Nashville officer charged in shooting

[DaveTN]

Unfortunately for this Officer I expect he will be going to trial. This is not good for cops or citizens.

This Judge went into detail about why the Officer was stopping this guy. It doesn’t matter…period. The Officer could have started chasing the wrong guy, but at the point the criminal pulled a gun; nothing prior to that matters.

She also didn’t think the video was clear that the criminal pointed the gun at the Officer. That also isn’t required. And if the video isn’t clear it should be thrown out.

Her ruling was as ignorant as people that rant about someone getting shot after pointing a gun at cop on a traffic stop and then saying “He got killed over a speeding ticket!” No he got killed for pointing a gun at a cop; and that’s what happened here.

However, I don’t think much can be done about the Judge’s ruling because all she is doing is sending it to a Grand Jury.  

Would a reasonable person (That will be a jury) believe that they were in immediate danger of death or great bodily harm if they were in this situation? A person with a gun visible in his hand running from a uniformed Police Officer, who was giving him commands to stop, and the criminal is close to having cover. I don’t see how 12 people could come to a unanimous verdict that the Officer was guilty of anything. But in these times; who knows.

[bud]

.

Edited January 20, 2019 by bud

[TGO David]

2 hours ago, Whisper said:

Funk is wrong.  The US Supreme Court ruled back in the 1980s (in Tennessee v Garner, a case involving Memphis PD) that a fleeing felon can be stopped with lethal force, although only if there is probable cause to believe there's a threat to the life of the officer or others.  I expect the officer's attorney will  argue that he had probable cause because he could see the suspect was armed.

 

My prediction is that Officer Delke will be spending time in prison now that it is up to a jury to decide his fate, regardless of what the law says an officer can do to a fleeing felon.  Juries are made up of the public, and the public increasingly cares less about facts or laws and more about feelings and social justice.

This guy is sunk.

 

[Omega]

1 hour ago, TGO David said:

My prediction is that Officer Delke will be spending time in prison now that it is up to a jury to decide his fate, regardless of what the law says an officer can do to a fleeing felon.  Juries are made up of the public, and the public increasingly cares less about facts or laws and more about feelings and social justice.

This guy is sunk.

 

I disagree, I believe the public is getting sick and tired of prosecutors bringing these cases to trial.   There have been many cops brought up on questionable, IMO, charges and found not guilty, even in liberal cities where you'd think it would have been a slam dunk for the DA.

[Defender]

Officer Delke was doing aggressive police work.  Thats how good crime fighting works.  You cant simply show up after the crime and clean up the mess.  If you want to inhibit future crime, you have to aggressively proactive.  Most traffic stops are for this reason.  Seriously, do you think it really matters that much if one of two license plate lights is out?  No, it is because many many times, once the traffic stop is effected for a minor violation, interaction with the occupants reveals  reasons for further interaction, often resulting in arrests, and...crime reduction.  If this trend keeps up, we will see an increase in crime.  LEOs will shy away from being aggressive and who could blame them?  I wouldnt be a LEO today and I have retired LEO friends across the nation who say the same thing.  In my time we were always told we were held to a higher standard...we accepted that.  But these days every single action and reaction that happens in a split, stress filled second is Monday morning quarterbacked and analyzed to the point that the criticism for action is overwhelming.  The end result is going to be inaction. Its dangerous enough for LEOs out there now, but this after action over reaction will ruin law enforcement.  

[TGO David]

13 hours ago, Omega said:

I disagree, I believe the public is getting sick and tired of prosecutors bringing these cases to trial.   There have been many cops brought up on questionable, IMO, charges and found not guilty, even in liberal cities where you'd think it would have been a slam dunk for the DA.

I sincerely hope that you are right.  I am finding it very hard to be optimistic about the public these days.

 

[E4 No More]

11 minutes ago, TGO David said:

I sincerely hope that you are right.  I am finding it very hard to be optimistic about the public these days.

 

I feel ya on this one! I blame a lot of it on "social" media.

[DaveTN]

18 minutes ago, SWJewellTN said:

I feel ya on this one! I blame a lot of it on "social" media.

