Iris lilies, how are things in your hood?

[bae]

I think once you reach the point of actual riots in the streets, you've pretty much lost, and there isn't a good answer at that point. The correct answer is to not get into the situation in the first place. I've spoken at some length about this with Norm Stamper, a neighbor of mine who was the Police Chief of Seattle during the WTO riots there. He wrote a nice article about the topic a couple years ago:

http://www.thenation.com/article/164...py-wall-street


As to local police forces with riot gear and armored vehicles, handy for very small events or assaults on strongholds of Very Bad People, but for widespread chaos, I bet you these guys do not train and plan enough to be successful in these larger events (as is shown in their performance in the field). I think this video is a must-watch:

[Yossarian]

The world is definitely watching this and the Internet and social media are here to stay. Rob

I hope the lesson they learn is the benefit of the rule of law. You have to figure we will have a trial over this, whether warranted or not. I wonder what will happen if it turns out to be a justified shooting.

[Packy]

RE: What Chief "Robin Williams" took 15 minutes to say is that there is no substitute for A)doing things according to plan--the right way; and B)there is no substitute for experience. Another incident--high risk, low frequency, that had disasterous consequences was the deaths of the firefighters in the WTC collapse. They probably have a strategy in place, by now.

[bae]

RE: What Chief "Robin Williams" took 15 minutes to say is that there is no substitute for A)doing things according to plan--the right way; and B)there is no substitute for experience.

There's a more important take-away there - about decision-making under pressure. Can be a life-saver to do it correctly, and not get sucked into the moment.

(And how to think about situations that you by-definition won't get a lot of experience with, until it's too late.)

[bae]

I hope the lesson they learn is the benefit of the rule of law. You have to figure we will have a trial over this, whether warranted or not. I wonder what will happen if it turns out to be a justified shooting.

Probably more looting-and-pillaging of local businesses.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Probably more looting-and-pillaging of local businesses.

Yes. And the spread of this into cities beyond Ferguson and states beyond Missouri. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I hope the lesson they learn is the benefit of the rule of law. You have to figure we will have a trial over this, whether warranted or not. I wonder what will happen if it turns out to be a justified shooting.

Trial, yes, I don't see how there could not be one. Plus an untold number of lawsuits coming up due to police actions such as the assault/arrest of those two journalists earlier last week. I foresee lots and lots and lots of dollars changing hands due to litigation, both in terms of legal fees and in terms of actual settlements. Rob

[peggy]

There are probably no Republicans involved.

peggy? peggy, is that you?

I agree with what you wrote above, it's nicely balanced and reasonable.

Ha ha ha! Iris, Iris, Iris...if you look back you would see that I try to apply critical thinking to every topic...maybe you only notice when I agree with democrats/liberals.

If you are comparing this story to the Travon Martin story, these are two different stories. Completely. In the Travon Martin case, sure the kid might have been a punk, but he WASN'T being a punk when he was executed by George Zimmerman. He was just going home from the store when he was stalked by, and killed by George Zimmerman. It was clear what happened. And unfortunately, it's becoming clear (at least to me) what happened in this case. Unfortunately, without video evidence, we won't know the absolute truth, but as witnesses come forward, the truth, or at least something close to it, will come out.

So, without absolute truth to go on, let me play 'TV cop' and extrapolate what I think happened.

First of all, I see the info that the kid robbed the store. Then we get the info that the cop at first didn't know he was the suspect when he encountered him. So I'm left with wondering, why did he draw his gun? What made him draw his gun to the point of the kid being murdered? No matter what we may think of them, cops don't just drive through neighborhoods shooting people. The reports we have heard so far is the cop stopped because this kid and his friend were walking down the middle of the street, blocking traffic. Still not worthy of drawing your gun.
But then I got to thinking. Sure, the cop said he didn't know the kid had just robed the store, but the kid did. He knew what he had just done, and here was a cop pulling over to 'talk' to you. So the kid is in an 'emotionally heightened' state. Then this witness comes forward. An interesting witness to be sure, in my opinion, because she gives information that on the surface seems to place the cop in a bad light but really puts more into perspective. More than she realizes I think.
*At this point, we have been given the info that the cop has been treated for wounds, yet we don't know what those wounds are.
Here is the link to this witnesses report.
http://www.kmov.com/special-coverage...271139501.html

Now, understanding I am not there nor do I have privy to any of the official info, let me 'play detective'. Here is what I think happened.

The kid and his friend rob the store. The store owner calls in the robbery. The cop was in the neighborhood responding to some other call. He sees this kid (and his friend maybe) walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic. He stops and confronts the kid. He doesn't know this is the kid who robbed the store but the kid assumes he does. They tussle at the cop car (according to the witness), and the kid grabs for the cops gun and in the tussle the cop is shot. (in the foot, leg, or maybe just grazed, but not debilitating) The kid takes off running (he just shot a cop, or caused him to be shot, whatever). The cop, truly angered now, shoots at the kid, twice I think. The kid then stops, turns and puts his hands up. This cop is very angry and running on adrenalin (he just got shot after all, or shot at) and he keeps shooting at the kid until he drops dead.
This is what I think happened, piecing together the info we have. I'll just bet the wounds the cop was treated for are gunshot. And, not really knowing much about guns, I'll bet the kid has evidence (powder burns?) of being in very close contact of a discharging gun.

This is my guess. Unfortunately I don't think we will ever know the complete truth.

[gimmethesimplelife]

There's a more important take-away there - about decision-making under pressure. Can be a life-saver to do it correctly, and not get sucked into the moment.

(And how to think about situations that you by-definition won't get a lot of experience with, until it's too late.)

Now this one I agree with 100%. I'm thinking that will come up in any legal proceedings down the road too - decisions making under pressure and was this cop's decision excessive? Those familiar with me already know what I think and what my take is, but I still think it will be interesting to see how this plays out, and in a more clinical manner, I'm very interested as to how social media may impact the outcome if at all. Rob

[CathyA]

On Meet the Press this morning, Andrea Mitchell interviewed the governor of MO. I can't believe how he dodged her questions about why certain things were happening the way they were. Oh wait a minute.......yes I can. It's a prerequisite for public office, right?