Officer Barney Fife mistakes gun for a tazer in shooting a black man. Biden calls for peace.

[Twilight Hue]

Making the tazer a different colour isn't gonna get the job done.
There needs to be a distinct difference in the feel when grabbing it.

I think a specific place on the gun belt would help too. Not in proximity by the firearm.

 

[McBell]

It could feel like a breast implant, eh.
This might encourage preference to the more deadly handgun.

If the situation is such that you do not feel that the squishy handled object will not be sufficient....

 

[Heyo]

Wish it was funny like the title, but no doubt the police are still killing with impunity.


Biden calls for peaceful protests after police shooting of Daunte Wright

This is so bizarre that an officer can't tell the difference between a tazer and a gun?

Maybe he really couldn't. In that case it wouldn't be fair to convict him. Instead convict his instructors and/or the tazer designers.
There are no accidents, especially when someone gets killed. Somebody made a fatale error and that error has to be found and kept from happening again.
But I guess that's not what is going to happen.

 

[Altfish]

This could not happen in the UK, traffic police do not have guns.

 

[We Never Know]

First, kudos for using "tazer", which is the word for such a device.
"Taser" is a brand name.

If it was indeed tazer vs gun confusion, this points to....
1) Poor training
2) Bad tazer design.
Consider....

When a cop who carries both experiences a high stress situation,
& if the tazer looks, feels, & operates much like a handgun, then
confusion is made reasonably possible. If the cop does get confused,
this also suggests that training is inadequate.
I'd favor redesigning the tazer so that it functions reasonably like
the handgun, but has features to alert the user to a big difference,
eg, make the tazer entirely a bright color.

"Q: How often does this happen?

A: Experts agree this is a real but very rare occurrence that probably happens less than once a year nationwide. A 2012 article published in the monthly law journal of Americans for Effective Law Enforcement documented nine cases in which officers shot suspects with handguns when they said they meant to fire stun guns dating back to 2001."

"Q. Why does this happen?

A. The way officers carry their weapons, how officers are trained and the stress of dangerous, chaotic situations have been cited. To avoid confusion, officers typically carry their stun guns on their weak sides, away from handguns that are carried on the side of their strong arms. A right-handed officer, for instance, would carry his handgun on his right and his stun gun on his left. In many of the documented cases of confusion, however, the two weapons were holstered near each other on the officers' strong side."

Handgun vs. stun gun: How common is it to confuse them?

 

[McBell]

I think a specific place on the gun belt would help too. Not in proximity by the firearm.

In the linked article there is a video where the police chief flat out says that the firearm is on the dominant hand side and the tazer on the other side.
He goes further to say that this is how each officer goes through training.

Watching the bodycam footage, it appears to me that the officer in question did not realize she had the firearm instead of the tazer until after she pulled the trigger.
I can not help but wonder how new she is to job, or more specifically, if that is the first time she used the tazer on the job.

I completely agree with you that the more you practice the better.
My question is, have you ever been in a position where you were carrying a lethal and a non-lethal weapon?
Practicing pulling the weapon is a good thing, but how do you practice which one to pull?
And I mean in a manner that will be effective in a spur of the moment split second decision situation.

I do not know the answer,
Thus the reason I am asking.

 

[Revoltingest]

In the news....
'Holy S**t, I Just Shot Him’: Chief Believes Officer Meant To Use Taser In Fatal Shooting Of Daunte Wright
It appears that we have both white & black cops involved.
The shooter looks like a white female...a "very senior officer".

 

[We Never Know]

I think a specific place on the gun belt would help too. Not in proximity by the firearm.

From my post #25...

"The way officers carry their weapons, how officers are trained and the stress of dangerous, chaotic situations have been cited. To avoid confusion, officers typically carry their stun guns on their weak sides, away from handguns that are carried on the side of their strong arms. A right-handed officer, for instance, would carry his handgun on his right and his stun gun on his left. In many of the documented cases of confusion, however, the two weapons were holstered near each other on the officers' strong side."

