Man!
Nice break down of the sh!tuation.
But there is a much more serious picture here, when this is looked through a legal prism. And the angle/statement that is giving me much "disco" is this: ... Police ... responded to reports that an adult male was acting in a very disruptive matter (manner) and threatening other (s) residents with a cutlass and fish gun.
Let’s analyze the above statement coming from the police carefully.
He was "disruptive". Ok, that's cause for concern, and especially so coming from someone with a history of mental illness. So, I will say that is reasonable grounds for the police to be extra cautious.
The troubling statement, however is this: he "threatened others - therefore he was shot.
Now I am going on the limb here and assume that the decision to shoot someone would arise when the officer life - and the life of others around him - is at risk. But the million dollar question here is: is threatening someone enough grounds to shoot and kill someone? Is threatening someone enough grounds and a reasonable and justifiable excuse for police to use deadly force?
From my armchair view, it is not!
He did not ATTACK the police with the cutlass and fishing gun! And this apparent fact is very important! Threatening someone and attacking someone is two very different situations - and when it comes to the police and the use of force, resulting in death, it is very important to make sure that this distinction is made. Because the biggest question here after the fact is: was the shooting – resulting in the death of a mentally ill man – a justifiable use of force.
From the police report, given that the mentally ill man did not pose a real and apparent danger to the life of the officers and others - but was simply being “disruptive and threatening” -it seems to me that this killing, from my arm chair view, is an unreasonable and unjustified use of force.
And so I will state again, in this day and age, it is very disheartening to read that the mentally ill is still being killed by police. In this day and age, there are other less deadly means of confronting and subdueing someone with a mental illness who is being "disruptive and threatening" to others.
CNaught.
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