Motorcyclist shot in back from traffic cop

[rbesr]

The officer was convicted.

Ohio Officer Convicted In Shooting Of Motorcyclist - News- msnbc.com

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Re: Motorcyclist shot in back from traffic cop "Found Guilty"

Here's the video clip.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrSkmVCv1_M]YouTube - Jury: Ottawa Hills Officer White guilty[/ame]

Now we just have to wait until June for the sentencing.

 

[dave0407]

This is exactly why I think cops are worthless. Most are just jackbooted thugs with barely more than a high school education. This shooting took place about an hour north of where I live btw. Below is a link to a story that happened where I live, it’s a wonderful story. Theses cops were doing 147 and got pulled over. The trooper shut off his mic and talked to them for a few minutes. The speeders then pull away ON their bike and get a ticket days later after the story breaks. The best part is the guy is a motorcycle cop who was collecting disability because of an injury.



Gahanna officer clocked at 149 mph pleads guilty | The Columbus Dispatch

 

[lonesoldier84]

^^^^what he said.
I can't believe what I see. I wonder if the gun went off accidentally. That is the only way I can see this happening.
all the best to the poor paralyzed victim.

Wait, you can't see this as being the result of an over-zealous and over-aggressive police officer?

This is why I'm so critical of cops. Sure many of them are great, but even when they get close to grey zones they need to be held to very high standards. They hold the power of life and death (and paralysis in this case) in their hands.

Poor rider dude. Paralyzed for life for having his hand on his thigh. So terrible.

This cop should have the book thrown at him and then stripped of all pension and barred from the force.

 

[lonesoldier84]

P.S. It would have been interesting to see how this would have played out with a black rider. Just saying.

 

[jrevans]

I'm sorry,but it really does underline the crazy gun culture in the States.
I can't imagine being in the position where every arguement,traffic stop,getting out of bed the wrong side etc,could end up with people dying as an every day thing.
The Gun laws make it so the Police's first instinct is that they have to assume that whoever they stop may well be armed

I don't expect you to accept our culture based on your upbringing, but staying armed did manage to help us keep the redcoats out.

Although you may be reading some sensationalized news about us, we're generally a polite society over here. Sure we have gun crime, especially gang related stuff in/around large cities, but as a rural American, I haven't been exposed to it.

I've done a little reading into England's gun crime, which seems to be isolated to gang/racial related violence. I really can't imagine police officers not being armed if there's ANY chance that a bad guy could have a firearm.

The above in no way justifies shooting someone in the back however.

I'm glad that we agree on this. That police officer was WAY out of bounds in this situation.

 

[Ridgeback]

True,you do get a lot of the sensationalist stuff on the tv here from the states.Cops on Camera,Americas wildest Police chases (God that Sheriff who presents it is bloody annoying) etc

But the fact that firearms are so easy to come by, means that all your officers are armed as a matter of course.

It isn't a criticism,it's just my way of thinking that once you give the public guns,then have to arm the police to deal with the guns,there are going to be tragic things happening like this on a regular basis.

Our biggest problem is Knives over here.Because the firearms laws are so strict,we seem to have become the stabbing capital of the world.
Kids think it's an ordinary thing to carry a butchers knife on a night out

Because of this,all of our Police officers wear Stab proof vests as part of their uniform,which says a lot about our culture........

 

[Jez]

+1

Not just that the police are armed, but that sometimes it seems to be almost routine for them to draw the gun. Don't know what the procedures are or how they vary from place to place, but once you've drawn it you are half way to using it.

Different cultures etc. But it makes me very uneasy.

 

[Iethius]

I watched the 6 min clip, a series of bad choices from both parties I think.

The officer is the one who is supposed to have the training to deal with these types of situations, was he properly trained? He was obviously not in control of his actions or the situation, but why, we may never know.

I am sad for both the officer and the rider, there is no substitute for education.....

