I am always amazed at the Antis default position that all LEOs are a bunch of retards with badges. That goes double for a Chief LEO with an political ax to grind and has no qualms on crapping all over their subordinates.
Call me deluded but If a cop arrives to a location where there are several people with guns drawn, my bet is that he would be smart enough to withdraw to a safe location, call for reinforcements and stay the hell away from trouble.
Is there a history of cops shooting the wrong person in a confusing self-defense situation? Yes, we had those in the past and probably (and unfortunately) will have them in the future. But to imply that is safer for the unarmed public to remain at the mercy of a mass killer just to make sure the LEO does not make a mistake and shoots the wrong person when he arrives ten or twenty minutes later is just idiotic.
I’ve always been of the opinion that unless the shooting is going down in a doughnut shop, that the defensive shooting will be done by the time the police show up. The bad guy will be the one laying on the ground bleeding to death, or dead already.
I love how the quote is from a university cop and not an actual LEO.
Even if a LEO is on scene seconds after you should happen to defend yourself, it’s as simple as doing what he says. He says drop it, do it. Let him put you in handcuffs and sort things out. If it was justified, it will only be a temporary detainment.
On here, the University police have full State Trooper rights iirc. Since they’re cops who work at a state-funded university. Either way, a whole bunch of them are a bit condescending.
Yep all the campii I’ve encountered had a full-fledged Police Force requiring all the training, skills, and qualifications of any other LEO.
That being said it does appear that there is a pecking-order: FBI, State Police, Local Police (Big City), Local Police (Small Time), Campus Cops, Private Security, Mall Cops.
A ton are older people, or people who know they want a sleepy job where their worst call involves hosing puke out of their cruiser, or taking a rape victim’s statement. Still there are others who wish they were big-city LEO or State Cops, and they don’t let the drunk walking home after a party forget it.
Hmm – Ryan Frederick, Jose Guerena, all the other people who have either shot at cops, or been shot by cops conducting raids without proper warrants. Did Mercier offer to testify for any of them, to explain how hard it is to make a split-second decision when a gang of armed thugs is charging into your bedroom in the middle of the night?
If you can’t tell one tooth from another, the answer is to quit your dentist job, not to insist that on pulling all the teeth. If you can’t tell innocent people from criminals, the answer is for you to lose your police job, not to demand that the innocents be disarmed.
The elephant in the room is there has NEVER been an armed citizen on the scene who was shot by the police in error. If there is an armed citizen the cops arrive after all the needed bullets have flown and the lawful guns are already on the ground or holstered.
This is why the antis have spend so much time Misrepresenting Joe Zemudo’s involvement in the Tuscon shooting. He’s the BEST story they had…a lawful citizen who didn’t even DRAW his gun….but he ALMOST shot the guy….ALMOST!
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“the defensive shooting will be done by the time the police show up.”
Exactly. And “several people” aren’t going to be just standing around with their guns drawn afterwards, waiting for the police to show up.
Carry is not a zero sum game. to the antis it is, however. If there is anything other than a total prohibition on carry (despite the fact IL is the only state remaining that prohibits), they say “everyone will carry, and then you’ll have a room full of people pointing guns at, and shooting each other if a bad guy shows up” and cry and whine about “crossfire” as if the only time criminals prey on their intended victims are in broad daylight, in crowded venues.
I think the statistic (real statistic, not brady style statistic) is that even in the most gun-friendly states, only about 5% of the population are licensed to carry, and only about half of those licensed carry regularly. The odds of “several people” being armed in the same room at the same time outside of a police department or shooting range are very slim indeed.
You are right, ddbaxte, however, the most important thing is that it only takes one nearby armed citizen to stop a deadly threat immediately.
It would be so much better if we had 10% or more of our law-abiding citizens carrying concealed. Violent crime would plummet if for no other reason than attrition of criminals who tend to repeat their bad behavior. It is hard to re-offend if you are “no longer eligible for the census”.
I’ve had several people use this excuse for not only not having concealed carry on campus but also concealed carry in general. But I was attending a meeting of campus law enforcement last week and a good suggestion was made to address this. The comment was made that more campus carry is surely coming and there needs to be training for law enforcement on how to handle this new reality.
I know this goes against the conservative norm … but my default position IS to assume that cops are retards (and bullies) with badges. But in this case, my wife graduated from ISU so I can tell you with complete confidence that yes, they are retards with badges.