Unarmed Groom Shot Before Wedding

First, the article:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/27/nyc.shooting.ap/index.html.

I wonder how the police are trained to use lethal force. Are they to fire when there is clear and present danger or just when something that might be a danger crops up? Going past all the other allegations, we have one man shot to death and another in critical condition. These men were not armed.

Assuming the best case for justice, the use of deadly force was correct. The car these men were in did strike an undercover officer and another car. However, fifty shots was not just excessive but recklessly stupid.

The officers' shots struck the men's car 21 times. They also hit nearby homes and shattered windows at a train station, though no residents were injured.

This sloppy, careless shooting put everyone within range of police weapons in danger. Police officers have to be held to a higher standard. Their behavior was idiotic. The police are supposed to protect bystanders, yet they were the greater danger to life and limb. Even if deadly force was justified (which in this case is not completely unlikely) shooting like Rambo was not.

This time the officers got rather lucky. They didn't murder an innocent bystander. Should we really just let that slide, however? A long suspension is the very minimum they deserve. Losing those badges just might be a fair punishment as well. If nothing is done, we will see more police officers act out their favorite scenes from action movies on our streets.

Though this may seem a cruel thing to say, I'm pretty lucky to be white. My odds are better that they won't shoot me so quickly.

That's all from the podium.