I think a lot of its social media. I also think for some crimes it is because the public could see themselves or their kids committing the same crime. Fleeing in a vehicle is an example. People fleeing in a vehicle are putting the public in immediate danger of death or great bodily harm. It should be a felony with mandatory jail time. But it’s tough to get that passed; because parents can see their kids doing it.

I think they think the same thing about people running on foot from the cops; they can see their kids doing it. They don’t understand that adding your kid pointing a gun at a cop or citizen is no longer just running from the cops.

[Chucktshoes]

50 minutes ago, DaveTN said:

I think a lot of its social media. I also think for some crimes it is because the public could see themselves or their kids committing the same crime. Fleeing in a vehicle is an example. People fleeing in a vehicle are putting the public in immediate danger of death or great bodily harm. It should be a felony with mandatory jail time. But it’s tough to get that passed; because parents can see their kids doing it.

I think they think the same thing about people running on foot from the cops; they can see their kids doing it. They don’t understand that adding your kid pointing a gun at a cop or citizen is no longer just running from the cops.

I’ve seen you mention the deceased pointing his gun at the cop more than once. I don’t remember that being part of Delke’s story at the beginning and the video doesn’t show that happening. Can you direct me to where you got that bit of information? That has always been my hurdle with this case. If the deceased did point his gun at Delke, then it’s absolutely a good shoot, but if he didn’t, that’s where it becomes questionable to me and why I think it should go to trial. If I am misreading your posts, please correct me.

As far as that trial goes, if the history of these types of trials is any indicator, he will get acquitted and the union will get him his job back. 

There are roughly 1000 officer involved shootings per year** and between 2005 and 2017 80 officers were indicted for on the job homicides but only about 35% of those were convicted. It is exceedingly difficult to convict an officer for an on the job shooting.

**https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/&httpsredir=1&article=1077&context=crim_just_pub

*I also feel it is incumbent upon me at this time to make my usual reminder that contrary to propagandist efforts from inside the LE industry, policing in this country isn’t an especially dangerous job. It doesn’t even make the top 10 for on the job fatalities. Truck drivers like myself are more than twice as likely to die on the job as a police officer and we aren’t even top 5. Your trash guy has a statistically more dangerous job than a cop.*

Edited January 9, 2019 by Chucktshoes

[Omega]

1 hour ago, Chucktshoes said:

I’ve seen you mention the deceased pointing his gun at the cop more than once. I don’t remember that being part of Delke’s story at the beginning and the video doesn’t show that happening. Can you direct me to where you got that bit of information? That has always been my hurdle with this case. If the deceased did point his gun at Delke, then it’s absolutely a good shoot, but if he didn’t, that’s where it becomes questionable to me and why I think it should go to trial. If I am misreading your posts, please correct me.

As far as that trial goes, if the history of these types of trials is any indicator, he will get acquitted and the union will get him his job back. 

There are roughly 1000 officer involved shootings per year** and between 2005 and 2017 80 officers were indicted for on the job homicides but only about 35% of those were convicted. It is exceedingly difficult to convict an officer for an on the job shooting.

**https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/&httpsredir=1&article=1077&context=crim_just_pub

*I also feel it is incumbent upon me at this time to make my usual reminder that contrary to propagandist efforts from inside the LE industry, policing in this country isn’t an especially dangerous job. It doesn’t even make the top 10 for on the job fatalities. Truck drivers like myself are more than twice as likely to die on the job as a police officer and we aren’t even top 5. Your trash guy has a statistically more dangerous job than a cop.*

While many professions are dangerous, and have more deaths as a result, that does not mitigate the danger of another. And while those professions do have more deaths, they do not have people (at least not many) intentionally trying to take your life.  I'm retired military, and my particular role did not put me in as much danger as the ones we lovingly call "Door Kickers", but the 7.62 rounds perforating my Toyota didn't get the message, neither did those mortars lobbed in at us daily. 

LEO have a dangerous job, one in which more and more of the public is turning against them...until they need them.

[E4 No More]

18 minutes ago, Omega said:

While many professions are dangerous, and have more deaths as a result, that does not mitigate the danger of another. And while those professions do have more deaths, they do not have people (at least not many) intentionally trying to take your life.  I'm retired military, and my particular role did not put me in as much danger as the ones we lovingly call "Door Kickers", but the 7.62 rounds perforating my Toyota didn't get the message, neither did those mortars lobbed in at us daily. 

