Like it said, his continued presence wasn’t a benefit to the community or other officers. I agree with the GJ, but he made the right call and I think his resignation without pension or benefits (according to radio last night) sends a much needed signal. The signal being that yes it might be legal it might be policy and you may even be in the right but like most citizens you as a police officer may pay a hefty price when you shoot somebody. And anybody who takes a life should be prepared for that. Hopefully this promoted more deescalation and weeds out bad actors.
I’m thinking body cameras are becoming more of a necessity.
I read where ABC paid him $500k for the interview; don’t know if that’s true or not. He’ll need to use that to get a new identity no matter where he moves.
I read where ABC paid him $500k for the interview; don’t know if that’s true or not. He’ll need to use that to get a new identity no matter where he moves.
If true, that sets him up pretty well. That’s about 10X’s an average cops salary.
Scary to think that a lynch mob can have this much power in the U.S. in 2014. There’s a high probability that Wilson did absolutely nothing wrong the day of the shooting. Now the man has to go into hiding for the rest of his life.
The signal being that yes it might be legal it might be policy and you may even be in the right but like most citizens you as a police officer may pay a hefty price when you shoot somebody.
I kind of compare this to the possibility that you might be forced out of your home, out of your job and to start a whole new life because you shot and killed a person breaking into your home.
While I have no idea whether or not this officer acted in the right or not, the law, at the moment, is saying he did no wrong doing. I think the idea that the public can destroy a life just because they “Believe” he did something wrong is disconcerting at best, disgusting and abhorrent at worst.
If you were in your home and someone broke in and you shot them. Then suddenly the guy that was with him robbing your house and a couple people out on the sidewalk started claiming that you shot him in the back, he was trying to get out of the house, it was a “Mistake” and he was simply going into the wrong house not actually attempting to rob you. I suppose you’d be pleased as bunch if the entire community turned on you, forcing you to lose your job, forcing you to move etc etc.
I’m all for justice and if the guy shot the guy improperly or without justification then he should suffer the consequences, but if it is found he acted properly he sure as hell should not continue to be driven out of town on rails.
The “Signal being sent” is “We will get what we want regardless of legality”. I think that’s a dangerous precedent.
What about the call for his Fiancee to resign from the force?
wife now- married a few days or weeks before the GJ decision. I imagine she’ll quit/transfer to another PD at some point as I don’t know that he can stay in Ferguson. He’s going to be a target for a while and that makes her one too.
What about the call for his Fiancee to resign from the force?
wife now- married a few days or weeks before the GJ decision. I imagine she’ll quit/transfer to another PD at some point as I don’t know that he can stay in Ferguson. He’s going to be a target for a while and that makes her one too.
In my opinion, this guys biggest sin was having a romantic relationship with a co-worker. It might not be that big of a deal when talking about two clerks at Walmart, but the potential negative impact on the job is so much greater in law enforcement. Yet, in my experience, this seems to happen more in law enforcement than in other work places,.perhaps because of the all-encompassing and stressful nature of the job.
When will people learn not to shit where they eat.
When will people learn not to shit where they eat.
Never. Lots of people don’t interact with many other people outside of where they work. It’s where they spend the most time, where they get to know people best, etc.
Ive seen it a lot with LEO and the related positions. I think a lot of it in addition to the stressors and pressures is the “us against them” mentality that many share. It’s a bond that they auto share.
I can see how the relationship could tangentially affect her performance depending on the type of officer she is, but I imagine it is much shorter lived than what he would/will face personally.
Local officers who interviewed Wilson immediately after the shooting did not tape the interviews, even though it’s standard protocol to do so.
The investigator from the St.Louis County Medical Examiner’s office arrived at the crime scene. He did not take any measurements or pictures, even though it’s standard protocol to do so. The reason provided was that his camera batteries died. Instead, he relied on photographs provided to him by the Ferguson PD.
Wilson was subsequently permitted to drive himself back to the department, unaccompanied. There were no photographs taken of his allegedly bloodied hands before he washed up, even though it’s standard protocol to photograph all injuries.
In the same vein, alleged injuries to Wilson’s head were photographed by a local detective at the Fraternal Order of the Police building and not at the police department, as is standard protocol.
The medical examiner on the scene failed to find gunpowder residue evidence of the alleged close range shooting. The evidence later appeared during the autopsy.
Perhaps most egregiously, Wilson was allowed to handle and process his own gun as evidence for his own case.
Wilson initially claimed that he fired only one shot from inside his cruiser during his first interviews with investigators, but then his story gradually changed to two shots and multiple misfires during subsequent interviews.
During the three-month inquiry, the prosecutors aggressively cross-examined and challenged all eyewitness accounts (as is their job to do), but Wilson’s testimony which went on to form the backbone of what they presented to the Grand Jury has never been challenged in the same way (as is also their job to do).
All this shit is why people aren’t convinced by the evidence, because the what little evidence there is has been grossly mishandled. Forensic procedures surrounding this entire case has been extremely questionable, to the point where practices that Ferguson PD adopted came under fire by several St.Louis County detectives with on-the-record complaints. Nothing was done about it.
I’m not saying Wilson is guilty and he murdered Michael Brown. There isn’t sufficient evidence to pass such an absolute judgement in my mind. But I also find it equally unjustified to say that it’s “98% sure” that the shooting was legal. The simple fact is that we don’t know, and we likely never will.
Wilson’s official testimony could have been busted open on inconsistencies had the local officers followed protocol and taped their initial interview with Wilson. We wouldn’t be sitting here doubting the integrity of the physical evidence itself if the forensic examiners had followed standard protocols. And before we get to any of this, we would have known exactly how this shit transpired if our police officers wore cameras during active duty hours. Lots of ifs, coulds, buts, shoulds and woulds.
And therein lies the injustice of it all. The people of Ferguson have been dealing with this kind of shit for a very very long time. Whether Michael Brown was actually at fault or not is frankly rather irrelevant. Regardless of that kid’s guilt, Ferguson PD and the local prosecutor grossly mishandled just about every aspect of this case. And it’s persistent “mistakes” like this that breed so much distrust between the local population and its law enforcement. Michael Brown isn’t some saint martyr that the people are rallying behind. The mishandling of his shooting is just the straw that broke the camel’s back. http://www.carbonated.tv/
While some forensics evidence can be interpreted in multiple ways, some cannot and it impeaches most of the early witnesses who clearly did not see what they said hey saw. Some even admitted they were just repeating what they heard.
It is clear from forensics that Brown did not just turn around and put his hands up. He move 21 feet closer to Wilson. That agrees with several witnesses who said his hands were not up and who said he rushed Wilson. It does not agree with many who said his hands were up and maybe he moved a step.
Reasonable people are not looking for conspiracy theories. They let the science weed out the bad witnesses from the good.
Whether Michael Brown was actually at fault or not is frankly rather irrelevant.
And here in lies the problem. Of course it is relevant. Regardless of how the case was handled justice is ALWAYS relevant, apparently to the chagrin many who are more interested in simply getting what they want.