Here We Go Again! Body cam footage Dallas PD shoot mentally ill man

news.vice.com...

Here an overview.

Jason Harrison's mother called police to report her bipolar son was off his medications.

Police knock on the door at :10 sec.
Mother walks out likes she is going to work, says her son is acting off the chain
Jason leans against the door frame, holding a screwdriver with both hands at his waist.
The officers say can you drop that.
Then open fire, at about :22 sec

When this first happened the tape was never released and one officer said Harrison lunged at the other officer.

Watch the video. Decide for yourself.

Can't get a really good look at it, wish the other officer had a cam. IMO, he shouldn't have been shot, it was a screw driver.

a reply to: HighFive

It didn't really have a good angle on him. From what I saw it looked like he started to run toward them. Still, they could have tazed him.

a reply to: HighFive

Poor guy...he was truly screwed either way.

a reply to: Skid Mark

Exactly. Or even tackled him. Use of deadly force was not needed here.

It surprises me they insisted on escalating the situation so quickly on a call for a mentally unstable man.
And I'm surprised they didn't cap the mom, u can see her arms reachin towards the guns as they shot her son.

Do police receive training at all to deal with people with having mental difficulty, or do they only practice how to use their weapon systems and justify their force?

This happened on June 14, 2014. Didn't we discuss this last year at some point? Or is this another incident where the mother called the cops on her mentally ill son who was armed with a screwdriver?

dex

The craziest part, is them justifying it right afterward. Then telling the mother, who now regrets calling the police, we can't talk about it.

The first officer meekly whimpers " should we cuff him"

Then the officer boldly declares " He was in the doorway. He had a screwdriver. We had this behind us, we had to shoot.

originally posted by: DexterRiley

This happened on June 14, 2014. Didn't we discuss this last year at some point? Or is this another incident where the mother called the cops on her mentally ill son who was armed with a screwdriver?

dex

Maybe you heard about it when it happened

Now the video has been released! !

Some people might say the video contradicts the report, or this killing highlights the problem with police interactions with the mentally ill.

a reply to: HighFive

Disturbing and disgusting. The cop covers his camera after he shoots, but you can see the kid crumble to the ground, THEN the camera goes dark as the officer yells "Put it down" over and over, as if the screwdriver is still a threat!

Pathetic POS!

"What you can tell is that he did not lunge at the guy that had the body cam, you don't see that on tape, that's one of the first things we found suspicious about the account," he added.

He obviously went at the cop without the camera.

The Harrison family's lawsuit notes that police did not attempt to use their stun guns or other less lethal weapons.

They had no duty to, I wouldn't be worried about using less lethal in that situation either.

"They didn't acknowledge him... they just acknowledged the screwdriver," David Harrison, Jason's older brother, said in a press conference. "As soon as [my mother] got out of the way, [the officers said] 'I need you to put that down, sir!' It went from zero to 100."

Bull. They didn't escalate anything, they asked him to put down the screwdriver multiple times until he lunged at the cop that was certainly close enough to be in danger.

The footage of Harrison's death was made public at a time when police nationwide have faced increased scrutiny for using deadly force, particularly during interactions with people who are mentally ill.

Which is why this clearly justifiable homicide is being talked about as if there is some doubt, to garner page views and ad revenue.

The cops go and knock on the door. The guy comes to the door with a screwdriver. His mother is saying that he's crazy. He won't put down the screwdriver after being told, then screamed at. He charges a cop that's telling him to put down the screwdriver. This is cut and dry. It's really sad, but it's cut and dry. Cops don't have the luxury of knowing everything about a person they are dealing with beforehand, and frankly if a cops life is being threatened like that I don't think the mental issues of a violent person should even matter. Again, that's sad, but I'm not going to start psychoanalyzing a guy running at me with a screwdriver because I'm very aware that it takes only seconds for the guy running at me with a screwdriver to stick the thing in my gut, or chest, or neck.

I'm all for vetting the actions of the police, and calling them out when they screw up. This is not one of those times. The media is most likely going to push this and get people arguing, even though you have VIDEO.

