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Earworm80 t1_j3pogy2 wrote

Is there no such thing as a taser? Asking for all the people killed by cops

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WaitForItTheMongols t1_j3qzuuf wrote

Tasers are unfortunately prone to failure, and their range is limited. You need two barbs to fly through the air, both strike their target and stick, and for neither wire to break. Generally, the distance they're effective over is comparable to the distance that someone can get you with a knife faster than you can react. The rule of thumb is that a person with a knife will beat you, if they initiate their attack from less than 21 feet - 21 feet is about the length of 3 long strides plus an outstretched arm, which someone can do in 1 second. So police are supposed to never let a knife-wielder get within 21 feet of them, which is about how far a taser is useful. The police statements say they used sponge rounds against the victim, which had no effect on him. They couldn't do anything else to get him to drop the knife, and eventually when he came at them, they were left without a choice but to defend themselves with their last available option.

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[deleted] t1_j4fm3ge wrote

Give us more excuses! Oh those poor little fascists :(

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WaitForItTheMongols t1_j4fy6c1 wrote

What do you think was mis-handled in this situation?

There are a few major decision points that happened in this encounter. Which one should have gone differently?

First, police responded. There was the decision for them to show up to a call about a person jumping out a window and cutting themselves with glass and a knife. It would be great if we had a mental health task force to respond to these incidents, but we don't. Police are, currently, the only option. So you've got two options. Either police respond, or we decide that from now on, people are allowed to run around town with knives.

If the police respond, then when they showed up, he ran. Some people see an issue here. Should the police pursue the potentially dangerous person, or should we say "if you don't want to be around the cops, you should be allowed to run away"?

Then, he ran at police with a knife. Should they have to wait until one of them is bleeding out before they can use their guns?

I'm particularly confused about this event in the wake of the criticism around Uvalde. Are police supposed to respond to people causing physical harm or not? Yes, in this case the guy started with harming himself, but he was running through the streets and it's not a stretch to think he could have moved on to other people. And of course we can't create a world where anyone can go on a knife rampage, as long as they start by cutting themselves.

I am legitimately interested in hearing your opinion, and if it's compelling, I'll change mine too but what particularly should have been done differently, and what does it have to do with fascism?

Police brutality is obviously a very serious and real problem, but I just don't see why this is an example of it.

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