Lawful but Aweful

By Daddy

Las Vegas — You'll be hearing that over the next few days about the Atlanta shootings as a lot of law enforcement officials express an action that while it may be technically legal but could have been avoided. I even question if it was technically legal. Lets see how it could have been avoided.

In a gentler time not that long ago; The Officer would have retrieved Mr. Brooks car keys and have offered him a ride home... Offered to have a family member come and get him... Offered to call a Taxi. Any of these would have send Mr. Brooks on his way home without his drivers license and with a citation with a corresponding court date.

When the three went to the ground; The officers could have rolled away and waited. A simple deescalation that very likely would have defused the situation.

Threatening Mr. Brooks with a taser did the opposite. In fact it caused the situation to worsen because it changed a 2-on-1 struggle to a 1-on-1 struggle while the officer drew his weapon. Pain compliance on someone that is inebriated is very problematic thus a taser was not the right answer.

When Mr. Brooks evaded arrest and ran away the could have gave chase, or simply stopped. They had his car, they had his drivers license, they knew where he lived. A stop to deliver a citation for the offense and a method to contact the police would had more than likely had positive results once Mr. Brooks came down off his adrenaline high. Most likely he would have turned himself in.

I'm not here to talk about "Aweful" but instead start the discussion of what we can do about this mess.

I'm starting to think that it's time to stop funding this ongoing escalation in violence. In Dallas, the Police Department "Right Care" program created units that put an officer, a paramedic and a social worker in select cars. The pilot program led to a drop in arrests. 44 Minutes would have been more than enough time for such a unit to arrive. I suspect it would have made a difference between life and death.

Train the officers to go back to a gentler time. Handcuffs are not needed when the suspect is cooperating. It's time for the police officers be be trained to not escalate. Do be firm but not confrontative

The vast majority of London officers don't carry guns and that works very well. Let's take the guns off of our Polices hip and lock them away in their car trunks.

To all those that have donated, Thank you! Any help is appreciated. Here's a link to the How to Donate Page which has been updated with the new address.