# Weapons experts. Re video Dallas Police shoot mentally ill man standing still. What happened? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 18, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weapons-experts-re-video-dallas-police-shoot-mentally-ill-man-standing-still-what-happened/671535 "2013-10-18T01:05:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weapons-experts-re-video-dallas-police-shoot-mentally-ill-man-standing-still-what-happened/671535/81 "2013-10-23T10:13:31Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > There might be something missed in the video but IMO we’ve gravitated toward police shooting people in instances that were formerly dealt with in a less lethal manner. I doubt this. I’m thinking we’re simply much more likely to see video of bad police shootings. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weapons-experts-re-video-dallas-police-shoot-mentally-ill-man-standing-still-what-happened/671535/82 "2013-10-23T15:01:23Z")
I’m still processing the “shot him so he wouldn’t hurt himself” thing. It might be a while. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weapons-experts-re-video-dallas-police-shoot-mentally-ill-man-standing-still-what-happened/671535/83 "2013-10-24T03:01:04Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I doubt this. I’m thinking we’re simply much more likely to see video of bad police shootings. Well that’s very possible. There may be statistics out there that show people shot by police, per 100,000. When I was a kid it was a cliched statement for police to yell “stop or I’ll shoot”. Maybe that’s morphed into “drop the weapon or I’ll shoot”. ---
**Author:** ![Kable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kable)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weapons-experts-re-video-dallas-police-shoot-mentally-ill-man-standing-still-what-happened/671535/84 "2013-10-24T04:06:56Z")
So where were the Tasers, or them less lethal shotgun rounds? ---
**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 24, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weapons-experts-re-video-dallas-police-shoot-mentally-ill-man-standing-still-what-happened/671535/85 "2013-10-24T20:52:40Z")
[ > [@](#): > > Police Chief David Brown apologized for the actions of Officer Cardan Spencer, who had been on administrative leave following the Oct. 14 shooting. > > “Officers are not above the law,” Brown said at a news conference. “We as a police department are not going to look the other way.” > > Spencer wrote in a police report that he shot Bobby Gerald Bennett last week after the 52-year-old man lunged at him and another officer with a knife. But video captured by a neighbor’s surveillance camera shows Bennett didn’t appear to move toward the officers before he was shot and crumpled to the ground. > > Brown said two people who had witnessed the shooting from a nearby parked vehicle later came forward and corroborated what could be seen on the video. ]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US\_DALLAS\_POLICE\_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-24-15-14-22](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DALLAS_POLICE_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-24-15-14-22))And yet, former-Officer Spencer somehow still feels he did nothing wrong: > [@](#): > > Ron Pinkston, president of the Dallas Police Association, said Spencer believes he was “betrayed by a department that he was trying to serve.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weapons-experts-re-video-dallas-police-shoot-mentally-ill-man-standing-still-what-happened/671535/86 "2013-10-24T23:26:28Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > So, they arrive on scene to a call of a mentally disturbed, agitated man with a knife standing in the street. Getting out of the car, they have a clear unobstructed view of the person described in the initiating call. Together the police officers approach the man with the knife. Knowing the extreme potential danger a human with a knife possesses, and knowing from their training and lessons learned from other police encounters with knife armed suspects to stay outside of 20 feet, the officers rightfully draw their sidearms. Then they walk closer to the man with the knife. > > They walk towards the man, realize they are inside the danger zone, and use deadly force. Then they file a fraudulent incident report. > > **I will be genuinely surprised if either of these officers are fired.** I am surprised. Again, pro law enforcement, but brutal behavior must not be tolerated. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weapons-experts-re-video-dallas-police-shoot-mentally-ill-man-standing-still-what-happened/671535/87 "2013-10-24T23:51:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I know there is probably no way you’ll believe me but with our system that is literally impossible. We have no control over the system and no way of erasing anything. I do believe you. I am, however, saddened by [this kind of behavior](https://www.google.com/webhp?source=search_app#q=police+delete+video). I hold police officers to a high standard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weapons-experts-re-video-dallas-police-shoot-mentally-ill-man-standing-still-what-happened/671535.md?page=4)