LEO have a dangerous job, one in which more and more of the public is turning against them...until they need them.

Yes, falling asleep at the wheel of a >60,000 pound missile traveling 70 MPH because you are stretching your limits for money is not the same as having same missile coming at you while you have a car stopped along the highway for speeding. I had my fair share of those close calls when I was a LEO.

[DaveTN]

4 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

I’ve seen you mention the deceased pointing his gun at the cop more than once. I don’t remember that being part of Delke’s story at the beginning and the video doesn’t show that happening. Can you direct me to where you got that bit of information? That has always been my hurdle with this case. If the deceased did point his gun at Delke, then it’s absolutely a good shoot, but if he didn’t, that’s where it becomes questionable to me and why I think it should go to trial. If I am misreading your posts, please correct me.

As far as that trial goes, if the history of these types of trials is any indicator, he will get acquitted and the union will get him his job back. 

There are roughly 1000 officer involved shootings per year** and between 2005 and 2017 80 officers were indicted for on the job homicides but only about 35% of those were convicted. It is exceedingly difficult to convict an officer for an on the job shooting.

**https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/&httpsredir=1&article=1077&context=crim_just_pub

*I also feel it is incumbent upon me at this time to make my usual reminder that contrary to propagandist efforts from inside the LE industry, policing in this country isn’t an especially dangerous job. It doesn’t even make the top 10 for on the job fatalities. Truck drivers like myself are more than twice as likely to die on the job as a police officer and we aren’t even top 5. Your trash guy has a statistically more dangerous job than a cop.*

Chuck, one night myself and another Officer was dispatched to a business on a burglar alarm. It was a business where the alarm went off a lot and was always false.

As I approached the building I could see from the street people in the building. The other Officer was right behind me. I blacked out and rolled into the lot. They had seen me and took off running for the door. The first suspect went out the door and I gave chase on foot. The other Officer put his squad on the door and blocked the 2nd suspect inside. 2 white males that appeared to be adults.

We ran across the street (about 100 yards) and into a wide open field. A short distance into the field the suspect stopped and turned and faced me. He was pulling something out of his waistband that I thought was a gun; but I was not absolutely sure. My choice was to do something or wait to see what he was doing. I fired a warning shot into the ground feet in front of him. It went through my mind that we had a department policy against firing warning shots, but my only other option was to kill him. When I did that he turned around and continued to run.

At that time we could shoot fleeing forcible felons; burglary was a forcible felony. As we crossed the field he was approaching a building. My thought was that if he made it to that corner; he had cover to shoot me. I fired at him. The bullet hit the corner of the building as he went around the corner. Other Officers had arrived and were coming around the other end of the building. As I rounded the corner those Officers had him at gunpoint and he had his hands in the air. He had no gun. When I asked him what he was pulling out of the front of his pants he said he didn’t have anything.

Turns out he was a 16 year old juvenile, home on leave from reform school. He was taken to HQ by other Officers and turned over to Juvenile Officers.

Command Officers came to the scene to see what happened with the shooting. When I told them what happened one of them said “We have a department policy against warning shots.” I replied with “Screw that, department policy won’t save me if I’m on trial. I have to be able to use anything I have to keep from killing someone; that is what I did.”

As we were getting ready to leave, the Juvenile Officer radioed us and told us to stay there, he was sending the Fire Department out; they would explain. When they arrived they said “your suspect threw a gun on the roof.” They pulled a loaded 6” Model 66 off the roof.

The 16 year old told the Detectives when he turned on me; he was going to shoot me. He didn’t expect me to fire so he ran for cover. He saw the other Officers approaching from the other way and knew he was caught. Otherwise he would have shot me once he got to cover. As he rounded the corner they weren’t there yet and he threw the gun on the roof. They never saw the gun.

I am alive today because I violated department policy and fired my weapon. So is he, because if I hadn’t been in a wide open field, if there had been people around; I would have shot him. Even though he never got a chance to point his gun at me; one of us would have probably been dead when I rounded that corner. After that incident our department policy was changed.

I didn’t make him burglarize that building; I didn’t make him run, I didn’t make him have a gun, and I didn’t make him try to kill me. He did all that because he was a dirt bag criminal with no regard for life.

