Should they have holstered their tasers and shot the man?

[Champakian]

This Suicidal, Gasoline-Drenched Man Burned to Death After Cops Tased Him. A Federal Court Says That's Reasonable Force.
"In what legal universe is it not even plausibly unreasonable to knowingly immolate someone?" asks dissenting judge

On July 10, 2017, Olivas was experiencing a mental health crisis when his son called the police for help. Upon arrival, Officers Jeremias Guadarrama, Ebony Jefferson, and Caleb Elliott of the Arlington Police Department found Olivas in his bedroom with a "red gas can." Guadarrama admits to smelling gasoline when he entered the residence.

Elliott pepper-sprayed Olivas, leaving him temporarily blind. It was around the same time that Olivas poured the gas onto his body. "If we tase him, he is going to light on fire!" Elliott yelled. The officers had been trained on Taser safety and the ill effects of using the weapon when paired with gasoline.

...

"The fact that Olivas appeared to have the capability of setting himself on fire in an instant and, indeed, was threatening to do so, meant that the officers had no apparent options to avoid calamity," wrote the panel in February. "If, reviewing the facts in hindsight, it is still not apparent what might have been done differently to achieve a better outcome under these circumstances, then, certainly, we, who are separated from the moment by more than three years, cannot conclude that [officers] Guadarrama or Jefferson, in the exigencies of the moment, acted unreasonably."

There's one problem with that argument: The cops' actions caused the very mayhem they allegedly sought to avoid. Olivas could have set himself on fire, the court notes, endangering others and setting the home ablaze. That happened because the cops tased Olivas—not in spite of it.

Talk about your lose-lose situations...

 

[RobDownSouth]

This Suicidal, Gasoline-Drenched Man Burned to Death After Cops Tased Him. A Federal Court Says That's Reasonable Force.
"In what legal universe is it not even plausibly unreasonable to knowingly immolate someone?" asks dissenting judge



Talk about your lose-lose situations...

De-escalation is a lost art in policing.

 

[Champakian]

You know you're on ignore, but still you troll minorities...

 

[RobDownSouth]

You know you're on ignore, but still you troll minorities...

Calling for police de-escalation is "trolling minorities" now.

 

[Champakian]

 

[Philthy_Phil]

You know you're on ignore, but still you troll minorities...

With your BMI you're considered a majority. Quit playing victim all the time and take personal responsibility, chunks.

 

[MartinHeidegger]

Six replies in, and this thread isn't going very well for the situational victim.