Not Guilty: Cops In Sean Bell Case Cleared Of ALL Charges

nypd (0.00 / 0)

Is it just me, or is NYC the only place where ridiculous amounts of ammo fly in these types of incidents?

Unjustified police shootings happen everywhere, unfortunately, but it seems only with the NYPD do you hear about 30 shots, 50 shots, etc.  Or does it happen elsewhere?

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by: NYCO @ Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 16:58:35 PM UTC

Let's ask... (4.00 / 1)

Amadou Diallo about how the NYPD fired 41 shots at him, hitting him 19 times.

All because he was reaching for his wallet. And all because the NYPD thought he matched the profile of a serial rapist.

Now we can ask Sean Bell about the NYPD and how they fired 50 shots at him, including 31 shots fired by one officer.

And now, the taxpayers of New York City will pay for this, just like they did with Diallo.

Remember, Diallo's family sued and won a $3 million settlement. There is no doubt that Bell's family will do the same, especially after this ridiculous verdict.

Justice was not served today. Can you imagine if 50 shots were fired at a police officer and that police officer was killed? Where applicable, that could mean the death penalty.

There is a double standard here. It is a standard I do not like.

The NYPD is becoming notorious for this, and that is not a good thing.  

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by: robert.harding @ Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 17:22:27 PM UTC

if (4.00 / 1)

if I was a city taxpayer, I'd at least be mad about the cost of the bullets, much less the wiping out of innocent human lives!  

NYC gets an undeservedly bad rep on so many things: this, however, is a bad rep it's starting to deserve.

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by: NYCO @ Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 17:31:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

stop & search (4.00 / 1)

the NYPD's abusive tendencies aren't limited to isolated and horrific(ally forgiven) incidents like this.

if you walk through a primarily black or latino neighborhood, particularly after dusk, there's the frequent sight of officers pulling aside random YUM's (young urban males) to frisk them for drugs & weapons.

it's happened to me twice, and i was explained the first time that it was for my own safety, the second time that it was for their safety. normally in a situation like that i'd get a badge number and call up Norman Siegel -- but since i'm probably the only white guy they stop all day, and since they probably stop me just to convince themselves it isn't racial profiling to only bully minority neighborhoods -- obviously i wouldn't make the right poster child.

however, aforementioned Siegel is representing a few NYPD officers who have refused to participate in the NYPD's policy of evaluating performance based on how many tickets/summonses are issued. that's why you see officers waiting outside late-night subways nowadays to issue a ticket to anybody who's sleeping, taking up more than one seat (i've been ticketed just for having my feet up while i was reading a book) - i don't understand WHAT kind of logic dictates you're only a good cop if you give a lot of homeless people $50 fines that they'll never be able to pay......

but it's probably something similar to the logic that a cop can't commit a crime no matter how many bullets he fires at an unarmed YUM

It is difficult to get the news from poems


Yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.

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by: RichardPlatypus @ Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 20:21:23 PM UTC

The judge's verdict has some very stupid features (0.00 / 0)

He ruled that reasonableness must be determined from the viewpoint of the killers.

If this logic was carried through, it would mean that if an out-of-uniform cop -- or group of cops -- came up to you, looking threatening, with a gun at his side, you would be entirely within your rights to gun him -- or them -- down, firing as many bullets as necessary to eliminate the threat by killing them dead.

Well, actually, that makes sense to me.  Clearly, any policeman out of uniform can't be distinguished from an ordinary gang thug, and people have a right to defend themselves against such violence.

But somehow I just don't believe that the courts will apply this precedent the same way when it's a civilian killing a cop.

That makes it dishonest and disingenuous.

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by: neroden @ Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 18:47:17 PM UTC