The protection of violent criminals has gone too far. Law abiding citizens and cops that have to use deadly force to protect themselves from dirt bag criminals should have that protection; not them. So having been in the same situation this is very personal for me. By the time you see the weapon pointed at you; it’s too late.

I feel terrible that the officials have turned their back on this Police Officer, and all other Police Officers, and sided with a thug carrying a gun. It’s reasonable to believe he would have shot the Officer.

Yes, he will probably he acquitted. But he or no other Officer or citizen should have to go through what is being done to him.

[E4 No More]

On 1/9/2019 at 4:00 PM, DaveTN said:

Chuck, one night myself and another Officer was dispatched to a business on a burglar alarm. It was a business where the alarm went off a lot and was always false.

As I approached the building...

 

Being placed in the position of having to decide life or death isn't easy and I commend you for posting this. Myself, I came half a trigger pull away on a service revolver from shooting a dumbass drunk with a baseball bat. After he dropped his bat and was taken into custody I became so angry with the guy for putting me in that position that I couldn't even talk with him. Other officers handled it from there.

It's pretty darned easy for many people to armchair quarterback a cop. It's another thing to actually do it.

Edited January 10, 2019 by SWJewellTN

[Chucktshoes]

3 hours ago, DaveTN said:

Chuck, one night myself and another Officer was dispatched to a business on a burglar alarm. It was a business where the alarm went off a lot and was always false.

As I approached the building I could see from the street people in the building. The other Officer was right behind me. I blacked out and rolled into the lot. They had seen me and took off running for the door. The first suspect went out the door and I gave chase on foot. The other Officer put his squad on the door and blocked the 2nd suspect inside. 2 white males that appeared to be adults.

We ran across the street (about 100 yards) and into a wide open field. A short distance into the field the suspect stopped and turned and faced me. He was pulling something out of his waistband that I thought was a gun; but I was not absolutely sure. My choice was to do something or wait to see what he was doing. I fired a warning shot into the ground feet in front of him. It went through my mind that we had a department policy against firing warning shots, but my only other option was to kill him. When I did that he turned around and continued to run.

At that time we could shoot fleeing forcible felons; burglary was a forcible felony. As we crossed the field he was approaching a building. My thought was that if he made it to that corner; he had cover to shoot me. I fired at him. The bullet hit the corner of the building as he went around the corner. Other Officers had arrived and were coming around the other end of the building. As I rounded the corner those Officers had him at gunpoint and he had his hands in the air. He had no gun. When I asked him what he was pulling out of the front of his pants he said he didn’t have anything.

Turns out he was a 16 year old juvenile, home on leave from reform school. He was taken to HQ by other Officers and turned over to Juvenile Officers.

Command Officers came to the scene to see what happened with the shooting. When I told them what happened one of them said “We have a department policy against warning shots.” I replied with “Screw that, department policy won’t save me if I’m on trial. I have to be able to use anything I have to keep from killing someone; that is what I did.”

As we were getting ready to leave, the Juvenile Officer radioed us and told us to stay there, he was sending the Fire Department out; they would explain. When they arrived they said “your suspect threw a gun on the roof.” They pulled a loaded 6” Model 66 off the roof.

The 16 year old told the Detectives when he turned on me; he was going to shoot me. He didn’t expect me to fire so he ran for cover. He saw the other Officers approaching from the other way and knew he was caught. Otherwise he would have shot me once he got to cover. As he rounded the corner they weren’t there yet and he threw the gun on the roof. They never saw the gun.

I am alive today because I violated department policy and fired my weapon. So is he, because if I hadn’t been in a wide open field, if there had been people around; I would have shot him. Even though he never got a chance to point his gun at me; one of us would have probably been dead when I rounded that corner. After that incident our department policy was changed.

I didn’t make him burglarize that building; I didn’t make him run, I didn’t make him have a gun, and I didn’t make him try to kill me. He did all that because he was a dirt bag criminal with no regard for life.

The protection of violent criminals has gone too far. Law abiding citizens and cops that have to use deadly force to protect themselves from dirt bag criminals should have that protection; not them. So having been in the same situation this is very personal for me. By the time you see the weapon pointed at you; it’s too late.

