Chief Charlie Beck insisted that this shooting was simply the result of “a tragic cascade of circumstances that led to an inaccurate conclusion by the officers.”
The Los Angeles police department and local prosecutors are living down to a reputation as corrupt organizations with poor ethics. Depending on your perspective, this is nothing new. I certainly grew up with a healthy fear of black and white patrol cars and dreaded every trip I ever made to LA. It can be argued that was just bad press but, incidents like this make that concern seem well founded.
If the officers had at least shot up a vehicle of the same make and model as that of the suspect vehicle, I’d be a little more understanding of what happened. If they’d actually made an attempt to identify the occupants and saw movement suggesting they were going to take fire, I’d get it. If they’d actually come across Chris Dorner and lit him up as he stepped out of the truck, I likely wouldn’t care. But, that’s not what happened here. Two different sets of officers on the lookout for Dorner basically shot at anything in a pickup truck or resembling a pickup.
Race doesn’t even factor in to how wrong this is. Basically, the local government and police department are saying that their officers can do no wrong because there was no “intent.” It doesn’t matter who they shoot at, it can be chalked up to the officers were scared. If John Q. Citizen had taken the same actions with similar results, he’d be prosecuted and thrown under the jail with good reason. We’re known to be pro cop at GOTR but, this is just plain wrong. No charges, no impact on their job, just remedial training that will likely be forgotten shortly after they get back on the street.
GM
