Utah deputy kills man for taking a piss

[TokyoBayer]

@Shagnasty

I never understood this line of reasoning if there is any. Once you are stopped, you have to cooperate whether you did anything or not. Any acts of violence including the use of a deadly weapon against an officer (vehicles definitely count) can be met with deadly force. It doesn’t matter if you were originally stopped on suspicion of murder or jaywalking. That has no relevance. Resisting arrest and assault with a motor vehicle or other deadly weapon is a separate crime that can lead to anything from tasing to being shot.

Police departments themselves have guidelines regulating the escalation of force. Not every act of resistance is justification for using deadly force.

The question here is if there were other steps which the officer could have taken before escalating it.

[voltaire]

A few points:

• For a drunk, that guy wasn’t a bad driver… still dumb, though.

• For a cop, that officer is a *terrible *driver - for a few reasons other than not just doing a PIT maneuver, which I’m assuming was because it is against procedures based on this:

“Deputy Bowcutt’s pursuit of Mr. Burkinshaw, with lights and siren…was appropriate and justified by the circumstances of which Deputy Bowcutt was reasonably aware. Deputy Bowcutt acted appropriately throughout the chase when he chose not to ram Mr. Burkinshaw’s vehicle with his patrol truck despite having some opportunities to do so.”

• Ok, so PIT maneuver=inappropriate, but trying to stop a fleeing suspect’s vehicle with your body, then shooting when he doesn’t fully stop=appropriate? WTF?

• Glad the doggie made it out okay!

[Cheesesteak]

@Shagnasty

It doesn’t matter if you were originally stopped on suspicion of murder or jaywalking.

Actually, it does, because the officer has discretion regarding how to proceed with an encounter.

The officer had a choice, he chose to exit his truck, draw his weapon and stand in front of the driver’s car. The officer turned this into a “stop or die” situation, trusting that this stupid drunk would make the right choice. The officer had a choice to continue the chase and wait for assistance, or use his vehicle to stop the driver’s vehicle, he did not make that choice.

He chose the single riskiest way (for himself and the driver) to end the encounter. Frankly, the officer should be very very thankful that his own stupid choice didn’t result in his own death.