I don’t see any previous thread (if one exists, please forgive this one).
As you probably have already read, there was an attack in Toronto in which 10 people were killed. No known motive as yet.
However, one thing that really struck me was how well the cop who finally confronted the suspect arrested him - without a shot fired, even though the suspect had just apparently murdered a bunch of people and was telling the police he had a gun, and was waving some object around as if it was a gun.
Obviously, going for suicide by cop.
Instead, the cop simply refused to take the bait and forced the suspect to surrender, without any violence.
Great work by that policeman. All caught on the ubiquitous cellphone videos:
Nice to see the police in our town doing their job so courageously and professionally.
It may be right or wrong, but saying cops shoot black men unnecessarily is in no way a racist statement. A comment isn’t “racist” just because it mentions race.
The police officer showed bravery and admirable restraint. It probably helps that in Canada, fewer people have handguns to begin with so there police have less reason to fear armed suspects. The guy said he had a gun but what he was waiving around didn’t look like a gun to the officer. Also, the officer may have surmised that if the suspect’s goal was to be shot in the head and he already had a gun, he wouldn’t have asked the officer for help to accomplish that goal. In the end, the officer made the right decision. It would have been completely understandable had the officer shot the suspect though. That’s a tough, pressure-filled situation to be in.
I don’t want to derail - but whether it is racist or not it is kinda insulting to this particular cop to assert he’d have reacted differently to a Black suspect. It impugns his professionalism, at best.
Given we’ve just seen him behave with admirable professionalism, I’d say we have no reason to assert that.
Unless of course there is some reason to suspect this particular cop is himself racist.
I greatly approve of this officer’s successful de-escalation. I know that plenty of cops in the US are great at de-escalation, and I hope that it continues to grow in usage until it’s ubiquitous. Kudos to this officer, and others who perform their duties as he does.
These cops deserve credit for being level headed in this kind of highly charged situation.
Not to take away from their correct actions, it wasn’t all that long ago when Toronto police officers killed a slight, mentally disturbed young man on the Spadina streetcar. He was holding a small pen knife and isolated on an empty tram. That was an uncalled for over-reaction by the police on the scene. That kid should not have been killed because he never actually hurt anybody, nor was he a serious threat to the police on the scene. Ironically, this happened a stone’s throw away from Toronto’s largest mental hospital.
One hopes the current incident is the result of changes in training and policy subsequently instituted by the Toronto Police Department. If so, kudos to all.
The difference is likely due to better training in Canada plus the lack of expectation on the part of Canadian police officers that they can kill with impunity and never face consequences. In the US, the minute that a cop feels afraid of any threat, real or imaginary, he will empty his gun into someone’s body and know that he’s going to get a paid vacation for his trouble.
I saw reports today where people who know the driver were shocked that he even could figure out how to drive the van, he had problems understanding how a steering wheel works.