I feel terrible that the officials have turned their back on this Police Officer, and all other Police Officers, and sided with a thug carrying a gun. It’s reasonable to believe he would have shot the Officer.

Yes, he will probably he acquitted. But he or no other Officer or citizen should have to go through what is being done to him.

Dave, 

thank you for sharing that story. I’m glad that you didn’t have to kill that kid that night for myriad reasons. (I suspect that killing that kid that night would have long weighed heavily on your heart no matter how justified.) You do raise some points that I do want to discuss, but I’m going to hold off on them for the moment. (Several others of you also bring up some general issues regarding policing that I have thoughts about. I am not ignoring your posts, but I am holding off for the time being as I have concerns about drifting this topic too far afield as well as some other personal concerns regarding appropriateness.)

I do however want to circle back to the question I originally asked. I haven’t seen where it was alleged that the deceased pointed his gun, only that he ran while holding it. (Since he most likely wasn’t using a holster, it’s not surprising it would end up in his hand, no matter how fatally unwise.) Am I misreading your posts or are you intentionally stating he aimed his gun, and if so where did you see that? I am genuinely curious because that would go a long way to answering my questions and greatly calm my concerns regarding this death. 

[DaveTN]

25 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

Dave, 

thank you for sharing that story. I’m glad that you didn’t have to kill that kid that night for myriad reasons. (I suspect that killing that kid that night would have long weighed heavily on your heart no matter how justified.) You do raise some points that I do want to discuss, but I’m going to hold off on them for the moment. (Several others of you also bring up some general issues regarding policing that I have thoughts about. I am not ignoring your posts, but I am holding off for the time being as I have concerns about drifting this topic too far afield as well as some other personal concerns regarding appropriateness.)

I do however want to circle back to the question I originally asked. I haven’t seen where it was alleged that the deceased pointed his gun, only that he ran while holding it. (Since he most likely wasn’t using a holster, it’s not surprising it would end up in his hand, no matter how fatally unwise.) Am I misreading your posts or are you intentionally stating he aimed his gun, and if so where did you see that? I am genuinely curious because that would go a long way to answering my questions and greatly calm my concerns regarding this death. 

Quote

 

In the recording, the officer goes on to explain that he saw Hambrick holding a gun and why he chased after him. He described having "tunnel vision" and immediately focusing on the gun. Delke said Hambrick pointed the gun at his direction and gave a "targeted glance", which he described as someone looking at an opponent to know where to shoot.

“This whole time he’s not going to put it down. At that point I believe he had intent to use it because he hasn’t listened to my commands. I yelled again to drop the gun," said Delke. "Drop the gun, drop the gun, drop the gun, drop the gun or I’m going to shot you; I explicitly told him because, at that point it had risen to the level already in my mind when the gun had been pointed at me already. He refused multiple commands to drop the gun, and now explicitly I told him the consequences of not dropping was going to be and he still refused to do so. In my mind at that moment I knew 100 percent his intent was to use that gun against me."

According to Delke, he fired first because he felt as if Hambrick was an imminent threat. He decided to take action to "beat his [Hambrick] action and fired the shots to neutralize."

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/nashville-police-shooting-officer-charged-with-homicide-to-appear-in-court

 

I remember reading it and hearing it on he news. 

I believe had he not shot the perp the perp would have shot him or tried. I don’t see how anyone can expect a cop or a citizen to wait until the gun is pointed at them. You are trained that can get you killed.

It bothers me because if I was chasing him, he had a gun in his hand, was refusing my orders to stop, and nearing cover; I would have shot him if I knew I could do so without hitting any innocent bystanders. Apparently the DA and Mayor in Davidson County would want me charged with murder.

[Omega]

If I were in that position, in this day and age of BLM inciting incidents, as a felon, my first priority, besides not getting caught, would be to ditch a weapon, not run with it. There would be no way in hell I would reach for, run with, or carry a gun in my hand when chased by a police officer unless my intent was to shoot him.  Have you seen these hoods take a weaver stance and aim their weapons?  What exactly are you expecting to see in a video besides arms flailing about? 

[Pain103]

 I would imagine he would opt for a bench trial. No jurors takes emotion and other things out of the trial. 

[Omega]

1 hour ago, Pain103 said:

 I would imagine he would opt for a bench trial. No jurors takes emotion and other things out of the trial. 

