And then there's this

[minx]

www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/police-release-body-cam-footage-in-death-of-daunte-wright-police-chief-says-officer-meant-to-use-taser-during-traffic-stop/ar-BB1fz6N1?ocid=ientp

WTF?  How can you pull out a gun instead of a taser and then try to claim with any trace of a straight-face that it was simply a 'mistake'.

Don't care why the guy was pulled over, or what the warrant out on him was for.  Police should be out front and center saying that the officer was in the wrong, and has been fired.
I don't know that she violated any law in mistaking her taser for a gun in terms of bringing criminal charges, but the police chief should be front and center in saying that there will be changes in body placement for tasers and guns, so that 'mistakes' like these won't happen again.  And they should all be screaming for taser manufacturers to make changes to their devices that will make it clear to anyone holding one that they have a taser and not a gun - I'm sure there could be something done to the handle so you realize you're not holding a gun, and know it right away. 

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Simple thoughts from a simple mind:

-If she's too stupid to know her taser from her pistol, she's too stupid to be a cop or own a gun.

-If he's too stupid to know that escaping and diving back in your vehicle during being arrested usually results in severe consequences, you are too stupid to deserve a taser in the first place.

[bobathon]

Peope are stupid, panicky animals. Cops are totally to blame for that debacle. Why they pulled him over matters, too. Dumb kid is dead because cops wanted to screw with him. Oopsy daisy!

[minx]

Sadly, there are many, many people out there who are saying that this is just a 'tragic accident'. See, she yelled 'Taser' even as she was holding a gun. And of course it's okay to have your taser in your hand at a routine traffic stop. And there was no reason for that young man to panic at all, seeing as three officers were screaming at him without clearly explaining why and one of them was clearly holding a gun.

At one point in the video, it appears they were starting to handcuff (or had handcuffed) Wright and then decided to stop. Either way, it was chaos - three officers all screaming at a rather smallish 20 year old kid, who wasn't doing more than complaining at first. And yeah, he was trying to get away from them - probably because he was panicked and terrified by then. You know, the same reason they felt justified in using a taser in the first place - they were all afraid of this 20yo kid and thought he was going to hurt them.

So yeah, once again a case of cops are allowed to freak out over nothing and make mistakes that cost lives, but civilians are supposed to be cool, calm and composed and be able to defuse the situation.

I've reached a breaking point here. I say no carrying of guns on traffic patrol - guns can be kept in a locked case in the patrol car. You're pulling over someone you consider to be a dangerous felon, then you have to make a very deliberate choice to unlock that case and take out a weapon. And before you unlock that case, you need to call dispatch, and tell them what you're doing and why. Maybe if you have to take those two minutes to think about what you're about to do it might stop some of this. Because I seriously doubt that a majority of people pulled over are packing heat and ready to blow away the first officer they see, but these guys sure act like they are.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

"routine traffic stop"

sadder.

[minx]

Well, he did have one of those 'Little Tree' air fresheners hanging from the rear view. And his girlfriend was with him. Having sat in a car that had a 'Little Tree', I'd say there was certainly a crime being committed - release of toxic fumes and smells......

But seriously. Pulling someone over because they had an air freshener on the rear view? Oh no, wait! He had expired tags....no it was a warrant for a misdemeanor....give us time and we'll find a valid excuse. Really we will.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I was in court for the assault charges as you probably recall and while waiting for my case, another had come before the judge where the young man was fighting a ticket/s he received during a traffic stop. The judge asked Officer Superhero why he stopped the car. Officer Superhero said the initial stop was because the vehicle had beads hanging from the rearview mirror, which turned out to be rosary beads. The judge BLASTED the cop and said don't ever pull over another vehicle unless he had a damn good reason. He dismissed the ticket/s.

Anyway, I had not heard about why they pulled over the a-hole in the first place because I've had to take my "news" in extremely low doses due to the media drawing their own conclusions, knee-jerking, sensationalism, and downright false information they spread on the regular. The first I heard was that the car was pulled over because of expired tags. 100% legit if that's the case. DO cops EVER see a car with expired tags and not pull them over? no. The next thing cops do, which is their job, is ask for the driver to produce a license and registration. They do that to every person they pull over, every time. It's their job. There is some unresolved arguments about whether or not they can demand ID from passengers in some circumstances. Probable cause buys them a lot of leeway but as the judge said above, you damn sight better have some probable cause. Because the video that's being run 100,000 times a day starts at the point where they are attempting to handcuff him, it's unclear to me how they determined he had warrants, but he did, and he knew it. I listen to the scanner at night and the dispatch will sometimes say the plates come back to someone with warrants, or for their spouses, and children. However, the most common is through their own ID or attempt to conceal it. Regardless, this man had warrants. What is a warrant and what do cops do to you when you have one? They take you into custody 100% of the time whether you are white, black, or whatever, and your cooperation is expected although they are constantly dealing with those who do not. When you don't cooperate, shit gets real. Shit got real for baby boy the minute he decided (no one decided for him) to try and get away. Also, you're the cop and he jumps in the car.... what is he going to do? You don't have the option of finding out after the fact. Needless to say, I think we need to start putting blame where it belongs. If he had not had warrants, been driving a car with expired tags, taken his arrest like a man, he probably would have been released in a day or two since they were misdemeanor warrants. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I feel bad for the cop. Only because she knew she fucked up royal and took a life when she had no such intention. A longtime LEO with no track record of misconduct (you can bet CBS is digging that grave) and one day her one mistake sums up her career and ruins her life. Incompetence is a bitch and I don't feel sorry for her losing her job over it. I wouldn't feel sorry if she was charged with other things that apply, but manslaughter is fucked up and contrived to sooth the mass media and public opinion.

