There has to be another way to deal with this guy. At what point do the officers disengage? Is selling illegal products worth discharging a pistol into a crowd? I would suggest no. I think the officer is at fault for the discharge, hands down. And the other guy is obstructing police. Justified use of force? Definitely not.
Someone attempting to assault a police officer, while he's already engaged with a suspect, seems to be a pretty good reason to discharge a pistol at that additional suspect when less lethal means have already been tried, and have failed.
The use of force at that level is justified when presented with serious bodily harm or death, which I don't think is present. The second suspect is displaying assaultive behaviour, which equates to the use of an intermediate weapon, like a baton, spray, taser, or hands on approach.
If it were me, I would probably have disengaged a while ago. But, I would much rather charge the person attempting to disarm the officer, than the person who didn't pay the tax on whatever it is he's selling.
Too bad warning shots are prohibited, that seems to be the only thing that really worked.
The use of force at that level is justified when presented with serious bodily harm or death, which I don't think is present..
It appeared, to me at least, to be an attempt relieve the officer of his service weapon. That's pretty extreme. As far as I'm concerned it's essentially an attempt to use a firearm on the officer, though I have no idea what their use of force guidelines might be.
I don't know about you, but I'd be mighty worried about that spray being used against me while I'm also holding a pistol which would most probably be the next thing I lost. Scary predicament.
It becomes a liability at that point. And let's be real, if a perp approached a cop with pepper spray he'd get shot anyway.Kinda useless to have a gun when you cant see
I've been following these for a while. No news of anything happening at all. It boggles the mind.
http://www.dailynews.com/general-ne...-milton-olin-no-charges-against-typing-deputy
http://cyclingmagazine.ca/uncategorized/cyclist-fatally-injured-getting-struck-police-car/
Now, back to Toronto Canada: what abuse are you talking about? An officer gave you a parking ticket?