Or he could have been a trigger happy fool just waiting for his his chance to put one in someone, I have met them in law enforcement and the military, we will probably never know.....

And we Americans have guns because we let in every degenerate from every other country..........and because we can, don't be jealous, just move here like everyone else. (joke, no burning needed)

Off topic I know, but everything has been said about this situation pretty much, and maybe this will help somebody......

Being an old boy scout I am always prepared, I carry a CW in the forest to protect me from animals, I carry in the city to protect me from animals, few ever know.

I am extra careful when pulled over.

When in a car my hands are on the steering wheel, car off, sunglasses off, dome light on if it is dark out, doing nothing until the officer can come to my window and makes eye contact, then I roll down the window when instructed, with one hand still on the wheel, dig for papers when instructed, officers like to have their instructions followed, it is how they are trained.

On a bike...... Bike shut off, hands on bars or even the tank, even though my hands are not visible on the tank from the patrol cars drivers seat, I am not making any sudden moves like that poor guy with a bullet in his spine. Human communication is at least 50 percent body language. Think about it, really think about it.......

And if I have to keep riding to find a safe spot to pull over even if it is 2 miles down the road, I go slowly with a blinker on, Communicating your intentions clearly to somebody who can kill you is vital, ask anyone who is married.......ha ha.

 

[GConn]

And we Americans have guns because we let in every degenerate from every other country..........and because we can, don't be jealous, just move here like everyone else. (joke, no burning needed)

DISCLAIMER: Since written language can be misunderstood, I am not attacking anyone Just sharing my opinion

Come on...don't blame everything that happens there to foreign people....it's not nice. It's the way the world is nowadays...people move around for a better life. All developed countries attract foreigners. The UK attracts foreigners too, but they are not so gun happy. Even my little country attracts foreigners, and they do have their fair share in crime. But not everything is their fault. I can understand how you feel for having the right to carry a gun, but at the same time I feel that people should recognise the negative results too. This is one of it. I cannot justify the cop no matter what happened.

Isn't it a fact that you listen to so many crazy stories with guns in the US? I think that other countries have less sadful events like:
- The 16year old girl that shoot and killed kids and teachers at a school WITH A SNIPER RIFLE she had at home...
- The nut case that entered a Mall with a .22 rifle at hand and shot anyone in sight
- Gang street shootings that cause so many injuries to innocent people?
and so many more...
When was the last time we've heard such a thing happen in France or Italy for example (random countries selected)?

This is exactly the kind of a situation that proves the saying "Live by the sword, die with the sword". If people didn't carry so many weapons on them we wouldn't have so many gunshot victims. Just my 2c

 

[Popeye70]

This is sad for both parties.

...I'm just happy cops in Norway don't carry guns...

 

[ELIZABETH]

^^^^what he said.
I can't believe what I see. I wonder if the gun went off accidentally. That is the only way I can see this happening.
all the best to the poor paralyzed victim.

Wait, you can't see this as being the result of an over-zealous and over-aggressive police officer?

This is why I'm so critical of cops. Sure many of them are great, but even when they get close to grey zones they need to be held to very high standards. They hold the power of life and death (and paralysis in this case) in their hands.

Poor rider dude. Paralyzed for life for having his hand on his thigh. So terrible.

This cop should have the book thrown at him and then stripped of all pension and barred from the force.

I guess I didn't explain myself well enough. "I can't believe what I see" means, "how in the hell could that cop see this man's actions to that point as threatening and shoot him in the back like that." The only (ever so slightly reasonable) explanation I could come up with is that it was an accident that the gun went off (adrenaline rush or whatever). I was merely trying to find a possible scenario that explained what my eyes were seeing. (I am a lab technician, we analyze everything, it's in my nature.)
I have the utmost respect for LEO's, and I would NOT want to be in their shoes-and be responsible for life altering decisions. I think it takes a special kind of person to handle that kind of stressful job. I feel sorry for the rider and his family, as their lives have been permanently altered by this event.

