Welcome to Buster's Blog

Irregular commentary on whatever's on my mind -- politics, sports, current events, and life in general. After twenty years of writing business and community newsletters, fifteen years of fantasy baseball newsletters, and two years of email "columns", this is, I suppose, the inevitable result: the awful conceit that someone might actually care to read what I have to say. Posts may be added often, rarely, or never again. As always, my mood and motivation are unpredictable.

Buster Gammons















Monday, May 11, 2015

Cop Doesn't Shoot, Gets Criticized Anyway


You probably saw this.   New Richmond, Ohio police officer Jess Kidder has just pulled over a murder suspect, who gets out of his car and charges at the officer, yelling "Shoot me!"  Despite the tension and fear of the moment, Kidder, who had drawn his gun and was wearing a body camera by his own choice, does not shoot and the suspect gives up.  (For now, let's set aside the fact that the suspect in this instance was white.)



After being widely praised for keeping his cool, Officer Kidder is now being criticized by some hard-asses in law enforcement.  They say his actions were inconsistent with his training, that he potentially put others at risk, and that, by the book, Kidder should have shot that motherf***er dead.

Who came up with that sort of "training"?  Evidently, The Book says when in doubt, whip it out and fire away 'til they drop.  Police need a new book.  Perhaps Kidder will share his book with all the other cops in America.


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