Not with a judge like the one that sent him to trial!

[Chucktshoes]

On 1/9/2019 at 8:42 PM, DaveTN said:

I remember reading it and hearing it on he news. 

I believe had he not shot the perp the perp would have shot him or tried. I don’t see how anyone can expect a cop or a citizen to wait until the gun is pointed at them. You are trained that can get you killed.

It bothers me because if I was chasing him, he had a gun in his hand, was refusing my orders to stop, and nearing cover; I would have shot him if I knew I could do so without hitting any innocent bystanders. Apparently the DA and Mayor in Davidson County would want me charged with murder.

The TBI investigator’s testimony casts doubt on Delke’s story regarding the chain of events. I’m not able to say one way or another as I don’t view a badge as an automatic signifier of trustworthiness. Cop or not, anyone in his position has an overwhelming incentive to frame events in as positive of a light as possible. So, I’m of the opinion that at this point he and The People are entitled to their day in court.

 

Now, here’s something where I know we will never agree on, but I’m going to lay it out there anyway. You say you “don’t see how anyone can expect a cop or a citizen to wait until the gun is pointed at them.” I don’t think a citizen can be expected to be held to that standard. The “reasonable person” standard is just and appropriate for the average citizen. A police officer absolutely should be held to a higher standard. If US soldiers in an active war zone are required by their ROE to take fire before engaging with the enemy, I don’t see why it is so unreasonable to require officers to have conclusive proof of imminent threat before killing someone. 

I don’t doubt the testimony that Delke acted as he was trained to do. Cops are trained not to hesitate because as you finished the above quoted statement, “you are trained that can get you killed.” That’s the problem. The training elevates officer safety over public safety. (If you’re wondering why respect for law enforcement is declining, I’d start looking right there.)

I’ve often heard that the first rule of law enforcement is “to go home at the end of your shift.” Well, to use a turn of phrase from our friends from across the pond, that’s utter bollocks. We arm and empower police to use violence up to and including deadly force on behalf of, and for the ends of ensuring public safety.

Public safety, not their own personal safety.

If law enforcement is really the noble profession that it is purported to be then that means officers actually accepting the responsibility and inherent dangers of putting the safety and well being of all others over their own. That means not opening fire at the first sight of a 12 yo kid with a toy gun, or a lawfully armed citizen following instructions to produce his license, or a man in a Walmart holding a BB gun, or a multitude of other examples of officers freaking out like a scared cat and innocent folks ending up dead. 

Some of y’all like to complain about folks like me having an opinion on how cops do their jobs while not choosing to wear the badge. Well, as a member of the general public who has to live (or possibly die) with the consequences from their actions, good or bad, from training or mistakes, I (we) damn well do get to have an opinion on the matter. Don’t like it? I don’t care. Know what I don’t like? I don’t like that some guy who’s been trained to be afraid of his own shadow can kill me because my eyes twitched the wrong way and he gets to go home at the end of his shift with no lasting consequences. If the police actually work on behalf of the public, then the public gets a say on how that work is done, even on Monday morning.

Now, my words may be a bit harsh on this matter, but don’t mistake me. I don’t have an issue with cops as individuals, but I do have a problem with the job they are expected to do and the way they are trained to do it. I believe that policing in America is fundamentally broken in many ways. If there is to be any hope of fixing it, then all the stakeholders have to be at the table and open to frank and honest discussion. 

Edited January 11, 2019 by Chucktshoes

[DaveTN]

6 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

I don’t doubt the testimony that Delke acted as he was trained to do.

I have no problem with what you say as long as that is made clear to Officers before they take the job. If they are expected to wait until the gun is pointed at them; tell them that. That is what this case is telling them. (And that is not a requirement)

They are having trouble getting good people that want to be cops. Let’s see how that works. As a citizen that respects the Police I see that as a big problem. The people deserve good law enforcement; it needs to protect us not violent offenders.

But be aware that if cops are held to that standard; you will be also. Cops are required to move towards the danger; not away. Citizens don’t have that requirement, so we will be headed back towards “Duty to retreat” for citizens; because that’s what you want for cops.

Being a cop is a violent business. You go into it knowing you will be hurt; you don’t expect to be killed.

