Unarmed, Car Chase Teen Shot & Killed by Police

[Shiranu]

[youtube:393mg6rj]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYFcaYlrdGU[/youtube:393mg6rj]

"A 19-year-old man was fatally shot by police on the campus of Iowa State University after his father called authorities to report that the teen had stolen his truck, reports CBS affiliate KCCI. Tyler Comstock, 19, of Boone, was shot dead by Officer Adam McPherson, an 8-year-veteran of the department, at the end of an at-times high-speed pursuit through the city's streets that ended on the college campus, reports the station. The officer who shot the teen in Ames, Iowa Monday was cleared Thursday of wrongdoing, and the investigation was closed, reports the DeMoines Register...".

Okay, so I am slightly torn on this story.

In favour of the cops;
- They didn't know if he was armed, and he had already slammed into a police car.
- He was putting other people's lives in risk.
- After the car chase the cops adrenaline is going to be running.

Now against the cops;
- They were told to stop pursuing because they knew who the suspect was.
- They were told to stop pursing because he was going into a high-pop area where his speeding and their shots risked collateral damage.
- This wasn't some hard criminal gangster, it was a pissed off teen who took daddy's truck.

I think the cops were justified in their actions, but at the same time I don't think they should have let it reach that point. And more and more it seems like this is the normal for cops... they are given carte blanche to detain or kill a suspect in the way they see fit rather than by set guidelines.

If you know who the suspect is, that he is not a violent criminal and that your chase is going to put civilians at risk... let him go, you will find him again. More than likely within a week he would have been back at daddies' crying and shit, and then you can give him his jail time. But killing a 19 year old because his dad wanted to teach him a lesson and you ignored being told to back off... that rubs me the wrong way.

[Agramon]

I'm not familiar with the training here - is the officer supposed to take the dispatcher's advice into consideration or only a higher rank? Is a dispatcher supposed to suggest how to handle the situation or did he overstep his bounds?

Side note - I drove through Ames just last week. Crazy.

[Solitary]

If you can't trust even the police with handguns, how can we trust untrained civilians with handguns (even concealed) running amuck? The police now assume everyone has a handgun because so many people have them legally. And when one is so dangerous and not listening to the police they have to assume he may have a gun and not let him go on and kill someone. But six times? But who knows if he pretended to have a gun? I've had police stop me and point a gun at me because they assumed I had a gun, I have no doubt they would have shot me if I didn't obey their commands, and I wouldn't have blamed them if they had. Solitary

[Minimalist]

But who knows if he pretended to have a gun?

If he pretended to have a gun couldn't they have pretended to shoot him?

The cops in this fucking country are out of control.  The reason is simple.  Because, as in this case, the prosecutors go to absurd lengths to justify their actions.

[SGOS]

The reporters didn't seem to know whether they should act pissed off or not.  It must have been a terrible dilemma for them.