That's just how I view it. He isn't dead because the cops fucked up. He's dead because he did.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I just want to add before your rage type back at me...

I probably distrust cops more than all of you or anyone you know. They can shove that thin blue line up their fat red asses. We have seen that they cover up shit same way the Catholic church covers their abusers. It does not please me at all to be on "their side" when something like this goes down.

Society and everyone in it has a responsibility to that society (I think we've called it a contract in various conversations). Opting out of that responsibility can have unintended consequences and sadly, it comes out of the barrel of a gun a lot of times. But it's an undeniable fact that those consequences are seldom (because of relativity) delivered by a cop/ but when it is, it's not always justified. We need to be smart enough to know the difference if we expect them to be.

[minx]

Oh I'm raging boyo, I'm raging!

Not 100% on this, but I believe that when they run plates/licenses and a warrant comes back, they say what it's for. Which would mean in this case a minor non-violent misdemeanor.
And yeah, it's hard to tell what happened first because it doesn't look like there's any body cam footage before he started resisting being cuffed.
But 100%, officer was charged correctly IMO - second degree manslaughter. Didn't mean to use a real gun, let alone kill him, but nonetheless she did.

Same as a DWI - you didn't mean to cause an accident and kill someone, but nonetheless you did - manslaughter all the way.

As an aside, boyfriend of my friend's daughter got pulled over a month or so ago.
Driving a car with stolen tags on a revoked license with a court date for DWI (third offense).
Guy is a 21yo white dude. Cops not only didn't arrest him, but were nice enough to let him sit in their car and wait for his ride home.
Oh, and even though he was rather rude (I believe several names were called, among them the f-bomb), and said they had no right to stop him and take the car, they told him nicely to shut up and wait.

So yeah, I don't buy the play stupid games argument. Seems to mostly apply to black men - white men get a pass.

[k9krap]

Believe me, John, I don’t trust cops any more than you - particularly the good ole boys here in the county. But I’m wondering how the Minnesota dude’s noncompliance differs from the Virginia dude’s? Granted, much more profiling seems to be in play in the Virginia case. I’m not taking sides with this question, just wondering. I think the cops were in the wrong in both cases.

[minx]

I'm not saying that cops shouldn't have the right to protect themselves, but we've reached a point where enough is enough.

1) Back to basics training on how to properly and safely restrain a violent person. This training is given to correctional officers, and workers at psychiatric hospitals - you never read about prisoners dying because a guard put them in a chokehold or improperly restrained them. I find it hard to believe that prison guards are never attacked. And I know a nurse in a psych hospital, and trust me attacks there take place on a daily basis when violent patients get admitted
2) Full accountability. Yeah, it's a shit ton more paperwork, but make officers detail what they did every single time they pull a weapon of any type out, or use handcuffs. And have footage documenting said actions. Audited by folks outside of the police department.
3) Documentation on traffic stops - the race and gender of the person along with the reason for the stop, and plate number. Race and gender based on police perception. So if you look like a white man to me, you're a white man. Follow up checks can be done randomly to see how accurate the police perception is (you said you stopped 50 white men - 10 of them were actually Hispanic). I personally think the reason, gender and race should be called in before the officer approaches the car.
4) Accountability includes other responders. If you're there and don't say something when you see rules being violated, you're an accessory. So in the case of the VA man - "What are you doing? Move away from the car! Sir, please stay calm and in your car...." In the case of the MN man "Why is your gun out? Please holster it immediately!" Of course the cops will say that they can't do this - in the heat of the moment they all need to act as one. So if they have to act as one, then they can all hang together as one and take responsibility for not intervening.


Maybe if these assholes KNEW that their actions were being monitored and documented they'd start at least thinking about doing something different.

Being a first responder of any kind is tough. And it's not easy being a cop, or finding people willing to take the job on. But it will only be worse until all of these 'bad apples' we read about are weeded out. And right now, it seems the only way to do it is to make them all comply and not separate them into groups - there are no 'good cops' and 'bad cops' right now. The bad cops have tainted the pool to the point that a majority of citizens don't see the good ones.

[bobathon]

People are dumb, panicky animals. This guy didn't get the rules of engagement that a terrorist on a battlefield gets. He was shot down because he was, predictably, a dumb, panicky animal.

Someone asked me if the cops should wait to shoot until they get shot at. Tell me why they shouldn't. Too jumpy, too nervous, don't know what weapons they are holding, and lying liars, if anyone is unsuited for police work, it sure seems it's the police.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I'm not buying any of these arguments for asking price. Use my 2 cents for the kitty.