Interesting, another Cop story..

[Warp Spider]

The farmer was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed. I think he is still appealing (the media kinda stops covering stories when they get old)

 

But in terms of what she said, I have to say that I agree 100% with MonkeyGirl. (an unholy alliance )

 

What farmer? I don't get it. What's the relevance of this to the thread?

[superleeds]

Whats the criteria for becoming a police officer in the US? It seem' s to me that everytime I watch CNN (which is not often) some triggerhappy racist thug wearing a badge is prosecuted for killing an afro american. Whats up with that? Always give a warning by the way... Try making a bow and say something gibberish (that sounds like japanese) It should put most people off

[Treebranch]

Cops will shoot anyone that resist it seems. I wish cops were required to study more unarmed and jo or bo training so that when a gun is not present they can take someone down without shooting them. Most police policies on shooting is to shoot to kill, not to maim. I don't know the logic behind this, but alot of innocent people die at the hands of these policies. I think it's very sad and the public has a general fear of the Police.

[The Saint]

Wow......, Number one how old is this "Former Cop?" Did he get fired for telling the crap he told you...well, reasonible force is allowed ( if he comes running in and you kick him and he goes down...fight ends there) If you start kicking him while he's down.. thats beyond resonable force and you can be charged. Avoiding the fight all together would be my approach to it. As for telling your aggresser you have martial arts training, a hidden defence is the best one- you don't have too.

[SoulAssassin]

No he was retired. He was working as a security person in my school. He knew my friend and I did martial arts. One day we had a bad temper and he told us the story and how we should watch ourselves with it. Funny though we did a show in school and we brought in swords, nunchuku, shurkins etc.. and he was the one who 'had to escort us around'.

[Karateka]

Reasonable force...a fine line that should really be a fence. It is true that juries will give you a hard time in court. The real issue is to make sure it never goes there. I got involved in a fight with an ex-friend of mine and he knew that I took martial art training. He tried to tell the police he had no idea and that it was a complete shock to him, but I had told him and others in front of him, so he knew. Also, I only made sure that he couldn't attack me again till I had the chance to walk away. That being said, martial artists should always be wary of the effects that our techniques can have on others. A simple punch in the wrong place can have loads of damage...physically and legally.

[Natural]

Wow, monkey girl good speech I show off too much at my school that i can do high kick and can take two people out in matter of 20 seconds so i will not talk in college about it.

[equaninimus]

"What kind of person becomes a police officer?"

 

In most places in the US, police recruits go though lengthy background checks, and a very thorough psych eval, in order to weed out the "John Wayne Wannabees."

 

Obviously the chaff accaisionally gets through with the wheat. Here in Denver we have had a spate of police shootings that were questionable. The answer would seem to be beter civilian oversight. Many of those involved were from an academy class that came in when the city was about to lose a large percentage of the department due to retirements, so the screening process was rushed.

 

In Baltimore and DC, there is such a shortage of police officers, and the drug problem so severe, that sometimes backgrouns checks are not as thorough as they could be. I looked into becoming a Blatimore police officer and on the initial screening application, reasons for ineligiblity for hire included more than two felony drug convictions, or more than one domestic violence conviction. (emphasis mine) This makes one wonder just how safe the average citizen is from those who are supposed to protect him in this municipality.

 

In general, though, the police departments of most cities in the US are staffed by knowledgeable individuals who initially came on duty with a desire to serve the public. the "former police officer/school security guard" of the initial post sounds like one of those who was tossed from the department, or who was "fibbing" to the poster in order to prevent further trouble.

[Rich67]

I know this is an old post, but just my two cents:

 

First off, ANYONE (even those without martial arts training), CAN KILL WITH ONE PUNCH. Street fighters can. Boxers can. Big people can. A fight is a fight is a fight. You receive the same legal ramifications with or without martial arts training. It's all about who was the aggressor, who was defending themselves, etc. It makes no difference to the cop handling the incident whether you are a martial artist.

 

Oh,and as for the original post, the security guard at your school is a liar. I seriously DOUBT he was ever a real cop; he is giving you a load of crud when he tells you those stories. Why is he a security officer? Hmmmm... probably because if he ever WAS a cop he lost his job 'cause he's a knucklehead. Chances are, he WANTED to be one, but failed the entrance requirements, so he wants to sound like a tough guy to all the kids.

 

Second, I am a cop. I can tell you thereare good and bad people in any job. The same goes for cops. But a lot of citizens are misguided by what the see or hear in the media about officer involved shootings. Until you have actually DONE THE JOB, you have no idea what it is like to make a split second decision about your life or someone else's life. You have no idea (unless you live a very active life) what it's like to be shot at, dragged by a car, watched someone kill themselves,get almost hit by a car, attacked by people who want to kill you because they don't want to go to jail, spit on, you name it. All those things have happened to me. All cops have a tough job, and it's a thankless one at that. Everyone hates cops until they need one. So before you criticize a cop for the job he does, remember that without policemen the world would be a real unruly, ugly place. You have them to thank when you sleep soundly at night and they are awake and patrolling or investigating while you are sleeping.

 

I'm off my soap box now.

Edited January 29, 2004 by Rich67

[Rich67]

"In Baltimore and DC, there is such a shortage of police officers, and the drug problem so severe, that sometimes backgrouns checks are not as thorough as they could be. I looked into becoming a Blatimore police officer and on the initial screening application, reasons for ineligiblity for hire included more than two felony drug convictions, or more than one domestic violence conviction. (emphasis mine) This makes one wonder just how safe the average citizen is from those who are supposed to protect him in this municipality.

That is scary. TWO FELONIES?? Geez. Trust me, that's not the standard... at least not here in Florida or in Los Angeles. Funny thing is, you wonder why crime is so rampant in DC... don't they have the most stringent gun control laws in the nation? Like NYC?? I wonder why the percapita crime rate in those areas is so high with those wonderful laws...(said with sarcasm) Miami PD had the same lousy hiring practices back in the 80's. By the time the 90's rolled by, the department had some of the worst corruption in the U.S. Things are better now, but look for a trend similar to that in DC and Baltimore if that continues.