The Gun Counter

MarkD wrote:

BDK wrote:It's more about the Fourth Amendment than the Second.

And a few manslaughter convictions would work wonders.

They'll be building snowmen in Hell before that happens. No DA will go after a cop, especially for things done while on duty, because that'll piss off the other cops, who will then start mis-handling evidence and causing the DA's conviction rate to plummet.

It is kinda silly that cops often fail to perform a task my mail-man handles just fine every day, i.e. making sure you're at the right frikkin' house.

My question is why they bothered with a high-speed-low-drag entry on an arrest warrant anyway? Why not just camp outside and grab him when he leaves to go buy groceries? Oh wait, that's not sexy and requires actual police work. Besides, SWAT teams are expensive, you have to USE them for something.....

Baltimore, they started to prosecute anyway.

MarkD wrote: They'll be building snowmen in Hell before that happens. No DA will go after a cop, especially for things done while on duty, because that'll piss off the other cops, who will then start mis-handling evidence and causing the DA's conviction rate to plummet.

I suspect that depends on the officer that the DA goes after. Of course, in the two recent shootings in Minneapolis, the cops were a victim group (the Philando Castile shooter was Hispanic, the other one that shot the hot Aussie chick was a Somali), evidently both of them were not capable of competent police work, and they had to partner the Somali dude with someone as inexperienced as he is. So, that makes me wonder how popular the Somali dude really was on the department.

It is kinda silly that cops often fail to perform a task my mail-man handles just fine every day, i.e. making sure you're at the right frikkin' house.

It's beyond silly. If they're that incompetent, they shouldn't be cops.

My question is why they bothered with a high-speed-low-drag entry on an arrest warrant anyway? Why not just camp outside and grab him when he leaves to go buy groceries? Oh wait, that's not sexy and requires actual police work. Besides, SWAT teams are expensive, you have to USE them for something.....

I suspect that's exactly right. It's kind of hard to justify an expense that size if they don't actually have to do anything. I suspect that about 99% of what a SWAT team does could be handled with two patrol officers equipped with AR-15 rifles.

Heaven forbid the police try to outthink a criminal, though.

scipioafricanus wrote: Baltimore, they started to prosecute anyway.

They prosecuted that guy in Minneapolis, too. I think they could go after him for 2nd degree murder.

MarkD wrote:It is kinda silly that cops often fail to perform a task my mail-man handles just fine every day, i.e. making sure you're at the right frikkin' house.

I will say, as an EMS provider, sometimes it is really effing hard to find the correct address. Way too many people fail to properly number their houses, and sometimes the number/street config doesn't make sense (Like an "smith" street address that actually needs to be entered off of "main". However, generally, I agree, and I expect more thoroughness from the folks who are supposed to find and capture folks with anything up to and including lethal force. Especially with all of the tech and recon available today....there's zero excuse for hitting the wrong house in a planned raid.

Have you ever watched the YouTube channel of a guy called Mike The Cop? According to him, this is all just overblown and there is no policing problem in the USA.

JKosprey wrote:

MarkD wrote:It is kinda silly that cops often fail to perform a task my mail-man handles just fine every day, i.e. making sure you're at the right frikkin' house.

I will say, as an EMS provider, sometimes it is really effing hard to find the correct address. Way too many people fail to properly number their houses, and sometimes the number/street config doesn't make sense (Like an "smith" street address that actually needs to be entered off of "main". However, generally, I agree, and I expect more thoroughness from the folks who are supposed to find and capture folks with anything up to and including lethal force. Especially with all of the tech and recon available today....there's zero excuse for hitting the wrong house in a planned raid.

I had the same problem when I delivered pizzas at night. If I worked it out as a kid with no resources, and without killing any dogs, they should be able to do the same.

JKosprey wrote:... in a planned raid.

Here's where the situation fundamentally breaks down: you assume they actually planned this. No-notice emergency response not being able to find a place is understandable. But no-notice in this case means for the suspect, not the cops involved. Or maybe not so much in this case...