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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"TASER! TASER! TASER! TASER!"
So shouted Kim Potter as she held in her hand her service pistol.
That made me think. Is the latest blue line bullshit? Whenever you yank out your gun, you shout taser. Then, if you "accidentally" kill the alleged perp you have someplace to start with your defense.
Just something that made go "hmmm".
RussBLib
(9,035 posts)I mean, if I am hungry, I don't go around shouting, "Eat! Eat! Eat!"
They're trained to shout that out to make sure a no one is touching him and gets shocked also or is too close and gets hit by the prongs
Ms. Toad
(34,087 posts)when you are going to shoot your taser is to warn fellow officers so they can stand clear (and not get shockd). (Like yellng "clear" before you shock someone's heart.
You should be able to find other videos where you see it happen - and you see the officer's reaction to it. I've seen it in a number of taser videos.
RussBLib
(9,035 posts)Solomon
(12,319 posts)wnylib
(21,606 posts)Ms. Toad
(34,087 posts)Caliman73
(11,744 posts)As part of my job, I get a lot of Police reports which I have to turn into abuse reports. Lots of technical language. Just read one today where a taser was deployed to stop a man from charging at officers with a knife. Officer called out TASER TASER TASER, then deployed and stopped the attack. Other officers were getting ready to use lethal force.
Karadeniz
(22,572 posts)Arazi
(6,829 posts)Potter also had a history of helping get fellow cop killers out of charges
Ocelot II
(115,836 posts)get tased themselves or think the taser's "pop" is a gunshot.
Stinky The Clown
(67,818 posts)littlemissmartypants
(22,797 posts)wnylib
(21,606 posts)She held the gun out in front of her before firing. She didn't see that it was a gun and not a taser? I don't believe that for a second. Not to mention that she had to FEEL the difference in weight and shape.
But, with her experience advising other cops, she knew the defense angles.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,431 posts)They're not exactly great communicators.
TexasLefty29
(190 posts)Has me shaking my head. This woman makes women look incompetent. Fucking idiot.
Ocelot II
(115,836 posts)Treefrog
(4,170 posts)we can do it
(12,193 posts)enid602
(8,652 posts)I could not believe it when she non chalantly said "Oh shit, I shot him.' As it she'd been inconvenienced.
RussBLib
(9,035 posts)They are incompetent too. Yikes!
Yes, it's a generalization.
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)Doh.
3Hotdogs
(12,406 posts)"I just fuckin' shot myself.... The Musical."
IronLionZion
(45,528 posts)it's disgusting what they're saying on Free Republic about this incident and women officers.
niyad
(113,552 posts)yardwork
(61,703 posts)Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)🤦🏼♂️
monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)wnylib
(21,606 posts)Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)malaise
(269,157 posts)the police union president
Bettie
(16,124 posts)I figured she hasn't been out of the office in a long time.
magicarpet
(14,167 posts)Maybe handle it like truck drivers or train conductors. If involved in a deadly accident a vial of blood is immediately drawn to see if the operator was impaired by chemical use/abuse.
Maybe the same with cops. If involved with excessive force, any instance where a bloody wound happens, or the shooting of a weapon occurs. Immediately a vial of the LEOs blood is drawn to see if impaired by chemicals, booz, drugs.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)hlthe2b
(102,357 posts)such "take no chances" philosophy, how--when presented with what she will claim to have been "fear for her life" or at least fear of escalation-- would it not be instinctive to draw the handgun with one's dominant hand? And if her subconscious had left her particularly triggered with stereotypical impressions of young black men, might her subconscious not also led her to INTEND to grab the gun over the taser?
I don't know what is in her heart. She did genuinely appear very upset that she had, indeed shot him... But, I'd like to know what is in that 26 years of training and experience and how they were taught to evaluate potential threats.
But beyond that, I'd like to know how the hell any part of that traffic stop was a priority stop. For expired license sticker? Really? During the age of COVID-19 and USPS delivery issues, no innocent reason for expired plates? Ditto a bench warrant for a misdemeanor offense? Really? This is a priority traffic stop? What were they taught that allowed such an issue to escalate?
