:10Z")
Look, **common good** , i agree with your general point about the militarization of the police. I also believe that there are too many officers who seem too quick to resort to aggression or violence, who are not sufficiently respectful of citizens’ rights, and who have a tendency to treat racial and ethnic minorities in ways that reflect either ignorant stereotyping or outright prejudice. I also believe that too many police departments have developed a culture where even otherwise good cops tend to protect the bullies. I also think every cop should be required to wear a body camera. They are putting such a system in place here in San Diego, and i think it’s excellent news. But you are very quickly going to become a running joke around here if you can’t make the effort, or if you don’t have the capacity, to assess each case on its merits, and to differentiate between cases based on a reasonable assessment of the evidence. If every incident of an officer-involved shooting leads you to march in and say, yet again, “Look! I told you! Cops bad!”, even those who actually are concerned about racial profiling, police misconduct, department coverups, and all sorts of other law-enforcement problems will pretty quickly dismiss everything that you have to say. The fact that there are douchebags on this message board who will defend just about any cop action without even a first thought, let alone a second, does not mean that you need to provide a counterpoint from the other extreme. Having spent some time in threads about cops, you have probably already worked out that **Smapti** is a fucking moron. But just because **Smapti** , by definition, is always wrong, doesn’t mean that your arguments are always right. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/28 "2014-08-27T20:59:44Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > The cameraman was white. The killing of the cameraman was, no doubt, unintended. But he’s dead, anyway. Police all over the country are over-trained, overzealous, and act with far too little restraint. The ‘racial’ reference applies universally. Or do you think racism is a thing-of-the-past ? A few months ago, Omaha police chased the brother of a man whose car was being towed for lack of plates. The owner objected, but was otherwise compliant. A cop took him down to the ground, and others swarmed and kicked the man repeatedly. His brother began recording this and was chased into his house, arrested, and had his phone seized. A neighbor recorded all this from across the street. Six cops were suspended, with pay; four were charged with obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence. The county attorney dropped all charges against each of the officers, this week. Getting hotter in Omaha and I don’t mean the weather. What does any of that have to do with the price of tea in China? The cops saw an _armed man pointing a weapon at a civilian_ and fired. You don’t even get to claim he was “unarmed” or that he was “just an innocent civilian minding his own business” this time - he was armed and he was committing a crime. There’s no “overzealousness here” - the cops did _exactly what they were supposed to do in this kind of situation_. The fact that it was an Airsoft gun is irrelevant - Airsoft guns can still injure, cripple, or kill if the round hits in just the right place, and many of them are decorated to look indistinguishable from the real thing. The fact that a civilian got caught in the crossfire is unfortunate, but again, he was hardly an innocent bystander either - he was a professional who was well aware of the dangers of the job, enough so that he had a bulletproof vest on. All this thread amounts to on your part is more kvetching about how you hate cops because they represent “the Man” or some nonsense, even when they do their jobs right. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/29 "2014-08-27T21:00:59Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > It’d have to be, wouldn’t it, since you don’t appear to have any other themes? But I do; the obtuseness of the academics, here. Well, you invited that one. Thanks for the reminder. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/30 "2014-08-27T21:01:36Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > Police all over the country are over-trained, overzealous, and act with far too little restraint. And we don’t know that that was the problem here. If the police were shot at, of course they shot back. If they were dumb enough to shoot the wrong guy as well as the right guy, that’s not necessarily a sign of broader problems with the police. > [@](#): > > The ‘racial’ reference applies universally. It doesn’t apply to this incident at all, so it’s not universal. You mean it’s true in general. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/31 "2014-08-27T21:08:53Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Look, **common good** , i agree with your general point about the militarization of the police. I also believe that there are too many officers who seem too quick to resort to aggression or violence, who are not sufficiently respectful of citizens’ rights, and who have a tendency to treat racial and ethnic minorities in ways that reflect either ignorant stereotyping or outright prejudice. I also believe that too many police departments have developed a culture where even otherwise good cops tend to protect the bullies. I also think every cop should be required to wear a body camera. They are putting such a system in place here in San Diego, and i think it’s excellent news. > > But you are very quickly going to become a running joke around here if you can’t make the effort, or if you don’t have the capacity, to assess each case on its merits, and to differentiate between cases based on a reasonable assessment of the evidence. > > If every incident of an officer-involved shooting leads you to march in and say, yet again, “Look! I told you! Cops bad!”, even those who actually are concerned about racial profiling, police misconduct, department coverups, and all sorts of other law-enforcement problems will pretty quickly dismiss everything that you have to say. > > The fact that there are douchebags on this message board who will defend just about any cop action without even a first thought, let alone a second, does not mean that you need to provide a counterpoint from the other extreme. Having spent some time in threads about cops, you have probably already worked out that **Smapti** is a fucking moron. But just because **Smapti** , by definition, is always wrong, doesn’t mean that your arguments are always right. Thanks. I don’t care, frankly, how I’m regarded, here or anywhere. But I appreciate your advice. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/32 "2014-08-27T21:10:39Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Having spent some time in threads about cops, you have probably already worked out that **Smapti** is a fucking moron. He’s at least three other things too, or so I’ve read. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/33 "2014-08-27T21:13:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > And we don’t know that that was the problem here. If the police were shot at, of course they shot back. If they were dumb enough to shoot the wrong guy as well as the right guy, that’s not necessarily a sign of broader problems with the police. > > It doesn’t apply to this incident at all, so it’s not universal. You mean it’s true in general. How do you know it (racism) doesn’t apply ? The suspect is black. All the officers are white. Yes, that proves nothing. It is a pattern, though, and is present all over America. Might racism play a role ? It sure seems it may. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/34 "2014-08-27T21:13:47Z")
Perhaps they saw the guy with the camera and thought “Oh shit-A witness!” and fired before remembering that this cameraman was _supposed_ to be there. Easy mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/35 "2014-08-27T21:14:11Z")
Boy, you’re a real fucking charmer. And your cunning and well-elucidated arguments are winning people over in droves, too. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/36 "2014-08-27T21:16:41Z")
I don’t know how to “cite”. I’m old. I’m at the library ‘cause my laptop if broke. I gotta’ go home and cook dinner. Smell you guys later. I’ll be back tomorrow. Feel free to cast aspersions, in the meantime. I like them. Ciao ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/37 "2014-08-27T21:16:48Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > How do you know it (racism) doesn’t apply ? The suspect is black. All the officers are white. Yes, that proves nothing. It is a pattern, though, and is present all over America. Might racism play a role ? It sure seems it may. Since you are utterly incapable of making yourself clear, I don’t know what you mean. Do you mean they only opened fire on the suspect because he’s black? If it’s true that he shot at the police first, that’s probably not true. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/38 "2014-08-27T21:18:56Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Boy, you’re a real fucking charmer. And your cunning and well-elucidated arguments are winning people over in droves, too. Yea, like that. But get real nasty, ok ? So I don’t feel bad destroying your asinine objections tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/39 "2014-08-27T21:20:43Z")
A couple of things to note: 1. It was the audio tech that got shot, not the cameraman. 2. Airsoft guns don’t sound like a pistol in any way, nor do they recoil. 3. The tech was white. 4. No robber with a fake weapon is going to turn and try to “shoot” cops with it. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680/40 "2014-08-27T21:28:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Perhaps they saw the guy with the camera and thought “Oh shit-A witness!” and fired before remembering that this cameraman was _supposed_ to be there. Easy mistake. [The very dumbest thing you can do is aim a video recording device at a police officer.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zbR824FKpU). OBVIOUSLY the crew of “COPS” does not get included in this cautionary statement. But they’re pretty much the only ones excluded. Perhaps some of the 30 responding officers did not know that a video crew was authorized to be there and be recording the situation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-show-comes-to-omaha-1-dead/696680.md?page=3)