The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Couer d'Alene Police Officer Involved Shooting video

Ton · January 18, 2014, 11:10 PM

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/0...-shooting.html

http://www.krem.com/video/featured-v...240318431.html

Not that it really matters, but apparently Eric had clipped a power pole, so..... not a serious accident, probably no shock.

Also, it appears he had spent time in jail before. Also, the prosecuting attorney, who I'm sure has a lot more background info than we do, believed that suicide by police was his intention.

Could this have played out differently? Absolutely. As somebody pointed out, EVERY situation that has ever occurred could have played out differently. The police have to make split second decisions every day and hope for the best possible outcome. Being that the officer in question was a 6 year veteran, I'm sure this wasn't the first time he had dealt with a situation like this, and his tactics have obviously worked in the past. He had no way of knowing that Eric was going to do what he did. If I were in his shoes, I feel that the fact that the accident was minor and that the friend was calm would serve to downplay my belief that his threats of self-harm were credible. Of course, it's not up to the officer to determine whether a suicide threat is credible. He proceeded with a level of caution that he deemed appropriate for the situation. I believe the officer did exactly what he was trained to do, and the bottom line is that he still went home at the end of that shift.

My personal belief is that the headline was right. It was suicide by police. That belief mostly stems from the slow but steady pace of Eric's advance. Had he been bent on harming the officer, I believe he would have advanced much faster. Had he not wanted to be shot, I believe he would have stopped his advance, and complied with the officer. But instead he marched toward him like something out of the walking dead, and didn't give the officer any choice.

One last note: Tasers, OC Spray, etc. are less lethal weapons that an officer has available to him/her. Officers are typically trained to respond to aggression/resistance with a level of force that is one step higher than the level of force being used/threatened by the perpetrator. Example: Perp pushes officer, officer punches perp. Perp punches officer, Officer maces perp. This means that less lethal weapons are for officers to respond to non or less lethal threats or assaults. Any DEADLY assault or threat, must be met by the officer with deadly force. This is to minimize the chance of the officer ending his shift in a body bag. It's not that a taser or mace wouldn't have worked. They probably would have, we'll never know. The problem is that if the officer had responded with one of those tools and found it to be ineffective on Eric, he would have been in a world of trouble, and could very well have been killed. And if that had happened, the only point made in this thread would have been that the officer should have shot him when he advanced with a knife.

These are all just my personal beliefs based off of what I know, and could very well be flawed. Just thought I'd add my 2 cents.

January 18, 2014, 11:10 PM	#60
Ton Member Join Date: January 7, 2014 Posts: 85	http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/0...-shooting.html http://www.krem.com/video/featured-v...240318431.html Not that it really matters, but apparently Eric had clipped a power pole, so..... not a serious accident, probably no shock. Also, it appears he had spent time in jail before. Also, the prosecuting attorney, who I'm sure has a lot more background info than we do, believed that suicide by police was his intention. Could this have played out differently? Absolutely. As somebody pointed out, EVERY situation that has ever occurred could have played out differently. The police have to make split second decisions every day and hope for the best possible outcome. Being that the officer in question was a 6 year veteran, I'm sure this wasn't the first time he had dealt with a situation like this, and his tactics have obviously worked in the past. He had no way of knowing that Eric was going to do what he did. If I were in his shoes, I feel that the fact that the accident was minor and that the friend was calm would serve to downplay my belief that his threats of self-harm were credible. Of course, it's not up to the officer to determine whether a suicide threat is credible. He proceeded with a level of caution that he deemed appropriate for the situation. I believe the officer did exactly what he was trained to do, and the bottom line is that he still went home at the end of that shift. My personal belief is that the headline was right. It was suicide by police. That belief mostly stems from the slow but steady pace of Eric's advance. Had he been bent on harming the officer, I believe he would have advanced much faster. Had he not wanted to be shot, I believe he would have stopped his advance, and complied with the officer. But instead he marched toward him like something out of the walking dead, and didn't give the officer any choice. One last note: Tasers, OC Spray, etc. are less lethal weapons that an officer has available to him/her. Officers are typically trained to respond to aggression/resistance with a level of force that is one step higher than the level of force being used/threatened by the perpetrator. Example: Perp pushes officer, officer punches perp. Perp punches officer, Officer maces perp. This means that less lethal weapons are for officers to respond to non or less lethal threats or assaults. Any DEADLY assault or threat, must be met by the officer with deadly force. This is to minimize the chance of the officer ending his shift in a body bag. It's not that a taser or mace wouldn't have worked. They probably would have, we'll never know. The problem is that if the officer had responded with one of those tools and found it to be ineffective on Eric, he would have been in a world of trouble, and could very well have been killed. And if that had happened, the only point made in this thread would have been that the officer should have shot him when he advanced with a knife. These are all just my personal beliefs based off of what I know, and could very well be flawed. Just thought I'd add my 2 cents.