Obama urges calm after Missouri teen's fatal shooting by police

As news reports go this man sounded like a good kid. Also saw the father on a news program asking for the looting and madness to cease. If anyone has a right to be angry and vindictive it is him. Not the animals being selfish and uncivilized.

But....The police have a story also. The investigation will certainly disclose any wrongdoing by the police if thats the case. So far the public does not know what happened. Just the result.

I'm not sure what happened, but it's really hard to believe that the police shot this kid for just being black.

Maybe all police officers should carry a small, portable video device on them for their own moral/legal defense.

The mother said, she saw it, as did other witnesses. They saw the police officer shoot him in cold blood.

Why do people riot? One answer can be found in the previous article about this.

Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered earlier on Monday at the town’s police station to demand that the officer responsible for Brown’s death face murder charges. Police arrested up to 15 people during that mostly peaceful demonstration.

If people are not allowed to protest peacefully, they will do so violently.

Maybe all police officers should carry a small, portable video device on them for their own moral/legal defense.

That's already a pilot program:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/cameras-proposed-stop-frisk-judge-ca-police-article-1.1426025

Maybe all police officers should carry a small, portable video device on them for their own moral/legal defense.

Police officers are already well defended. Too well defended.

I admit its a stressful job, dealing with all sorts of miscreants and crazies. But carrying around a camera all the time will make it even more stressful.

It would be nice to have video footage in this case, but considering the millions of cases we don't hear about, maybe not a good plan.

And I think there actually is some video or pictures but they were confiscated by police. Like said, the police are already too well defended.

What really needs to be done is not spend more money on technology, but to spend less money on the police by way of getting rid of a bunch of them. America has many, many more police than it needs, and those extra police are out making trouble for law abiding citizens that never needed to be.

I admit its a stressful job, dealing with all sorts of miscreants and crazies. But carrying around a camera all the time will make it even more stressful.

Too bad. If they aren't doing anything wrong, there will be nothing to worry about. There are plenty of professions who have constant video monitoring (bus drivers, taxi drivers, store employees) and they do fine. There is no reason why the police shouldn't have the same, particularly because of the fact that when they screw up, people die.

On top of this, many forces are moving to constant video footage on chest pins - including the police agency to which this officer belongs. They just haven't started using the devices yet:

@lostrune2

It's not surprising that there's a pilot program. There have probably been several pilot programs going on since the Rodney King incident. What's the hold up? They could have tried it or put it into effect nationwide years ago.

@Duck of Wellington

I see your point to some extent, but couldn't they set it up so the officers leave it off most of the time and then turning it on only when there's involvement with the public of some kind. The police are pros, so as long as they're doing their job, it shouldn't be a problem, should it?

Cameras might be the best way to police the police, rather than having to depend on citizens filming ad hoc.

Lord knows they need policing. An unarmed decent kid, ready to start college, gets gunned down over the infraction of walking in the street?

The police are pros, so as long as they're doing their job, it shouldn't be a problem, should it?

@stormcrow Part of my point is that there really are too many police in America to call them all professional, if you are using the word to mean things like sane, intelligent, competent and fair. Constant monitoring, at first glance, seems like an easy solution. But being on candid camera every minute you are on the job can also generate one time extreme reactions that get the cop fired on one hand, but get somebody dead on the other. Without cameras, how many cops do you think have committed two unjustified killings or murders on the job? I bet that is a pretty low number. Throwing cameras in the mix could just leave us with more dead innocents.

I would rather just weed out the lesser qualified cops.

I bet that is a pretty low number.

There's no way of knowing without data. Had there been no video of the Rodney King beating, the average person would have thought King was making things up.

But being on candid camera every minute you are on the job

The cameras would not be obtrusive and police would not be thinking about them, unless, that is, they are tempted to do something wrong like abuse their authority. Every police officer should know where that line is and when they are about to cross it.

With as many people claiming they saw it happening, do you think NO ONE got anything on video? Not likely. So, where's the video, or why is it being suppressed (if any exists)?

@Duck of Wellington

Good points, however, the number of police officers doesn't determine whether they are competent or incompetent, does it? I'm rather familiar with St. Louis although I call Chicago home. As you're probably aware, there are some really dangerous neighborhoods throughout several parts of St. Louis and Chicago. Some are so bad in Chicago that the ambulances won't even go in without a police escort.

If the Ferguson police officer in question was guilty of shooting some kid multiple times just because he happened to be black, then the officer should be punished severely. On the other hand, when I see the victim's family and friends saying the officer shot the kid in cold blood while there is looting and rioting going on in the background gives me reason to question. Furthermore, it looks as though this is going to boil down to the police officer said this but they said that. Video, in a case like this, could possibly clarify what exactly happened.

@yabits

I fully agree with your comments.

On the other hand, when I see the victim's family and friends saying the officer shot the kid in cold blood while there is looting and rioting going on in the background gives me reason to question.

Why would that give you question? The rioting happened after the murder, not before it, and it's not like the family is rioting. The above quote makes zero sense.

@Stranger-

Definition of MURDER 1: the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought

Have you convicted already like the rioters? all w/o an investigation.

Town of Ferguson with 21,000 people with majority who are black has total of 53 officers, and only 3 black officers? Sounds like equal opportunity for the town.

Their could be a reason for that. It does seem lopsided but we don't know why. It is a middle class town, perhaps minorities are better employed. We don't know.

Good points, however, the number of police officers doesn't determine whether they are competent or incompetent, does it?

@stormcrow Oh yes it does! There are only so many people in a population that are willing and able to be decent cops and it seems pretty obvious to me that America has exceeded that number. Its not like this is the only questionable incident in America.

just because he happened to be black

Unknowable. Unless the officer himself confesses to that (and he won't) we will never know if that was the reason, or one of the reasons.

Furthermore, it looks as though this is going to boil down to the police officer said this but they said that.

Has there ever been a case that was different in all of American police shooting history? With the cops its always denial first.

Video, in a case like this, could possibly clarify what exactly happened.

In this case it sure would help. But I have seen some wildly at odds interpretations of even video. And again, its all the other millions of cases we should be thinking about first, not forget about them in order to prevent a handful of similar future cases.

@Strangerland

Whether the looting and rioting took place before, during or after the incident is irrelevant, however, the public perception is important. The public watching this chaos is probably going to sympathize with the police officer in quetion if it looks like he/she is working in a jungle instead of a peaceful community.

Again, it's really hard to believe that this officer just pulled up to this kid and shot him in cold blood just because he was black, but, who knows (?), maybe he did. Cameras don't lie and that's why I'd like to see whoever's responsible brought to justice. If the youth did attempt to take a police officer's firearm, then that's a big no-no. But, if the officer pulled up and began shooting willy-nilly because of racist attitudes, then the officer should be locked away and never see the light of day again.

A camera would have cut through much of this, but now we have to be patient and allow the F.B.I. time to do their job and then we can judge who was responsible for this. It's too early to judge either party as some seem to be doing here. A lynch mob mentality is the reason why the police officer's name has not been released yet, a reason I understandably agree with.