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by rvanniekerk 3485 days ago
Exactly, suspension with pay is NOT a justified punishment for an unjust murder.

Cops are quick to jump in and defend the department for firing this guy, but when is the last time you've seen a cop speak out against an unjust shooting?

Maybe if "suicide by cop" wasn't such a guaranteed outcome for brandishing a weapon near a police officer, people would be less inclined to attempt it.

This cop tried to treat the victim like an actual human being in distress and got fired for it. Guy that popped off 4 shots gets praised for being a "good cop".
1 comments
morganvachon 3485 days ago
> This cop tried to treat the victim like an actual human being in distress and got fired for it.

The article implies that he was fired for a totality of events prior to this incident, including interference with a crime scene, an illegal search, and cursing at a citizen. It appears his department is using this incident as the "final straw" to be able to let him go. If all of those other incidents are true, I don't believe he should be a police officer, despite my feeling that he acted correctly in initially trying to de-escalate the situation with the armed subject.

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heisenbit 3485 days ago
It is usually a bad idea to take an incident that does not justify firing by itself (or belongs to a similar class of incidents) as a trigger.

The other alleged professional shortcomings were of a very different nature and that won't work well in court.

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morganvachon 3485 days ago
If all the events happened within an annual evaluation period, it's perfectly normal for him to be fired after a certain number of write-ups. That's standard practice at any public safety job, and indeed most government jobs. I'm guessing this was the third offense in the evaluation period.

I know the media likes to represent police departments as hiding their repeat offender employees behind "the blue shield", but every law enforcement agency I've worked for (three including the one I'm currently at) have strict policies about officer conduct. You screw up more than a couple of times, or you really screw up by causing or allowing a citizen or other officer to be hurt or killed, and your career is over.

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