This past week, former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner set off a mass police search after attempting to take revenge on the LAPD. On Thursday, a blue Toyota Tacoma became the target for a hail of gunfire by several police officers when they suspected it was his truck. The article about this can be found here.
The two occupants of the truck escaped with their lives, but they were injured. Despite this, I still think that a mistake lie this is unacceptable. Had the vehicle in this situation matched Dorner's, I would understand their reaction. However, Dorner's truck that the police were looking for was a gray Nissan Titan. While the two trucks look somewhat similar, the colors were entirely different. The police should have exercised a lot more discretion before opening fire. A show-of-force or other tactic should have been used before shooting.
What do you think? What could have the officers done differently? Were they right to fire when they did? Post your thoughts in the comments below?
Sean, I think the LAPD reacted in the wrong way to the situation. I understand the officers were acting under pressure, especially since a shooting of Dorner's had occurred just hours beforehand, however I hope in the future they will act with more discretion. I agree with your point about how the cars were not even the same make, model or color. The incident may have occurred at 5:00 AM and the officers may have been weary, but this is their job. In the article you cited, a man who lived near the shooting said, "How do you mistake two Hispanic women, one who is 71, for a large black male?". I agree with this man. There are literally no parallels or similarities between the suspect and the women other than the fact that they were both driving a truck in the LA area. The LAPD should debrief their officers more before a manhunt so that this does not happen again. If it does and another mistake occurs, this time the officers may not be as lucky and it could be fatal.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what you said Sarah. Although, it is hard to call the officers 'lucky' as they did injure the occupants of the car, and are also facing a lot of scrutany for this incident. Their reputations, and the reputation of the LAPD may have been affected from this one incident. I think this incident relates to the current discussion on gun regulations. Even though each police officer deserves a gun, under what circumstances should they be allowed to use it? Certainly this example was not an appropriate time. Possibly an increase in police training, or an increase in punishment for cops who use their guns wrongfully should be in place so that the use of guns is reduced in general.
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