I've seen a lot of stories lately on the Police in the US. This is by far the worst.

[Jodah]

also, why does a school police officer have a gun?

That's probably a key point for surrounding circumstance. Is the school in question that bad that a gun is necessary?

Can anyone from San Antonio shed some light on this?

They are still full fledged police officers and their duty is to defend the public no matter what. Most police carry their firearms 24/7, even off duty.

School police are NOT "rent-a-cops." In fact that phrase is seriously misleading. Police are always police, no matter where they serve they are police. Security guards are generally not police, in fact most police departments forbid such activities. Police are not allowed to have second jobs that may lead to conflicts of interest such as security guards, bouncer, etc.

Surely there are exceptions to this. Bars come to mind. Should the same exception not apply to a school?

Some states do allow you to carry guns in bars, many allow it if the place is considered a restaurant regardless of alcohol sales. Furthermore, an on duty police officer is immune to such laws. They are allowed to carry nearly anywhere if they are in uniform/on duty.

Thats not to say I 100% agree with it, just saying that its not as surprising as many people feel.

 

[Randomperson9999999]

i just dont know what to say...

 

[Kadoodle]

And this is why I love suburban NJ, the cops are nice here.

 

[g00n77]

from where i come from this is called evil...on the other hand that boy should have known better then to hit a cop with a door.

 

[deth2munkies]

*sigh* For every one of these there's 10,000 legitimate arrests of bad people who genuinely deserve it. It's only when the system fails that people report it.

Yeah, I saw that on the local news, and it's terrible, the guy deserves to be punished for it, but saying "American police are doing bad things" is far over-generalizing what's an extremely rare occurrence, the only reason it seems to be getting worse is because more and more people are becoming interested in reporting every single case.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Here's some of the story they "left" out.

The officer didn't see him at first, but "approached the storage shed to search further for the suspect announcing several times 'Police, Police.'"
The report also stated that the "(Lopez) lunged through the doorway at (Alvarado), intentionally knocking the shed door into (Alvarado's) face."
The report further details that "fearing for his life, (Alvarado) discharged one round striking (Lopez) in his torso."

http://www.ksat.com/news/25797958/detail.html

Dammit every damn time I post a story on here :/
Still he should not have had his weapon drawn, but he's not as Hitler as I make him out to be.

i do not agree one bit about the cop shooting the boy, nor do i agree he should have had his gun drawn BUT just saying

A) going into an unknown backyard not knowing EXACTLY where the person is
B) He was supposedly in the shed, which in america shed = storage of sharp metal tools, so i would be VERY fucking cautious if i was that police officer, he had no idea what kind of person that kid was, just that he had ran away from him before.
C) obviously the kid didn't come out at "police, police" so he isn't going to give up without putting up some kind of a fight.

that's the 3 things that would be going through my mind if i was in his position, granted i wouldn't have pulled my gun, but i would have been cautious as fuck.

 

[AlAaraaf74]

Jesus Christ...this is why I don't trust policemen. Murdering a teenager without reason is just awful.

 

[Burst6]

Sadly, nothing surprises me with police officers anymore. The majority of the ones in the news are always either power hungry or killers.

That's because no one reports cops who do good things. You're mostly only exposed to stories about corrupt cops, and start to think that they're the average cop. You have to see both sides.

I've seen quite a few stories with cops doing good things but they are out weighed by stories of corruption. I still think highly of police officers but the good ones are far and few between in this day and age.

That's because a cop running in taking out 5 terrorists and saving a group of people (the type of good cop activity that gets into the news) is a lot harder to do than a cop accidentally shooting an innocent (the type of bad cop activity that gets in the news).

And headlines like "Police officer arrests a man trying to rob a department store" or "Police officer prevents a catastrophic traffic incident by pulling over a drunk driver" are reserved for REALLY slow news days, but the bad ones are always popular news.

 

[Shock and Awe]

What probably happened was when he was hit by the door his dumb ass accidentally pulled the trigger. He probably had his finger on it, an exercise in poor fire discipline. Murder? No. Manslaughter? Possibly. Worthy of dishonorable discharge?(or their equivalent) Fuck yes.

