Videoof police-involved shooting. Cops 1. Robber 0.
Tag: police-involved shooting
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Officers in Alvarez Shooting Not Indicted
Well I guess since nobody was indicted, we can all shake and go home.
But seriously… it would have been horrible if the officers were indicted for doing their job. Though the fact that Alvarez also gets to walk bothers me less since he already survived his “trial by ordeal.” I mean the guy was shot 23(!) times, “27 holes,” and four bullets in his body. Let’s just count that as time served.
From the story in the Times:
Mr. Alvarez had gotten into a fight with another man, Luis Soto, who Mr. Alvarez said had shot at him.
The police had accused Mr. Alvarez of shooting at them as they converged on the fight. In a frantic span of about 10 seconds, with about 500 people swarming the block, four officers fired, and Mr. Alvarez received 23 gunshot wounds.
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Alvarez is no Ham Sandwich
A grand jury didn’t indict Angel Alvarez. This is surprising, given how they say a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich.
Here’s what I wrote about his shooting back in August.
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Mother of shot suspect: Cops “did their job right”
Now that’s something you don’t hear every day!
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Cops shoot bad guy–hostage safe
A bit sloppy, but the good guys won. You could also file this one under, “just another day at the office.”
Bank Robber Takes Hostage, Slips and Falls on Ice, then Shot and Killed by Police: MyFoxDC.com
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Five NYPD Officers Cleared in Shootings of Bystanders
Ray Rivera in the Times:
Five New York City police officers who wounded two bystanders in a shootout with a suspect in Harlem in 2005 cannot be held negligent, the state’s highest court ruled on Tuesday, ending a five-year legal battle before it went to trial.
In a 4-to-3 decision, the State Court of Appeals found that the five officers were within department guidelines when they returned fire on a robbery suspect who had opened fire on several officers. The suspect was killed, but police bullets also struck a 78-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman who was playing with her 18-month-old daughter.
I’m not certain where I stand on the legal issues, but I do want to point out the vote was only 4 to 3. And I hate to think of a world where police are legally prohibited from shooting back!
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NYPD Holds Fire
The Wall Street Journal reports:
New York City police fired fewer bullets at suspects last year than any time since the department first began keeping in-depth shooting statistics 39 years ago
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In 2008, the department was also involved in 105 shooting incidents, with the 125 officers firing a total of 364 bullets. No city police officer last year was shot by a suspect for the first time since the police department started keeping detailed shooting statistics in 1971I was just talking about this in class last week.
In 1972, the NYPD was involved in 211 shootings. In 2006 (the last I have data for), the number was 31. That’s a big drop. And it’s been a pretty consistent drop with the notable exception of the late 1980s during the rise in crack. It’s something the NYPD should get more credit for. And it’s often overlooked when there is a high-profile controversial shooting.
To put these numbers in some (somewhat random) context, in 2006: 35,000 NYPD had killed 13. 2,100 Las Vegas PD had killed 12. 6,600 Philadelphia PD had killed 19.In Baltimore, about 3,000 Baltimore City Police Officers shot 31 in 2007, 21 in 2006 and 11 in 2004.
Higher levels of violence in places like Baltimore explain some of this difference, but not all of it.
[Update: Here’s Al Baker’s take in the Times.]
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Feris Jones was Lucky
Officer (now Detective) Jones was lucky she wasn’t killed. 19-year-old Winston Cox was robbing a store and Jones pulled her gun and announced her presence as a police officer. Cox fired and she returned fire, striking Cox.
Why did she say anything before firing? She should have just come out and “incapacitated” Cox (ie: shot center mass, likely killing Cox). Did she think he was going to drop his gun? His gun was bigger. Cox tried to kill her. Luckily, Cox missed. But what if he hadn’t? What if he killed Jones? Then we’d all be going to her funeral. I wouldn’t want to risk my life on Cox having bad aim. Jones shouldn’t have either.
[But it all turned out well and I wish Jones the best of luck and repeat that she did great and she’s a good shot and a bad-ass. (I’m really happy she’s not dead.)]
Now here’s my plan, at least in theory. In the next couple of days, I’m going to present a couple of hypothetical situations related to this scenario. I’m curious as to how you’d respond.