Rand Corp. recommends giving NYPD more tools for tyranny
Posted on June 10th, 2008 by bile Categories and Tags: Uncategorized, Bernard Rostker, civil services, crime, fascism, freedom, guns, lethal devices, liberty, murder, New York, New York City, NYPD, official Web site, police, police state, politics, Rand Corp., Rand Corporation, Sean Bell, Serf City, taser, tasing, taxes, unintended consequences, your money, your rightsA new report on the NYPD’s firearms training done in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting was drawing fire Monday night.
The report recommends arming the entire department with a controversial weapon.
Police firearms training came under heavy criticism in the aftermath of the Bell shooting when 50 shots were fired at Bell and his friends.
On Monday, a new report had a surprising recommendation to prevent such multi-shot incidents.
The outcomes might have been different if the officers had less than lethal devices other than pepper spray,” said Dr. Bernard Rostker of the Rand Corporation.
The Rand Corp. is a non-profit organization that helps improve policy and decision making through research and analysis. Rand offers its insight to companies and civil services in business, education, health, law and science, according to its official Web site.
Rand experts recommend that the NYPD issue Taser guns to more of its patrol officers so they can stun victims instead of shooting them.
“Tasers reduce injuries to citizens, reduce injuries to police officers and reduce the use of firearms,” Rostker said.
Given that in the Bell murder the men were inside a car the tasers would have been completely useless. Also considering the amount of lead that flew that night it seems obvious to me that the cops were past the point mentally where tasers would have been an option. I think it’s been shown time and time again that the belief that tasers are harmless mixed with police arrogance and aggression leads to misuse and abuse of the tool. Instead of wasting $12m+ on tasers plus the cost of training why not train the officers not to be so rash. How about teach them to shoot to incapacitate instead of kill?
This was cross posted to Serf City.
4 Responses to “Rand Corp. recommends giving NYPD more tools for tyranny”
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June 10th, 2008 at 9:08 am
I disagree with training police officers to shoot to incapacitate. I think it’s very difficult to shoot to incapacitate and it raises the states of the situation significantly. There is a chance that you’ll kill the person and there is a chance you’ll miss and the person will feel obligated to kill you. From the perspective of cops, guns should be used as a last resort and if they are used you should empty the clip and shoot to kill. If you are going to spend more money on police, I’d recommend body armor for cops. Vests and helmets. I’d also recommend more conflict resolution training. There are lots of tactics for deescalating a situation.
June 10th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Given cops are taught to shoot to kill and have no incapacitating training and many times they draw guns on unarmed individual… especially when doing raids and holding people at gun point… I think it is absolutely something which should be done. If you suck at shooting so badly that you can’t aim at a stomach instead of heart or head you shouldn’t be handed the gun in the first place. Firing a handgun in these cases can and should be practically instinctive. Therefore if you train to incapacitate when appropriate instead of kill you’d get it for free when real situations arise.
I fail to understand how vests and helmets will stop cops from misusing force. It’s not likely to make them feel any more secure and therefore calm nor will it take away their arrogance. In fact it may make it worse.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Much of it depends on distance. At very close ranges it seems obvious that people could aim for a certain part of the body. At greater distances you are effectively aiming at anything in the torso area. The heart and stomach are practically indiscernible. If you are instinctually firing a handgun you are only aiming for the torso in the hopes of hitting something.
Vests and helmets are purely defensive measures. If you think cops are going to get shot at, they should have the projection they need so they can delay the use the deadly force. A helmet and vest gives you more time and allows you to feel more secure so that you can think clearly. It also makes cops less of a target. I have no problems with purely defensive measures, it’s not like a cop is going to reactively use her helmet to beat someone to death.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I really doubt that just because they have a vest on they won’t unload into a man in a car. The cops aren’t solely afraid of being shot nor would having the vest make the being shot fear go away. They won’t be less hyped up. If you’d like we can buy a vest and I’ll shoot you. The problem at hand it cops abusing their power. The solution will not be giving them better defense nor making offense easier.