 

[ShadowKatt]

Now, I'll beleive the cop misfired his gun. It happens, ask any cop/soldier/peacekeeper/etc. especially since this is texas, and at that San Antonio Texas, which is less then 300 miles from Mexico's Nuevo Leon. And we all know the shit that Mexico's been dealing with. I wouldnt go anyhwere in texas without at least a Nine and maybe some kevlar if I could spring it. Also considering that the boy hid in a shed, and thinking to the shed on my uncles property containing all of the following (but not limiting to):

- 3 axes
- 4 rakes
- 2 tire rims
- 5 separate brand name pesticides
- 3 different types of rifles (with no less then 200 rounds of ammo for each)
-

*blink*

In a garden shed?!?

I was gonna quote that too. We have all kinds of guns here, but we don't keep them in a garden shed...that just seems wildly unresponsable =/

 

[ShadowKatt]

Sadly, nothing surprises me with police officers anymore. The majority of the ones in the news are always either power hungry or killers.

That's because no one reports cops who do good things. You're mostly only exposed to stories about corrupt cops, and start to think that they're the average cop. You have to see both sides.

I've seen quite a few stories with cops doing good things but they are out weighed by stories of corruption. I still think highly of police officers but the good ones are far and few between in this day and age.

You know, I've been struggling with this lately. It really hit me today. I work in a lot of stores, mostly convenience stores, so I see cops all the time. And I mean that. ALL THE TIME, every single day. I've even gotten to know a few of them, and the ones that will bother to talk to me are pretty good people. The ones that won't talk to me are working, and I generally don't want people to strike up a conversation with me when I'm working either.

And yet, see the same cop at the same store in their car/truck/suv as I'm pulling out of the parking lot and my heart races as I check my mirrors to make sure they're not flashing me or following me or generally coming after me. The same cop I might have JUST been talking to not five minutes before. It's hard to draw the line between what makes them people and what makes them police when you have cops like this who seem to go out of their way to make sure the people FEAR them. I know I do.

 

[you rolled a one]

Sadly, nothing surprises me with police officers anymore. The majority of the ones in the news are always either power hungry or killers.

That's because no one reports cops who do good things. You're mostly only exposed to stories about corrupt cops, and start to think that they're the average cop. You have to see both sides.

I've seen quite a few stories with cops doing good things but they are out weighed by stories of corruption. I still think highly of police officers but the good ones are far and few between in this day and age.

That's because a cop running in taking out 5 terrorists and saving a group of people (the type of good cop activity that gets into the news) is a lot harder to do than a cop accidentally shooting an innocent (the type of bad cop activity that gets in the news).

And headlines like "Police officer arrests a man trying to rob a department store" or "Police officer prevents a catastrophic traffic incident by pulling over a drunk driver" are reserved for REALLY slow news days, but the bad ones are always popular news.

this sums up the reasoning quite well, for every bad cop there are thousands of good ones

 

[funguy2121]

snip

Oh my God, it's a school cop.

First, let me recommend a book. It doesn't deal with cops, but correction officers. It goes into vivid detail regarding the Abu Gharib torture scandal, focusing on some of the soldiers/prison guards who perpetrated the crimes. It was also penned by the Doc who did the Stanford Prison Experiment. This certainly applies to cops as well. The idea is that the past several presidents and indeed most people with power over these institutions blame "a few bad apples" when some cop or corrections officer goes apeshit and does something horrific, when in fact it is Dr. Lombardo's contention (and mine) that the problem is the whole damned barrel. You don't put an unstable person in a shitty, thankless, stressful situation like a school rent-a-cop. Most cops have failed at becoming pro athletes. That's something to take into consideration when hiring/positioning them.

The book is called The Lucifer Principal, if anyone wants to check it out. Riveting stuff.

There was a rent-a-cop (not an actual cop) at our high school who was nuts. Once he tackled and cuffed a kid while screaming at him for giving him lip about not taking off his hat. I saw this. The same rent-a-cop harassed a Mexican friend of mine once when we were returning from 3rd period break (having off campus lunch). A third friend dropped him off by the band hall, and I rode with her to park. Several minutes later, our friend caught up with us and said that the "cop" made him walk all the way around the school and that when he asked, "Um, did you want something from me, or can I go?" the guy said to him, "Tell your friend to watch her speed." Not long after, he stepped into my lane without looking while directing traffic - more to the point, directing me to keep coming. Without looking at me. I was only going about 17 miles an hour, but he was about 2-3 car lengths ahead of me when he did it. I slammed on my breaks, but he still doubled over the hood. He screamed at me, demanded to know if I wanted to be arrested, then told me to get the hell out of there and never mess with him again. I went straight to the second-most-senior principal (he was available). The guy was fired within 2 days.

