This is just an outrageous policy by police departments. I have never heard in my many years a reserve police officer having the power to effect a police sting operations. Everything about this says it is wrong.
April 14, 2015
By Steve Helling
A reserve deputy in Tulsa, Oklahoma, (click here) has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of a man who was killed during a sting operation.
Bob Bates, a 73-year-old insurance executive who moonlighted as a reserve deputy, is accused of fatally shooting Eric Harris, 44.
It all began on April 2, when the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office began a sting to buy illegal firearms from Harris. During the operation, Harris became suspicious and tried to flee. Officers caught him and tackled him to the ground....
An apology to a family may be more than appropriate, but, the loss of a family member carries pain beyond the apology.
"Slip and capture," how convenient. Mr. Bates is confident to his not guilty verdict.
A dead man is a dead man. "Slip and capture" or not, there is a crime committed and there needs to be a jury to determine justice. The fact Mr. Bates plays a determining factor in a police sting operation is simply outrageous. This is not going away. The "Pay to Play" is an entire element that lends itself to this outcome. That will end.
July 22, 2015
Two expert witnesses (click here) with Force Science backgrounds are believed to have been influential in a jury’s recent decision to reject a murder conviction of a former transit officer accused of deliberately shooting an unarmed suspect in the back during a handcuffing scuffle.
The witnesses, Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, and retired LAPD captain Greg Meyer, a certified Force Science Analyst, testified in detail how a combination of inadequate training and psychological stress phenomena most likely led to a tragic accident in which the officer mistakenly drew his sidearm instead of his X26 Taser while trying to restrain the struggling suspect. The prosecution had claimed the incident was one of intentional homicide by an out-of-control cop.
“This case,” Lewinski told Force Science News, “is a classic illustration of powerful forces beyond an officer’s conscious awareness that can shape a threatening encounter. These forces may not be readily evident even to unbiased witnesses, but in a matter of seconds they can change the lives of those involved forever.”
April 14, 2015
By Steve Helling
A reserve deputy in Tulsa, Oklahoma, (click here) has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of a man who was killed during a sting operation.
Bob Bates, a 73-year-old insurance executive who moonlighted as a reserve deputy, is accused of fatally shooting Eric Harris, 44.
It all began on April 2, when the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office began a sting to buy illegal firearms from Harris. During the operation, Harris became suspicious and tried to flee. Officers caught him and tackled him to the ground....
An apology to a family may be more than appropriate, but, the loss of a family member carries pain beyond the apology.
"Slip and capture," how convenient. Mr. Bates is confident to his not guilty verdict.
A dead man is a dead man. "Slip and capture" or not, there is a crime committed and there needs to be a jury to determine justice. The fact Mr. Bates plays a determining factor in a police sting operation is simply outrageous. This is not going away. The "Pay to Play" is an entire element that lends itself to this outcome. That will end.
July 22, 2015
Two expert witnesses (click here) with Force Science backgrounds are believed to have been influential in a jury’s recent decision to reject a murder conviction of a former transit officer accused of deliberately shooting an unarmed suspect in the back during a handcuffing scuffle.
The witnesses, Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, and retired LAPD captain Greg Meyer, a certified Force Science Analyst, testified in detail how a combination of inadequate training and psychological stress phenomena most likely led to a tragic accident in which the officer mistakenly drew his sidearm instead of his X26 Taser while trying to restrain the struggling suspect. The prosecution had claimed the incident was one of intentional homicide by an out-of-control cop.
“This case,” Lewinski told Force Science News, “is a classic illustration of powerful forces beyond an officer’s conscious awareness that can shape a threatening encounter. These forces may not be readily evident even to unbiased witnesses, but in a matter of seconds they can change the lives of those involved forever.”
