question about police shootings

[freepcrusher]

does anyone here think the judicial system has gone too far in making it an extra penalty for shooting police? I mean doesn't it kind of make them a protected class of sorts? I'm not advocating  shooting officers in the slightest (after all I'm a critic of black lives matter) however it seems people get overworked when an officer gets shot when they're just another human being like everyone else. I mean most police shootings, in my opinion, are not the same thing as something Ted Bundy or Rodney Alcala would do since most police shootings aren't premeditated.

[publicunofficial]

Someone who shoots a police officer means that they thought out all the consequences and likelihood of being caught, and still committed murder. It deserves a harsher penalty.

[MK]

does anyone here think the judicial system has gone too far in making it an extra penalty for shooting police? I mean doesn't it kind of make them a protected class of sorts? I'm not advocating  shooting officers in the slightest (after all I'm a critic of black lives matter) however it seems people get overworked when an officer gets shot when they're just another human being like everyone else. I mean most police shootings, in my opinion, are not the same thing as something Ted Bundy or Rodney Alcala would do since most police shootings aren't premeditated.

Disguesting post.

IMO you shoot a cop =automatic death penalty.    The police officer represents the law of that state, city, county government and more importantly the people hes there to serve and protect. If a prep not only commits crimes against the citzens and then also shoots the Officer that's even worse then premeditated murder.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Depends. I agree that in some cases shooting anyone (including the police) can be defensible and thus lawful. Recently some States have begun eliminating special protections for Police Officers that made legal defenses like self-defense and mistake unavailable if the person shot was a police officer without regard to circumstances. I wasn't able to find the article but I recall about 4 or 5 years ago reading about one state eliminating this rule because an on-duty cop who was drunk illegally entered the home of someone else and assaulted them, and there were concerns afterwards that even fighting back against illegal cop activity would be illegal.

However, I don't think enhanced sentencing for the deliberate killing of an on-duty cop (especially one responding to an emergency) is unreasonable if there is no legal defense. I feel killing a state protector while they are trying to protect others is much more of an attack on society than is a typical killing. Ditto for Firefighters, EMTs in ambulances, and other public safety officials.



http://thefreethoughtproject.com/state-passes-law-legalize-self-defense-police/

[Intell]

Yes, whether your kill Obama, or a middle-age man, you deserve the same punishment.

[Badger]

Of course they should be a protected class with greater penalties for shooting /assaulting one. And yes, self-defense can be claimed in the bizarre situation of an on-duty cop going completely rogue.

[Bojack Horseman]

Absolutely not. I have nothing for them but a few four-letter words.

[bedstuy]

Of course they should be a protected class with greater penalties for shooting /assaulting one. And yes, self-defense can be claimed in the bizarre situation of an on-duty cop going completely rogue.

I agree.  It's the same principle that we have a special penalty for assaulting a bus driver or a subway conductor.  Nobody is complaining about that!

[Lyin' Steve]

Harming police doesn't just hurt a private individual, it hurts the public safety and welfare in general.
Also we need our police to do the dangerous stuff we're afraid to do, the least we can give them is an assurance that we're doing an above-average job protecting their safety.

[DemPGH]

In a parallel to this, near where I live a police officer died in a car crash that was an accident while he was off duty; he was speeding, yes. The town reacted by lowering flags to half mast and going through a big public eulogy, which I thought was an overreaction. Of course it's sad when anyone dies like that, cops included, but an ordinary person would not have gotten that. In the line of duty, police are given too much leeway, so when one is injured or killed a LOT of assumptions are made at the start that probably shouldn't be, and burden of proof against police often seems higher than it should be or higher than in other cases. Many people have jobs that could be considered dangerous, so the "public defender" argument does not wash for me.