Philadelphia Police Shootings

[MJS]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22506651/

PHILADELPHIA - For the second year in a row, city officials are being asked how police officers responding to celebratory New Year's Eve gunfire ended up shooting innocent bystanders.
This year, police chasing an armed reveler shot into a house filled with partygoers, leaving one man in a coma, a second wounded and a 9-year-old boy with a graze wound to the chest.

Thoughts?

 

[Cryozombie]

I lump this in with stories I hear from some of the cops who train with us who tell us things like they routinley, while chasing suspects thru yards shoot peoples dogs so they wont get attacked while fence hopping.

What do I take from those stories? They do it to protect themselves, but its a damn stupid way to do it.

 

[RandomPhantom700]

I lump this in with stories I hear from some of the cops who train with us who tell us things like they routinley, while chasing suspects thru yards shoot peoples dogs so they wont get attacked while fence hopping.

What do I take from those stories? They do it to protect themselves, but its a damn stupid way to do it.

I'll be the first to acknowledge the split-second, life-or-death situations that police face everyday, but in this situation, I think the police officers in question clearly crossed the line. These weren't dogs in a yard that were caught in the crossfire, but civilians in their homes, partying; it crosses from stupid to irresponsible.

Part of being a law enforcement officer is protecting innocent bystanders; this is reflected in everything from police-simulation arcades to police-video carchases you see on television where cops will slow down pursuit in order to protect innocent motorists.

I'm sure the pursuing officers feel remorse for the injure partygoers, but those hospitalizations remain their responsibility.