I've heard my share of stories of prejudice, racial injustice and unjustified, disturbing behavior from police officers all over this country. History blatantly proves such actions, but recently (especially in the Los Angeles area) there has been numerous wretched and disgusting stories of officer involved shootings that just DO NOT ADD UP.
This December in Long Beach, Douglas Zerby was shot and killed while sitting on a friend's apartment staircase because he was holding a water hose spigot that was mistaken for a gun. Police claim that when he saw them approaching him, he raised the spigot as if to shoot the officers, so they got him first and shot numerous rounds of shotgun fire and killed him immediately. This article from the Press-Telegram has some more information http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_16885718 but overall, the officers stories just do not make sense to me. And most of us should be able to recognize that you cannot always believe people just because they have authority. Do you always believe officers accounts of what took place during a crime? I mean, they are people just like us and everyone tends to mislead others and protect themselves by fabricating stories from time to time, why are police officers assumed all truthful by so many?
Here is another incident involving a 13-year-old boy with a pellet gun being shot and wounded by police in Los Angeles this past December. http://www.examiner.com/violent-crime-in-national/pellet-gun-wielding-boy-shot-and-wounded-by-police-officer This story makes a little more sense why gunfire was used, but also seems unnecessary. It seems like nowadays people are being shot so quickly and before a full analyzation of the scene is really committed. I understand police have to make quick decisions, but why are stories like this so common recently?
And just a couple days ago, a college friend called to tell me about another case of murder that took place in Los Angeles and the story she learned of from the victim's father is much different than the story you will read in the news. Here is one example http://www.laindependent.com/news/local/Reggie-Doucet-shooting-Playa-Vista-LAPD-114179594.html
This article claims that the 25-year-old model, former college football player and recent new business owner Reggie Coucet tried to take an officer's gun away from him, and being that the officers were fighting for their lives, they shot him to death in very close range.
Here is another article, with a bit of difference in details http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_17118062?source=pkg
So although all three of these stories have odd circumstances, like Zerby allegedly being intoxicated and holding a spigot that could easily appear as a gun, the young teenager walking a dark street with a pellet gun and Doucet allegedly being naked, intoxicated and having a dispute with a taxi driver, 2 of these 3 men are now dead and overall, the stories just seem ridiculous and confusing.
Must this aggressive force be so quickly used? I completely understand that police in this region deal with scary individuals and situations, but I wish gunfire was not such an immediate response, as it seems to be.
I hate guns. I hate the use of them in every manner. What can we do to stop these situations from happening? We as people have to recognize that police force is becoming more and more aggressive, but what do police have to recognize?
Please spread the news, spark conversation and let people know that life is not always in your hands...Be smart guys, its a scary world.
This December in Long Beach, Douglas Zerby was shot and killed while sitting on a friend's apartment staircase because he was holding a water hose spigot that was mistaken for a gun. Police claim that when he saw them approaching him, he raised the spigot as if to shoot the officers, so they got him first and shot numerous rounds of shotgun fire and killed him immediately. This article from the Press-Telegram has some more information http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_16885718 but overall, the officers stories just do not make sense to me. And most of us should be able to recognize that you cannot always believe people just because they have authority. Do you always believe officers accounts of what took place during a crime? I mean, they are people just like us and everyone tends to mislead others and protect themselves by fabricating stories from time to time, why are police officers assumed all truthful by so many?
Here is another incident involving a 13-year-old boy with a pellet gun being shot and wounded by police in Los Angeles this past December. http://www.examiner.com/violent-crime-in-national/pellet-gun-wielding-boy-shot-and-wounded-by-police-officer This story makes a little more sense why gunfire was used, but also seems unnecessary. It seems like nowadays people are being shot so quickly and before a full analyzation of the scene is really committed. I understand police have to make quick decisions, but why are stories like this so common recently?
And just a couple days ago, a college friend called to tell me about another case of murder that took place in Los Angeles and the story she learned of from the victim's father is much different than the story you will read in the news. Here is one example http://www.laindependent.com/news/local/Reggie-Doucet-shooting-Playa-Vista-LAPD-114179594.html
This article claims that the 25-year-old model, former college football player and recent new business owner Reggie Coucet tried to take an officer's gun away from him, and being that the officers were fighting for their lives, they shot him to death in very close range.
Here is another article, with a bit of difference in details http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_17118062?source=pkg
So although all three of these stories have odd circumstances, like Zerby allegedly being intoxicated and holding a spigot that could easily appear as a gun, the young teenager walking a dark street with a pellet gun and Doucet allegedly being naked, intoxicated and having a dispute with a taxi driver, 2 of these 3 men are now dead and overall, the stories just seem ridiculous and confusing.
Must this aggressive force be so quickly used? I completely understand that police in this region deal with scary individuals and situations, but I wish gunfire was not such an immediate response, as it seems to be.
I hate guns. I hate the use of them in every manner. What can we do to stop these situations from happening? We as people have to recognize that police force is becoming more and more aggressive, but what do police have to recognize?
Please spread the news, spark conversation and let people know that life is not always in your hands...Be smart guys, its a scary world.
No comments:
Post a Comment