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The One Man Band
I applaud you for not backing down or shutting down in this debate. What many of us are trying to understand is: why are you scratching your head? Why are you 'dumbfounded'? THIS IS WHAT THE SYSTEM WAS DESIGNED TO DO! As an LEO, you should know that better than anybody. It's one thing to be angry and upset about it, because I believe you are. What I don't understand is why anyone would be shocked.
Here's the thing. As much as you, I, and any other person with common sense knows that all aspects of this incident matter, in the interest of guilty/not guilty, most of it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters as far as guilty/not guilty is the span of time between when Castille told him he had a gun (which, IMO, sent Yanez into a panic, as evidenced by him drawing his weapon almost immediately) and the time the last shot was fired. What they are looking for is "was the use of force reasonable based on what the officer perceived". Is that fair? Not always, and I'm the first to admit that. I think part of the disconnect is that many are basing their opinion off the entire incident, but the acquittal was based on that small portion of the incident. And that's why I stick around here. Not to try to prove any type of solidarity, but to educate people on the reality of how these things play out, even when I don't agree with it.
If you ask me whether I believe that use of force was reasonable under the circumstances, my answer is no. My training dictates to me that a person that TELLS you they have a gun on them, legal or not, likely is not intending on using it on you. They are likely telling you so you won't use YOURS on THEM. Ask them where the weapon is, ask them where their ID is....tell them to keep their hands visible, and give me your name and date of birth. That way, I can get the information I need, and you don't have to reach around and even introduce an element of fear. If that still isn't enough, the officer can, and should, ask them to step out of the car and back towards their car, where they have a better view of their hands and actions......
So with that said, I can't imagine a scenario where, even though there was an obvious fear in the officer, that this fear was deemed reasonable NOT by the JUDGE, not by the "SYSTEM", but by the 12 folks charged with making the decision.