 

[We Never Know]

In the news....
'Holy S**t, I Just Shot Him’: Chief Believes Officer Meant To Use Taser In Fatal Shooting Of Daunte Wright
It appears that we have both white & black cops involved.
The shooter looks like a white female...a "very senior officer".

I watched that earlier and again now.

She was clearly very excited before the shot. She also had 7-8 seconds of waiving her weapon in front of herself to realize it was her service weapon and not a taser. However her excitment probably had her wound up so tight she didn't realize anything accept the suspect was trying to flee.

 

[sun rise]

The cynic in me says that he made up the switch up as an excuse after the fact.
I realise that that’s a bit judgemental but a fully trained officer (presumably) “accidentally” uses a gun when thinking it’s a taser? A tiny bit suspicious at the very least. Maybe he was just confused and in a high stress situation. Even then, one would assume that training would take this into account anyway????

Either way, this is not good.

I had the same thoughts especially given that we're hearing about a cop killing a black man more than once a week.

 

[Revoltingest]

I watched that earlier and again now.

She was clearly very excited before the shot. She also had 7-8 seconds of waiving her weapon in front of herself to realize it was her service weapon and not a taser. However her excitment probably had her wound up so tight she didn't realize anything accept the suspect was trying to flee.

And women....need I say more.

Just kidding!

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I understand that people who have outstanding warrants need to go to court...but why not:

"Here's your ticket for running that stoplight, sir. We noticed that you have an outstanding warrant on a felony charge; please call the court tomorrow to schedule your hearing. Here's their number, and we'll let them know that we had this opportunity to remind you. Have a nice evening, and please drive safer!"

 

[Revoltingest]

I understand that people who have outstanding warrants need to go to court...but why not:

"Here's your ticket for running that stoplight, sir. We noticed that you have an outstanding warrant on a felony charge; please call the court tomorrow to schedule your hearing. Here's their number, and we'll let them know that we had this opportunity to remind you. Have a nice evening, and please drive safer!"

I have some experience dealing with people who have
outstanding warrants. Something approaching 100%
of the time, they don't report to court on their own.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I favor making toy guns entirely fluorescent colors.

Yea. Pink and florescent like in Call of Duty cause thats what 12 year olds think is historically accurate.

 

[Ashoka]

Wish it was funny like the title, but no doubt the police are still killing with impunity.


Biden calls for peaceful protests after police shooting of Daunte Wright

This is so bizarre that an officer can't tell the difference between a tazer and a gun?

I believe it was a mistake as well; but she should be charged, at the least, with manslaughter.

 

[Debater Slayer]

It seems that when a cop involved in shooting a civilian--usually a black one--isn't excessively violent or abusive, they are almost hopelessly, carelessly, and dangerously stupid.

The U.S. police forces really do seem to choose the dregs of society to join their ranks and wield deadly weapons nowadays.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I believe it was a mistake as well; but she should be charged, at the least, with manslaughter.

I'm pretty sure we are in for another trial now.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I have some experience dealing with people who have
outstanding warrants. Something approaching 100%
of the time, they don't report to court on their own.

perhaps not, but requiring police to arrest people on outstanding warrants during traffic stops (as well as during domestic disputes, or whatever other situation stimulates contact with law enforcement) seems to be a cause of a lot of grief that could be avoided. Sure they won't voluntarily go to court--that's why they need to have a social worker (maybe backed by police) show up instead of escalating the situation by trying to arrest them on the warrant.

 

[Ashoka]

I'm pretty sure we are in for another trial now.

The whole thing is just tragic. They left his body to lie there for hours before going to retrieve it.

Not only are we in for another trial, but we are in for more riots and protests.

 

[Twilight Hue]

It seems that when a cop involved in shooting a civilian--usually a black one--isn't excessively violent or abusive, they are almost hopelessly, carelessly, and dangerously stupid.

The U.S. police forces really do seem to choose the dregs of society to join their ranks and wield deadly weapons nowadays.

I'm still wondering how this person got a badge and gun. Maybe it's high time to look at England's police force and employ armed officers only in specific situations. The rest only have non.lethal weapons.