It's unfortunate that people are quickly rushing to judge the NYPD Officers involved in the Empire State Building shooting. I caution people to not rush to judgment. What anyone who has been in a high stress situation such as an active shooter/combat situation can tell you is that things never go as planned. Basic human physiology robs a person in such critical incidents, of the ability to calmly breath aim and shoot in the same manner as they would on a gun range. Add to that the fact that firing a shot in a heavily populated area is very dangerous and there is no amount of training that can alleviate that risk completely.
I can promise you, as a police officer, that these officers did not go to work planning to wound bystanders. Furthermore, I find it doubtful that they had no concern for the people in the immediate vicinity of the shooting. These officers were placed in a deadly force situation and did their job to the best of their ability. It is very unfortunate that in the real world there is often collateral damage in such encounters. The actions set in motion by the suspect will continue to inflict collateral damage as the wounded as well as the police officers involved will no doubt struggle with this both physically and emotionally for years to come.
I support, and I urge you to support these NYPD officers. I sincerely hope that people use restraint in judging these officers because it really does cause officers in similar future circumstances to hesitate in situations where hesitation will cost further loss of life. My heart goes out to the wounded and to the officers involved.
People are quickly rushing to judge the NYPD Officers involved in the Empire State Building shooting. I caution people to not rush to judgment. What anyone who has been in a high stress situation such as an active shooter/combat situation can tell you is that things never go as planned. Basic human physiology robs a person of the ability to calmly breath aim and shoot in the same manner as they
would on a gun range. Add to that the fact that firing a shot in a heavily populated area is very dangerous and there is no amount of training that can alleviate that risk completely.
I can promise you, as a police officer, that these officers whom I've never met, did not go to work planning to wound bystanders. These officers were placed in a deadly force situation and did their job to the best of their ability. It is very unfortunate that in the real world there is often collateral damage in any such encounter. The actions set in motion by the suspect will continue to inflict collateral damage as the wounded as well as the police officers involved will no doubt struggle with this both physically and emotionally for years to come.
I can promise you, as a police officer, that these officers whom I've never met, did not go to work planning to wound bystanders. These officers were placed in a deadly force situation and did their job to the best of their ability. It is very unfortunate that in the real world there is often collateral damage in any such encounter. The actions set in motion by the suspect will continue to inflict collateral damage as the wounded as well as the police officers involved will no doubt struggle with this both physically and emotionally for years to come.
I know I went on a tirade this morning in my blog...and mentioned the 9 people injured by police gunfire (and ricochet)...but I think (hope) in the way that I'm presenting it, it's clear that I'm not judging the NYPD in this particular instance. I have been critical of them (and other cities)...but in this morning's rant, that isn't what I was being critical about. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for injecting rational thought and reason into this conversation. As a retired law enforcement officer who is also a progressive I am glad that there are other people who understand that there is another side to the story. In addition it is refreshing that other cops share the same views as I do and are informed and articulate to convey their message. Most people do not understand what is actually involved in combat situations in urban areas. They watch too many movies and think about shooting the gun out of the bad guy's hand. I was a member of the NYPD and a I was an instructor in the police academy. I dissected incidents just like this. You are correct that no amount of training can prepare an officer for something like this. They reacted quickly and did the best they could, nobody was killed except the bad guy so it was the best outcome. Civilians were hit by ricochets but you bet that it's better than being shot by a psycho on a rampage. Kudos, keep up the good work!
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