Maybe she has tons of subconscious bias that allowed what happened to happen and for her to overreact so instinctively. Or maybe, just maybe It is a systemic problem. With her, I tend to suspect the latter. Unfortunately, even if she is held accountable, will anything really change?
wnylib
(21,606 posts)hlthe2b
(102,357 posts)I think you may have missed. I was attempting to look at the various aspects of what we see in the video and what she or others might claim in their attempts to defend her actions. I was not posting a simple assessment of right or wrong--which I think is obvious, but how stereotypical fears reinforced by police training and protocols need to be looked at in detail going back decades. This would include whether her "accidental" discharge may have been more a result of intentionally reinforced stereotypes and entrenched fears--to the point that her accidental "confusion" may have been more "intentional" as a result and more "intentional" than perhaps she is capable of admitting--even to herself.
If you read my earlier post, I think I make clear in an entire paragraph how indefensible her actions, from his, initially being pulled over to everything from that point forward.
I'm simply trying to explore how it is even possible to confuse her taser with her gun and if her overreaction may well have been incited by some subconscious, yet intentional act.
wnylib
(21,606 posts)unconscious bias, which we absorb from attitudes in society at large. It might have played a part in the cop's actions, but I think there is more to how she behaved.
My post was meant as a mockery of the excuses that cops use, e g. being in fear for their lives when the reality is that Black citizens have fsr more to fear from white cops than the reverse.
TrollBuster9090
(5,955 posts)Remember the final scene from Orson Welles' Touch of Evil? Where Hank Quinlan points his gun at Vargas, and says "You're resisting arrest."
Well...that won't wash with BODY CAMERAS. So, these days Quinlan would say "Calm down, or I'll TAZE you...."
Response to Stinky The Clown (Original post)
ExTex This message was self-deleted by its author.
WarGamer
(12,483 posts)the 26 year veteran woman officer had the intent to kill the young man.
I'll wait.
Shanti Shanti Shanti
(12,047 posts)NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)can quickly take hands off and step back. Think about ER dramas when they use the shock paddles on people who don't have a heartbeat.
Stinky The Clown
(67,818 posts)NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)That entire police force should be disarmed until they can show proficiency in determining their taser from a glock.
The two defenses are either you meant to kill the guy or are the worlds most incompetent police force and y'all all should resign and commit ritual honor suicide in a drainage ditch somewhere.
Stinky The Clown
(67,818 posts)But whatever. Have a swell evening.
FarPoint
(12,437 posts)I have heard of a warning...on occasion...but never "Taser, Taser Taser"....Was this edited in?
That said...clearing the flow thru connection to anyone in close contact, yes, but it is more along the lines of an announcement ..not like this gals' style...
70sEraVet
(3,512 posts)with a gun-like trigger; after all, that is a weapon all law enforcement officers are accustomed to, and they would be able to draw it as quickly as they can draw a gun.
What if the tasers were redesigned, so they looked more like the batons that officers traditionally handle?
SayItLoud
(1,702 posts)She KNEW she had the gun.
She was calling for someone to taser him.
She fired the gun and killed him.
She is claiming her screaming Taser meant she had a taser.
I don't believe her. I don't think a jury will either.
colorado_ufo
(5,737 posts)I am pretty sure that I first heard her say, "I'll tase you!" (Or similar), then "Taser taser taser!" all the while holding her service weapon. She was not calling for someone else to tase him - it was more like a warning; BUT, I did NOT hear her say specific instructions, such as "Put your hands on your head and get out of the car, or I'll tase you!"
The whole thing stinks, but I believe the reaction of the other cop, when she said that she had shot him, was honest. He looked like he was at a loss as to what to do and said something like, "Wow."
jimdtn
(3 posts)I assumed it was a Glock. Then she would have had to click it off to pull the trigger, and she would have realized it was the wrong weapon.
Jim
reACTIONary
(5,771 posts)... would be good protocol to avoid this sort of incident.
Straw Man
(6,625 posts)The training is to take the safety off when you draw, which makes sense. The problem is that they're much too eager to draw their weapons.
monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)JustFiveMoreMinutes
(2,133 posts)Or the Oops My Bad defense?
JustFiveMoreMinutes
(2,133 posts)Or the Oops My Bad defense?
CanonRay
(14,113 posts)littlemissmartypants
(22,797 posts)Supposedly, she was training someone new to the force at the time. That congers up all grades of incompetence.
They should be taught to yell, "gun, gun, gun" and "stupid law enforcement approaching."
Those charges need to be harsher. She deserves to have the book thrown at her and then some.
winstars
(4,220 posts)gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)shrike3
(3,783 posts)In my community, they are trained to shout, "Taser! Taser! Taser!" before they shoot.
That said, anyone who would mistake their service pistol for a taser is, at the very least, a complete idiot.