Last month in Chicago police responded to a "shots fired" call at about 2:30am. They encountered 13 year old Adam Toledo, who was out on the street with a 21 year old man on a school night. Both of them were armed with handguns. The older suspect was tackled and apprehended. Toledo ran down an alley, gun in hand, pursued by another officer.
Toledo stopped by a fence, still armed, as the officer repeatedly shouted for him to drop the weapon. As the officer, with gun ready, continued to yell for the boy to drop the gun, Toledo apparently put his hand through an opening in the fence and dropped the gun even as the officer was preparing to shoot. The gun was found on the other side of the fence. The officer fired as the boy was turning back around. Body camera video shows it was 8/10s of a second between the last warning and the fatal shot. Eight tenths of a second. The video also shows the boy was hit as he turned with empty hands.
It was a tragic occurrence. The officer, in less than a second, had to decide if the boy was still armed after chasing him while he was brandishing the gun. Forensics showed the boy had gunshot residue on his hand and the other suspect on his gloves. They had both fired a gun prior to police arrival. The officer had to decide in a split second if his life was in immediate danger. He fired and tragically, a then unarmed boy lost his life.
The question is - was the officer wrong? Less than one tenth of a second to decide whether or not you're still facing a deadly threat. What would you do? I see comments after articles that say the officer is garbage and should be charged with murder. I would bet none of those comments came from anyone who has ever faced that choice. As he was pulling the trigger the boy dropped the gun and turned. Sadly, he caught the round in the chest. If he turned toward the officer with the gun still in his hand the officer could be the one dead. I'm sure, as he thinks about what he did, there is a part of him that wishes that was the case.
The other question that begs to be asked is where were this boys' parents and why was he out at 2:30am with a gun?
Every one likes to second guess a police shooting after the fact, particularly if the suspect wasn't actively shooting. I have no doubt every cop wishes he/she had more time to make a potentially deadly decision. Contrary to what some believe, the average police officer does not wake up every day wanting to kill someone. They want to protect and serve their communities.
In 2020 there were nearly 700,000 police officers in the country, counting federal, state, county and city. Due to "defund police" programs, poor leadership in our major cities, and political assault on policing, that number has likely dropped. 264 of those officers were killed in the line of duty.
There are 328 million people in the United States last year. Approximately 5.4 million were white. Approximately 22 million were black.
457 whites were killed by police in 2020, actual details not available at this writing. That's. 00008%.
241 blacks were killed by police in 2020, actual details not available. That's. 000001%.
If my math is correct, (and it certainly could be wrong) less than 1% of whites and blacks were killed by police in 2020.
It seems to me that with nearly 700,000 police in this country, if they were out to kill people, particularly minorities, there would be a whole lot more bodies on the streets. But thats me.
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