DO NOT SHOOT UNTIL HE GETS OFF THE FIRST SHOT

Mentally unbalanced man, who had sexually assaulted a young boy, charges toward cop with one hand behind his back and is fatally shot

In effect, armchair experts say that even when police officers believe they are in imminent danger of losing their lives, they should not use deadly force until the person they are confronting has gotten off the first shot, especially if he’s mentally unstable. Yeah, just forget about the real possibility that the first shot could be fatal to a cop.

If it turns out the person shot was unarmed, then that’s a tragedy, but it should not be viewed as the wrongful act of an officer. Some second guessers obviously do not care whether or not a cop returns home to the family that loves him and depends on him.

In this case we have a dippy dirtbag who was reported to have sexually assaulted a young boy. The officer thought he might be holding a gun behind his back, so when he refused to show his hands as he was charging toward the officer, the officer dropped him. I say, good riddance!

Neighbors claim that the man had his hands up the whole time he was approaching the officer. Who do I believe? I believe the officer! Why? I’ve known well over a thousand cops in my lifetime – working as a cop, membership in police organizations, contacts with cops as a parole officer, teaching cops in police academies and in college criminal justice classrooms - and I can say without exception that none of them ever wanted to kill anyone ….. but they all wanted to survive while on duty and go home after getting off work.

UNARMED MAN, KENNETH BRIAN RELEFORD, FATALLY SHOT AFTER CHARGING POLICE, HPD SAYS
By Terrence McCoy

Houston Press Hair Balls
October 12, 2012

Police fatally shot an unarmed man, Kenneth Brian Releford, early Thursday morning near downtown, following a confrontation when he approached officers with a hand tucked behind his back, police said.

This was the second time in three weeks that police gunned down a person who had a suspected mental illness, underscoring an issue police still haven't solved. How do you both ensure that police can protect themselves against someone who potentially has a gun, while at the same time ameliorating the risk of killing an unarmed, mentally-unstable person?

Every police officer must take a training class on mental issues, said Jodi Silva, a police spokesperson. But outside of that? It's up to the individual officer to seek additional preventive training if they want it. Silva said she didn't how many hours police spend in the class, or what it covers.

It's unclear, however, if any amount of training would have changed what occurred on Francis Street early Thursday morning. HPD spokesperson John Cannon said police went to the neighborhood following a confrontation among residents, in which Releford had allegedly sexually assaulted a boy down the road. He said Releford knocked down the front door of the boy's house, pushed aside an 87-year-old man in a wheelchair, and took the boy to a backroom where he sexually assaulted him.

When officer J. Rosemon arrived, he went to Releford's house, and knocked at his door. Releford answered and, police said, began yelling. His hand was behind his back. He began approaching police, Cannon said. Releford wouldn't back away or follow orders, Cannon said. Roseman, apparently fearing for his life, shot and killed Releford.

This instance is by no means an aberration.

Last month, HPD gunned down Brian Claunch, a wheelchair-bound double-amputee, who had been waving a silver pen. Police said they'd feared for their safety; it became clear in the days afterward that Claunch had been mentally ill.

Last summer, police fatally shot Rufino Lara, an undocumented worker from El Salvador, after he didn't show his hands like police had asked him to. Lara, police said, had his hand in his waistband, and police were concerned he was armed when they shot him.