 

[Distephano]

Two buddies and myself went out for a ~275 mile ride yesterday. We were nearly home we we started to see a number of patrol cars along the road. As we came down a ramp from one freeway to another there was a patrol car waiting for us. We rode past, he hit the lights and we pulled over.

The first rider and myself pulled over about 100 feet ahead of the third rider. The third rider sat there while 3 additional cars pulled up. I guess they gave him a bit hard time, saying things like "We got ya going better than 90 back there" and "Didn't you see all the flashing lights behind you?" Of course, he did not, as we were doing at most 70 or so in a 65 and had no idea what the heck was going on at this time.

Another officer walked up to me and the other rider to get our info, at which point we were already off our bikes, helmets off, info out and ready to go for him. This officer was very nice to us and I have nothing unpleasant to say about him.

As it turns out, they had us pegged for a group of riders that passed some officers at a high rate of speed and then ran when they tried to pull them over. After 10 or 15 minutes and taking down our info about where we were coming from and the like, they cut us loose with no tickets or anything like that. But all I could think about was this video as we were getting pulled over.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

But all I could think about was this video as we were getting pulled over.[/QUOTE]

I don't blame you and you're probably not the only one who will.

Like I said, there will be some bad apples, fortunately your cop was cool. I mean you had nothing bad to say. Really, not one thing?

Thanks for the story.

 

[Distephano]

No I don't have anything bad to say. I think by the time his buddies were done talking to the one rider they already realized that they had the wrong group of guys.

He walked up, said "Sorry guys, I think we have the wrong group of people. If I could get your licenses we'll get you on your away as quick as I can." He came back, gave us our info back, apologized again, explained a bit more of what was going on and sent us on our way. He was calm, professional and polite. I don't think you can ask for much more than that. Plus, we had been riding for a few hours at this point; it was nice to stretch a bit.

I guess it would have been nicer if they hadn't assumed my buddy was guilty from the get go with the whole "we got you doing 90 back there" bit....

 

[Iethius]

=GConn;320962]DISCLAIMER: Since written language can be misunderstood, I am not attacking anyone Just sharing my opinion

Yeah, written language, spoken, also I noticed.

I admire your zeal for sticking up for your fellow man. To set your mind at ease, I am socially colorblind thanks to my parents and grandparents.

Americans are 99 percent from elsewhere anyway, oh and I love that many people move here from other countries, I wish I could trade a good one for every lowlife born here expecting a handout... anyway

I have a lot of swords too, that's funny.

You listed a lot of good reasons to have a gun.

Some people should not have sharp sticks or rocks either though.

This is a motorbike forum not a gun forum or a political forum, I would not have mentioned guns but to share safety advice with fellow riders.

I have reacted to things people say on this forum, I learned about myself.

Thanks for sharing your opinion, sincerely. That is what I do here too, and I bet some people really would rather I didn't sometimes.

An adversary makes you smarter, faster, stronger,........

I hope we all take more away from their story, we are a bit too desensitized I would say, we are just a bunch of children in a sandbox throwing sand in each others eyes, only it is not sand, it's .45 slugs and thermonuclear warheads..... anyway, it's been fun.

Hope they both overcome their situations and are not overcome by them.

 

[GConn]

Well, I guess that we simply interpret events differently :thumbup:

 

[UHcougarJohn]

The cop in this story has been convicted and is currently awaiting his sentencing in June. Here is a link my buddy sent me last night.

toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio

 

[Extremity]

Looks like a case of "shoot first, ask questions later".
Good thing the guy survived, or it would be murder instead of assult.

He's paralyzed and will never walk again, let alone ride again. This might sound stupid, but I think I would rather be dead than completely paralyzed. At the most the cop should have tazed him if he felt threatened, isn't that why they, you know, have tazers?

 

[necrotimus]

FYI he got 10 years

toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio