DickHardman

...............................................

Little Apple

Don't forget the mighty and courageous ladder.

DickHardman

the part were they pinned his ass to the wall with the ladder was my favorite. that was so funny.

Oraenor

the ladder was such a good idea...wonder why they didnt use it in the first place

__________________
America's solution to birth control- "Lets start a war!"

Thai Bri

There are some frightening people walking those streets.

Liberty

Yeah... But, I can't say those willing to make fun of someone so clearly in need of psychiatric help (sword wielder on clip) help the matter any. I've had my share of people like the guy on the tape and they are not criminals, just people whose mind has gone south. They deserve our compassion, yes, with fire house and ladder in hand, if need be... but they are not criminals, nor a laughing matter.

DickHardman

...............................................

Liberty

My point, exactly. I believe that if someone is mentally ill and dangerous they should be approached in the same way as dealing with an escaped wild animal. With compassion from a safe distance while properly armed (in the event things become life-threatening). Should things threaten to "go there," then hey, I tried, he's going down, followed by a call to 911 if I've not been able to do that first.

I think they were right to use the hose before the ladder, for example. Subdued, unable to wield, stab with, throw his sword at anyone, the ladder then made sense. I commend them on their clarity in such a potentially dangerous situation.

If he had been an outright thug, mugger, intent on rape, etc., yeah, all bets are off from the get, that motherF*3er is is going down, no hesitation, no looking back.

warrior_artist

Negative. If someone is mentally ill and dangerous they should be approached as dangerous. Nothing irks me more than conducting some high risk activity and some other guy decides to go less-lethal. Every potential dangerous situation is lethal until proven otherwise. SWAT has way more options. A lone patrol officer encountering a psycho with a sword would probably have ended with the sword wielding loony shot before anyone with a ladder or water hose could have shown up.

Let me put it to you this way. You walk outside lock your door and turn around to go for a walk. But BAM! in your face, 20-30 feet away is some guy with a sword acting nuts. You're telling me you're going to be thinking nut-case compassion? Fine, you do that, and some poor patrol officer is going to be taking a report of you being hacked up. Because you cannot tell me what the nut-case is going to do. You cannot predict that. As far as you know at that moment you have a serial killer who just wants to kill you because he has been watching you for the last three weeks and knows your schedule and doesn't like your hairstyle.

The time for compassion for the deranged is after any potential danger has been nullified. It is an inaccurate comparison to compare SWAT with anyone else. The video scenario the guy was lucky. He was lucky he had not gotten too close to an officer that did not have suitable fall back cover. He was lucky he was on a big city street with plenty of space to set up a protective perimeter around him. He was lucky he hadn't really threatened anyone with the sword. In other words the situation worked out to his benefit and not because anyone had any compassion on him. The officers present responded appropriately based on the level of force present.

I'm arguing about the initial reaction of compassion when faced with a threat. By your argument anyone you meet on the street in a chance encounter that wants to hurt you could simply be mentally deranged and merely in need of help. Hell, I think every criminal is messed up in the head. Normal people don't act like that. But, I don't wait to find out. Safety first. You should be thinking when you leave home for wherever it is you're going for the day: I will make it home alive to my loved ones (or not, if you're single) tonight. Nothing will stop me from winning the day.

That means not taking any chances. No one gets the benefit of the doubt until you control them. Now, that's not going to happen to you 99.999999999999% of your days on this earth. Millions of people bump into each every day without anyone trying to hurt another. But when you find that 1 guy who wants your wallet, who decides to start shooting in the mall, who doesn't like the way you looked at him, or who decides you walked in the wrong neighborhood, you shouldn't be thinking this poor soul needs help.

You should be more concerned with your safety. Screw the other guy. That might mean you have to kill him, it might not. But the other guy's welfare should not be at the top of your list.

You can't read minds and will never know his intent until he has acted on it. It might be too late then.

Now, I'm not telling you what to do. You do what you think is right. I'm just offering a little suggestion to anyone interested and might find benefit. I'm also not suggesting you do anything outside of your state's law and justifications.

WA.

Liberty

If, when the SWAT Team arrived, the sword wielder, or anyone else, forr that matter, was right on top of someone or close to it, then hey, cut him down. But if he's quite a distance from where he can harm anyone and he's obviously mentally disturbed, as this guy appeared to be, then hose em.

Look, I personally believe some suicide bombers are probably mentally disturbed (the rest being fool zealots), yet, I would say that the only way to deal with any of them is to shoot them down immediatley. I just saw a tape like that on the news. One suicide bomber had exploded himself and innocent people. When the law arrived, the other bomber was lying on the ground, seriously injured, but attempting to reach the detonator at his hip. A sharp shooter immediately took him out. No negotiating, nothing. I applaud what he did and would've been too glad to do the same myself. To me, it depends on the situation.

No, Mike, we're not at odds - some people need to be shot down immediately. No ifs, ands, or buts. But all?

Once, I called the cops on a rowdy neighbor. When the cops arrived, the guy came out of his house with, you guessed it, a Samurai Sword! They drew their guns. He put the sword down, turned around as instructed, they handcuffed him, and hauled his ass away. No need to shoot him down, in that instance.

Another time, I was in an alley with some friends in a rough part of town. We'd gone to visit a sparring partner we'd not seen in a while. The guy is an awesome grappler. Anyway, on our way back, we decided to cut through an alley to get to our car. Some cops showed up and decided to investiagte what we might've been up to. I turned around to find myself with a cop's gun aimed at my forehead. We spoke for a time. He put his gun away and told us to go home.

Another time a war broke out between two rival gangs and I was mistaken for a member of one side, by their rivals. For over an hour, we negotiated for my life. Two shotguns and a few handguns covering me, in the event I turned out to be who they thought I might be.

I'm here today because of benefit of the doubt.

I just don't think taking someone out right away is always unwarranted in every situation.

Liberty

My bad. Agreed.