Police Accountability

[TPaine7]

The case has often been made here that ordinary people should not be allowed to carry weapons because they, unlike police officers, are not held to public account.

I've always thought that was a very poor joke:

Los Angeles (CNN) -- A former transit police officer convicted last year in the shooting death of an unarmed man on an Oakland, California, train platform was freed from prison early Monday morning, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.
...

Johannes Mehserle was sentenced to two years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter conviction, but California law gave him one day of good conduct credit for each of the 365 days he served behind bars, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry said in a court order he signed last week.

...

Violent protests erupted in Oakland last November when Perry sentenced Mehserle to just two years in prison, which meant he could be released after another seven months.

...

Although his defense attorney argued for probation, Mehserle told Perry before sentencing that he would be willing to go to prison if the sentence made his city and family safer.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/06/13/california.subway.shooting.release/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Let's see, we have a videotape of a cop shooting an unarmed man in the back. He admits he did it. There is public outrage. After the verdict, the convicted felon essentially gives the judge permission to send him to prison. The judge manages to sentence him to all of 2 years, and he serves 1 year.

Now let's imagine that you or I shot an unarmed man in the back, that the shooting was totally unjustified, that it was captured on tape, and that there was tremendous public outcry.

Who's really accountable?

[TheWraith]

1. Kicked and recommended.

If anything, police should be held to a HIGHER standard, not a lower one, as they're entrusted with a great deal of power.

[mulsh]

2. the unarmed man was handcuffed, face down on the platform

when he was shot in the back and murdered by that cop. Cops can get away with murder. That one sure as hell did.

The cop got the lightest sentence possible and is facing unsupervised parole. that means he doesn't have to check in with his parole officer and they won't prosecute him unless he commits another crime. I hope his family is wise enough to get him out of California as quickly as possible.
I have yet to speak to a single fellow Oakland resident who doesn't think what that cop did was murder. Even the white supremacist guys I grew up with here in Oakland feel that way. go figure.

[panader0]

3. There was a case in my little town

Two twenty year old guys tried to rob a fast food joint. One was armed. The cops came and the guys were trapped inside. The armed one ran out and was shot and killed by the police. The unarmed guy surrendered. He was charged with murder. I know this law exists in many states but it seems weird to me.

[Dawson Leery]

4. Law enforcement serve the property owners.

That is nothing new. They are above the law.

[Ignis]

5. K&R

Well said. :thumbsup:

[Shagbark Hickory]

6. Only certain cops should be issued guns. Like a special squad. The rest should get tazers so they

can zap everyone and everything that moves.