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The Washington Post follows up on the death of a police officer in September who had radioed that he was in pursuit of three men and was later found shot. People called him a hero, and the nation made note of his death as further evidence of police being under attack.
On Wednesday morning, however, officials are expected to shatter that image of Gliniewicz as a heroic officer cut down in the line of duty. Instead, they will announce that the veteran cop killed himself in an elaborately staged suicide, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times reported, quoting police individuals.
The story also mentions the case of an Arkansas police officer, David Houser, who has been fired for lying about being shot at during a traffic stop.
Sgt. David Houser, 50, of the England Police Department was charged with filing a false police report, according to KTHV-TV. Houser had claimed that he was shot in his bulletproof vest during an Oct. 24 traffic stop.
"Houser told local and state law enforcement officers that while on patrol that he had exchanged gunfire with a suspect who fled from him driving a sport utility vehicle south of England along state Highway 15," Arkansas State Police said in a press release obtained by the local TV station. "Houser also reported he had been shot by the suspect."
As with the Illinois case, this report lead to a massive hunt for (imaginary) suspects.
The article cites FBI data, which says "[...] assaults on police officers dropped sharply in 2014 and are at their lowest point since 1996."
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Thexalon on Friday November 06 2015, @04:13PM
Here's the real problem: The decision by some cops to be heavy-handed has little to nothing to do with the risks of the situation they're in or the level of criminality involved.
Some well known examples that show the contrast:
* Cliven Bundy is still a free man despite owing millions in fines, turning guns on government agents and police, and actively encouraging others to join him in rebelling against the lawful government of the United States. Threat presented: A large armed group prepared to use deadly force. Crimes committed: Failure to appear in court, the aforementioned millions of dollars in fines for unpaid grazing fees, aggravated assault on a peace officer, and possibly treason for his efforts to lead a group of people in armed rebellion.
* Sandra Bland was beaten on the roadside because she expressed being a bit upset about being ticketed for failing to use a turn signal when pulling over to let a cop by, and then mysteriously ended up dead in jail. Threat presented: None. Crimes committed: a very questionable moving violation.
I don't think most people are against the police being heavy-handed against truly dangerous people. What they are against is the police being heavy-handed against people who are completely harmless.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Friday November 06 2015, @05:24PM
Right, so... the thing is those causes I'm alleging don't have to do with the particular situations. But the fact that guns(!) are so prevalent in this nation that cops in general are on edge most of the time. Yeah, I know that's not a discussion the right-wing wants to have either, but there are places on this planet where cops don't need to carry guns unless they're SWAT.
(Score: 5, Informative) by hemocyanin on Friday November 06 2015, @08:24PM
That's a red herring. Cops in America aren't assholes because of guns, if anything the Clive reference above proves the opposite, they are assholes because the job attracts assholes.