https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jTVgkVtv4E

No charges filed because it was a mistake, even though he violated policy of having tazer on same side as gun.

What does your subject line mean? A police officer shot the guy. Explain your subject line to me, please.

Soverign citizens believe they are above the law.
Only person above the law in this video is the cop

What in the heck are you talking about? I have very little patience for word games.

Edit your subject line for accuracy, please

quote:

Originally posted by imfrogman:
No charges filed because it was a mistake, even though he violated policy of having tazer on same side as gun.

All I saw in the video at the link was the action inside the cell, including the shooting.
Where is the information about no charges and whatever the TASER policy was?

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by imfrogman:
No charges filed because it was a mistake, even though he violated policy of having tazer on same side as gun.

All I saw in the video at the link was the action inside the cell, including the shooting.
Where is the information about no charges and whatever the TASER policy was?

View the video on YouTube. Information is there.

And furthermore, anyone who is a cop-hater is in the wrong forum. SIGforum supports law enforcement, even those officers guilty of being human and making serious mistakes.

The police are absolutely necessary functionaries of any civilized society. They are not going to go away.

quote:

Originally posted by Floyd D. Barber:
View the video on YouTube. Information is there.

There was nothing about TASER policy or charges in the video linked above the two times I watched it.
Was there something in the vast number of semiliterate comments below the video itself?

The reason I’m curious is because similar incidents in other jurisdictions have resulted in criminal charges against the officers. But I still remember reading decades ago in a friend’s law school textbook that accidents were not crimes, and the example cited was a hunter’s shooting someone thinking it was a game animal. When people are charged for accidents, though, it’s usually based on some sort of “reckless” or negligent behavior, but that is a judgment call.

would have helped if the guy didn't try to fight the police. Duh.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by Floyd D. Barber:
View the video on YouTube. Information is there.

There was nothing about TASER policy or charges in the video linked above the two times I watched it.
Was there something in the vast number of semiliterate comments below the video itself?

Posted by the OP. Try clicking the show more.


A New Hope police officer who shot a man in the stomach while he was in police custody will not face criminal charges, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said Friday, because the shooting was accidental. The prosecutor said the shooting was “neither criminal nor justified, but was excused.” The officer, who retired Wednesday and whose name was not released, shot Brian Riling, 38, once during a scuffle inside a holding cell at the New Hope Police Department on March 3. As the officer struggled with Riling, he yelled “Taser!” as a warning, but mistakenly drew his gun, Weintraub said. “Given the totality of circumstances, the officer would have been justified in using his Taser to regain control of Riling inside the holding cell, as the officer had a reasonable belief the scuffle posed a danger to his fellow officer” he said. Because the officer believed he was pointing a taser at Riling, Weintraub said, “he did not possess the criminal mental state required to be guilty of a crime under state law.” Riling was in police custody after an arrest earlier that day on intimidation charges, according to a law enforcement source. His longtime girlfriend told police Riling had sent her over 100 text messages, threatening to attack her, calling her a prostitute and threatening to kill himself, according to the affidavit of probable cause for the arrest.

Looked like he was trying to weaponize his belt, perhaps to harm himself or the officers.

quote:

Originally posted by Floyd D. Barber:
Posted by the OP. Try clicking the show more.

I read the original post.
Thanks for the additional information, however. It’s not my habit to wade through reams of ignorant comments to try to find something worthwhile, so it didn’t occur to me that that would be necessary this time, especially as the topic starter was so obviously incensed about how the case was handled.

And I still don’t see anything about TASER policy being violated. As I’ve posted in other discussions about the subject, carrying handgun and TASER on the same side next to each other is an unwise practice, but it’s not against any law I’m familiar with, nor is it even contrary to universal policy adopted by all agencies.

I don't know about him weaponizing his belt but I did see something fall and he immediately stepped on it. Looked like a joint to me.

I wonder how officers were armed in the jail/holding cells. Any department I've ever heard of requires officers to place their firearm in a lock box before entering that area.

Policy is not law.

Officers have been accidentally shooting people since they started carrying guns. It was only in the last decade when the shift to throw them in jail really started.

Historically the courts, and most people, have understood that honest mistakes happen in high stress situations, and that officers should not be held criminally liable, or civilly in most cases, for trying to do the right thing for a society that gives them the responsibility to deal with difficult situations.

But people wonder why there’s a shortage of applicants...

As usual, lots of assumptions based on little information.

At the jail I’m familiar with, prisoners are first searched in an area outside the jail and which is actually open to the public. They are then put into the holding cell that has a door leading into the jail proper. Up through that point, officers are armed just as they would be on the street. If a prisoner suddenly started fighting as soon as he was put into the cell from the outside area, responding officers would still be armed. In fact, there would be no place in that area for them to secure their weapons. A former sheriff closed that area off from the public and had arms lockers there, but after he was recalled, the next guy went back to the old ways of doing things that dated from the 1950s.

But all that is immaterial if we were trying to learn a lesson from this incident. The officer didn’t shoot the guy by mistake because he was carrying a gun in a place he shouldn’t have been, he shot the guy by mistake because he drew and fired the wrong weapon. In the vast majority of fights with suspects officers are carrying their handguns, and none of the other incidents I’ve read of in which they used guns instead of TASERs as they intended did they have the option of locking their guns up before the fight. It’s easy to say, “He shouldn’t have had a gun there,” but the better question is How do we help ensure they don’t make a mistake and draw and use the wrong weapon in situations like that?

Don't wanna get shot? Then dont be a violent shit bag! Easy peasy!

Let the man get back to work.

So you can only be dangerous if you're armed?

quote:

Originally posted by mr kablammo:
Looked like he was trying to weaponize his belt, perhaps to harm himself or the officers.

He dropped what I assume was drugs tried to cover it with his foot, the cop tried to recover item and that's what started the pushing.

And to the OP, what do I see when I look at your posting history?

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0099654?r=9570000754

You will kindly restrain your cop hatred in this forum. I want to see no more of this nonsense from you. Good grief. Get a grip.

Post no more police videos, and mind your manners if you comment on the subject in the threads of others.

quote:

Originally posted by DoctorSolo:
Don't wanna get shot? Then dont be a violent shit bag!

I use this method myself. Very effective, & I hadn’t been shot yet!

Learn this 1 weird trick avoid a GSW!