Back to the OP's story. Questions, thoughts, moans and groans.

If he was a school cop, wasn't he out of his jurisdiction?

If the school is rough enough for someone to consider armed campus police, isn't it too rough to consider armed campus police? I mean, said cops WILL be outnumbered, which means that at some point their guns will be taken away from them by whomever they're trying to subdue.

 

[Thumper17]

Wow, 10 posts without some moron spouting out "I lost my faith in humanity!". That's probably a record.

OT: That's a shitty cop.
After seeing the post with the explanation, I take back what I said. The cop was pretty much in the right.

Eh, I don't agree.
A 14 year old boy slams a door open, the cop shoots him.

Why's a school cop even have a gun? Why would the cop draw his gun rather than a taser?

+1. School cops/Security should be armed with a baton and Mace with specially trained "Head of security" people being given Tazers. If shit gets out of control, call in a real cop.

Very disturbing trend lately with these trigger happy cops.

 

[NedroidPrime]

It's Texas... They just like to kill down there... Even people on death row that are proven innocent...

Unfortunately there is a very bad strain of this thought in the US. Funny thing is these are the same people that say a woman should not be allowed to have an abortion under any circumstances. They also proclaim loudly how "Christian" they are, yet at every turn they make decisions that are contrary to the teachings...

 

[Terminate421]

From where I'm from, this is called bullshit. (Bullshit to defend the cop for shooting him)

 

[Stall]

+1. School cops/Security should be armed with a baton and Mace with specially trained "Head of security" people being given Tazers. If shit gets out of control, call in a real cop.

Very disturbing trend lately with these trigger happy cops.

That's a god awful idea. What if someone comes to that school or mall WITH a gun? Batons and mace aren't going to do shit against an armed gunman. Even a tazer probably won't do very much. Are we just going to let the guy shoot up the place?

 

[Sparcrypt]

Guys.. this is real simple. Do not attack people who carry deadly weapons as a part of their job.

And those who think that 14 year olds can't do any damage you're kidding yourself. Kids that age can be extremely violent and if they arm themselves and ambush someone as this one apparently did they can cause serious injury.

You think the kid would be dead if he'd opened the door slowly, calling out and then come out with his hands in plain sight? Or just stopped when he was told the first time?

Not saying the cop is without blame, he may very well be at fault here. But if you attack a cop and you get shot it's your own damn fault and I refuse to jump on the "a kid died he was an angel" bandwagon. He clearly was not an angel - he's been expelled from two schools, was assaulting another student, ran from the police then attacked one of them. He might have every reason in the world for this - family problems, abuse, whatever. He still did those things, they were his choices.

Now I'm under no circumstances saying the kid deserved what he got. But it just annoys me that if the police do shoot someone the immediate reaction is that it's entirely their fault when there is just no way reports like this tell the whole story.

 

[Xero Scythe]

An officer who has been reprimanded 16 times in the previous 4 years, suspended without pay 5 times, and 'recommended for termination for insubordination,' but the school kept him on the force 'without remedial training.'" Should NOT EVEN HAVE BEEN ON THE FORCE AFTER THE 1ST YEAR. This is an EXTREME Case.

I don't suppose that any of y'all are criminal justice majors? Also, a lot of the time the media does go overboard.

Meh. Criminal law over here. And yes, the police in Chicago are corrupt, are undertrained, and are just begging for an excuse to use violence. Just look at the Mearday case!
There are good cops, and this may just be the media spin, but they seem to be in the far minority.

In Chicago, there are three kinds of people who laugh at the laws: those who break them, those who make them, and those who enforce them.

 

[NedroidPrime]

Have you ever been in a US school? There are many kids that carry weapons with them, so the officer has to assume the worst (and also why they are armed). These aren't rent-a-cops, they are full police officers.

They started the whole school officer thing while I was a junior, and the officer we had was actually really cool. She made a good point to me once: Schools are a reflection of the society in which they exist.