Cop doesn't shoot unarmed suspect and is pistol whipped, bystanders tweet pictures

[clmetal]

Didn't want to be the next Darren Wilson / Gentile Giant of Ferguson

A Birmingham, Alabama, police detective who was pistol-whipped unconscious said Friday that he hesitated to use force because he didn't want to be accused of needlessly killing an unarmed man.

Details of last week's incident in the Birmingham enclave of Roebuck remain sketchy -- such as how did the suspect get the officer's weapon -- but the six-year police veteran said he didn't shoot the man who attacked him during a traffic stop because of the outcry surrounding a spate of police shootings nationally.

"We don't want to be in the media," he said. "It's hard times right now for us."

Adding insult to injury: several bystanders, instead of helping, took pictures of the bloodied officer as he was facedown on the concrete and posted the images on social media, where the officer was mocked.

"Pistol whipped his ass to sleep," one user wrote, employing the hashtag #FckDaPolice. Another mockingly offered the officer milk and cookies for his "nap time."

Roper, the Birmingham police chief, called the fact bystanders would take pictures of an officer being beaten rather than help him, then proceed to post them, "absolutely inhumane." The online commenters only made it worse.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/13/us/alabama-birmingham-police-detective-pistol-whipped/index.html

 

[klnOmega]

Violent rate is almost double in Baltimore this year as compared to last year, after police patrols are down. Cops stopped patroling the bad parts of town because everyone throws stuff at them, defaces their cars, shout at them, and just generally hate them.

Police are bad, but they aren't the nearly the worst part of our violence problem in America. We have to reign in police violence, but simply blindly demonizing cops obviously isn't the answer.

 

[KILL KILL]

Jesus that's depressing.

 

[ChainFlow]

Ugh. Rough situation.

Cops need more h2h training?

 

[jefferz]

Well this just proves that if a criminal does get a cops gun they're not going to shoot the cop with it. So that means there's no reason for a cop to shoot an unarmed suspect.

 

[KILL KILL]

Well this just proves that if a criminal does get a cops gun they're not going to shoot the cop with it. So that means there's no reason for a cop to shoot an unarmed suspect.

Get the fuck outta here with that nonsense.

 

[workdiggitz]

wow thats messed up. what the hell is wrong with people? anti cop culture has hit its peak i hope.

 

[OldGoat]

Well this just proves that if a criminal does get a cops gun they're not going to shoot the cop with it. So that means there's no reason for a cop to shoot an unarmed suspect.

Sarcasm or Down's?

 

[LazyFatass]

I get that mocking the guy is shitty and in bad taste, but what exactly is the expectation here? That a bunch of untrained jackasses should confront the guy who managed to overpower and steal a cop's weapon? That's a terrible idea for extremely obvious reasons.

 

[jefferz]

Get the fuck outta here with that nonsense.

Spoiler

 

[KILL KILL]

Spoiler

My bad homie.

 

[jefferz]

It's all good G

 

[KILL KILL]

I get that mocking the guy is shitty and in bad taste, but what exactly is the expectation here? That a bunch of untrained jackasses should confront the guy who managed to overpower and steal a cop's weapon? That's a terrible idea for extremely obvious reasons.

Ummm no, help the wounded citizen that is face down on the ground, bleeding profusely from his head...like a normal person would.

 

[clmetal]

I get that mocking the guy is shitty and in bad taste, but what exactly is the expectation here? That a bunch of untrained jackasses should confront the guy who managed to overpower and steal a cop's weapon? That's a terrible idea for extremely obvious reasons.

Call 911 maybe? Would you think it was funny if a cop was pistol whipped for showing restraint?

If he didn't show restraint, we would have had another Gentile Giant story, where an unarmed man was shot for no reason. And we would have been relying on the tweeters to tell us what happened and like the Ferguson tweeters, their story would have fallen apart later when they had to corroborate with outside facts.

 

[Sampsonsimpson]

Perhaps he could have used non lethal force i.e. tazer or pepper spray? From the OP, it sounds like the cop just stood there and let the guy take his gun. If not that then the guy managed to forcefully take the cops gun from him and we do not know if the cop would have shot him or not.

 

[Great Angus]

You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

So a public servant DOESN'T shoot an unarmed citizen, and that makes news?

Seems like if your sign up to be a cop, to protect and serve, this is one of the risks that come with it. Sometimes you might get your ass kicked.

 

[Paradigm]

Ummm no, help the wounded citizen that is face down on the ground, bleeding profusely from his head...like a normal person would.

do that and maybe you get sued for trying to help, depending on the state.

 

[7437]

Perhaps he could have used non lethal force i.e. tazer or pepper spray? From the OP, it sounds like the cop just stood there and let the guy take his gun. If not that then the guy managed to forcefully take the cops gun from him and we do not know if the cop would have shot him or not.

The only kind of force available to police is lethal force. It is either shoot people, or this.

 

[Ruprecht]

Hmm... Video report mentions something the attacker said about why he pistol whipped the officer with his own weapon, then doesn't tell you what was said.