I’m furious that that judge used that video to say it wasn’t clear if the criminal pointed his gun at the Officer or not. That BS; it’s not required and if that video isn’t clear; it should be thrown out. If that video didn’t exist; there would be no trial. But apparently with that video officials feel they can sit around and try to decide if that criminal pointed his gun at that Officer. I can’t believe that will ever stand.

A Sheriff is facing dismissal, a Deputy was fired and many are calling for criminal prosecution because the Deputy didn’t act fast enough. 14 kids and 3 staff members were killed, 17 others wounded. But hey, the criminal is alive and well. Cops are required to act. If a gunman not following lawful orders to disarm dies; so be it.

I have a niece that was sworn in as a Police Officer Wednesday. I hope the officials in her area don’t side with the violent criminals.

This case is malicious prosecution.

 

 

I’m all for discussing the problems with Policing. And I’m all for charging Police Officers when they commit a crime. But when someone has a gun in their hand, and they are being ordered by someone they know to be a Police Officer to drop it, and they refuse; deadly force is justified.

I don’t have an “Us vs. them mentality”, I have a right vs. wrong mentality”.

[owejia]

On ‎1‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 6:16 PM, TGO David said:

My prediction is that Officer Delke will be spending time in prison now that it is up to a jury to decide his fate, regardless of what the law says an officer can do to a fleeing felon.  Juries are made up of the public, and the public increasingly cares less about facts or laws and more about feelings and social justice.

This guy is sunk.

 

Depends on who is on the jury, all it takes is one.

[bud]

.

Edited January 20, 2019 by bud

[Omega]

2 hours ago, bud said:

I think the solution to lessen the questionable use of force lies in, as @Chucktshoes suggested, in re-assessing the value of an officers life as compared to citizens, and then allowing new recruits and current officers to decide if they wanna take the job based on the new Common-Sense realization that a cop going home at the end of his shift is not more important than a civilian making it home to his family. If afterwards there's not enough officers, or too much crime, then reassess again.

I also agree with Chuck in that me- the tax payer- is the Coach of the team. I'm not monday morning quarterbacking, I'm reviewing the game tape and adjusting the play of my players to make improvements for the next game. It's my job and my right because I pay the bills. The cops are employees of the taxpayers.

On the other hand Delke was operating under current rules and you can't change the rules in the middle of the game like an elementary school child (or Funk and Briley). In this case, like @DaveTN said, the rules were already laid out and Delke engaged as per his rights. Should Delke's lawyers have thrown in the info (which feels like a lie given how this info came out) that Hamburg pointed the gun at him? I think it was a good move, because it can't be definitively proven that he didnt, and dead men tell no tales. In the end it doesn't matter, because per current procedure Delke was justified.

As i said earlier, personally i think Delke was crazy to shoot him. Although Delke had a right to shoot him, he shoukd have yielded that right. If a criminal is fleeing with his back to you, having not fired shots or done any other violent act, you accept the risk that the criminal may harm someone else vs executing him preemptively. Would Hamburg have gone on to commit a violent crime at some later date if Delke let him go? I think he certainly would have given his path, but he also could've found Jesus.

Here's hoping that at the Grand Jury hearing, only the facts are considered and that it doesnt go to a jury trial. My money doesnt need to be wasted on a jury trial.

It's not that a cop's life is valued more than a criminals per se, it is that someone committing a crime has devalued their own life.  If we start playing this game, soon you will have to make sure it is a fair fight with a home intruder because his life equals yours.  Mistakes get made, sure enough, but to blatantly disregard the fact that criminals have no problem killing LEOs or citizens that get in the way of their crimes is ridiculous.  We have laws, we "hire" people to study, make and teach the best business practices they can to keep the general public safe.  If you don't like the way they do business, it is ok to voice your opinion, and to lobby for changes to be made, but don't be upset when the majority of the public supports the way it is handled and say so as well.   I personally think the TN (mostly Davidson County) justice system is not harsh enough; they allow perps to disagree to get arrested, call their parents (over 18) and 911 because a police officer is asking them to step out of their vehicles, and the judges keep letting dangerous criminals off with light to no sentences, WTF. 

 

[E4 No More]

If a criminal hasn't devalued his life then why does society execute some?

[bud]

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Edited January 20, 2019 by bud