I really want to know what people denigrating the police would say if this situation was between someone without a badge. Cops have a right to defend themselves too.

In Police work you use force with force. If your confronted with a deadly weapon, you do not pull your non lethal taser, you pull and equal force to stop the threat. And this one happen so fast he had no time to think about lethal/less lethal. Good shoot and too bad he wasn't on his meds.
If he would have pulled his taser, mind you only get one shot, and missed, he would have been stabbed. What is so wrong with just doing what your told??? What makes you better and think you can just attack anyone who you please?
ID

a reply to: HighFive

I lost a good friend a while back under the exact same circumstances. Only difference was he was holding a hammer.This has to stop...As highly trained as we are told police officers are , they should be confident enough in these situations to gain control . To resort to lethal force when your opponent is one single person armed only with a screwdriver or hammer looks to me like panic and being unsure of your abilities under pressure.




And as an addition : Ever wonder why the designation for our police forces was changed from Peace Officers to Law Enforcement ?

I have had contact with the police 8-10 times in my life... I am still alive, because I did not attack them! It is simple! They all each time treated me with the upmost respect and professionalism each and every single time. Because I did not threaten or attack them! Play stupid games win stupid prizes.

ID

I get the whole don't resist cops standpoint, just seems like it can end better then death.

I understand that a screw driver could be a deadly weapon and all, just seems we like we should train our cops to be able it without resorting to killing.

Well i cant tell if the guy made a move on the cops but the cops clearly show signs they messed up... trying to figure out what to do next its in your training you shot the guy five times did you really become so confused you asked if he needed cuffs than stating hes alive in a tone of thank god we didnt kill him than they justify it with themself we had to then they state we shouldnt talk about this. Comeon really thats rediculous your just sweating guilt.

a reply to: Sremmos80

Ya, I think they had enough space between them to react non-violently. Dodge, trip, subdue could have been used imo.

a reply to: Domo1

I'm intimately familiar with the mental illnesses that this guy was suffering from. But to some extent I agree this was a clean kill.

The biggest problem I have with your post deals with escalation:

Bull. They didn't escalate anything, they asked him to put down the screwdriver multiple times until he lunged at the cop that was certainly close enough to be in danger.

No they asked him once, then they threateningly ordered him to put it down. Depending on his mental state, those threatening orders were more deadly than bullets. The command approach works with people who are thinking in your frame of reference. But this guy was not operating in your frame of reference. His "fight or flight" response is locked on fight. So his fatal response was actually a defence against the threatening commands.

So you see it was escalation, even though the police officers didn't realize it or intend it to happen.

Now once he came out that door. They had to shut off the meat machine. Tasers, pepper spray, and non-lethal baton techniques may not have stopped him. So lethal force was indicated.

The cops go and knock on the door. The guy comes to the door with a screwdriver. His mother is saying that he's crazy.

There are lots of different kinds of crazy. Some additional training in recognizing and responding to mental illness may save a few lives. And not just the lives of the mentally ill. It could save the lives of the officers as well. In this case, if there had only been a single officer, he may not have been able to get off enough shots to stop him in time.



dex

That was the most horrible thing I have seen! How can anybody be defending the cops? The cops could have waived a candy bar and the mentally unstable man would run towards him! My goodness can't fight someone hand to hand who has a screw driver? Why not step back too? Call for back up, something...RIP

originally posted by: ItalianDressing
I have had contact with the police 8-10 times in my life... I am still alive, because I did not attack them! It is simple! They all each time treated me with the upmost respect and professionalism each and every single time. Because I did not threaten or attack them! Play stupid games win stupid prizes.

ID

Oh, were you having a bi-polar episode or other? If not, or unfamiliar with this as discussed :When people have those they are not exactly about to treat others with utmost respect and professionalism.

The point of this being shared is that the officers are called to deal with someone who is having a mental episode, but shot the person instead of helping them accordingly.

And there lies the discussion and concern of what is going to be done with these officers who are not trained to deal with mental illness.