Officer fired after shooting mentally disturbed man he provoked 14 times

Hamilton was sleeping in a downtown park when Manney responded to a call for a welfare check and began a patdown. Flynn said Wednesday that Hamilton resisted and the two exchanged punches and strikes before Hamilton hit Manney on the neck with Manney's baton. Manney then shot Hamilton.

Flynn said that while Manney correctly identified Hamilton as someone who was emotionally disturbed, he ignored his training and police policy and treated him as a criminal.

"You don't go hands-on and start frisking somebody only because they appear to be mentally ill," Flynn said during a news conference announcing the firing.

So the cop goes up, identifies the man as having mental issues, breaks department policy, gets in a fight, gets his baton stolen from him and shoots the guy 14 times. And he gets fired. How about some freaking charges? Luckily, it looks like that may be happening.

This next part left me a just a tad peeved.

Flynn said his decision was based on an internal affairs investigation. He sidestepped questions about whether Manney should face criminal charges. He said he found "errors of judgment, but no malice" in Manney's handling of the confrontation.

"There's got to be a way for us to hold ourselves accountable absent putting cops in jail for making mistakes," he said.

Holding yourself accountable IS putting cops in jail when they kill someone, regardless of malice. The cop knew better, did what he did and now a man is dead.

This is also a fun quote:

The Milwaukee Police Association released a statement Wednesday condemning the decision.

"The decision to terminate this officer is cowardice and certainly unfounded and unsupported by fact," the statement reads in part.

I get that the whole point is to protect their own, but I think part of that would be purging crappy officers from their ranks. It certainly doesn't seem like cowardice, and it certainly does seem supported by fact.

Conflict of interest? Oh just a little:

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is still trying to decide whether Christopher Manney will face criminal charges. A new state law requires officer-involved deaths be investigated by an outside agency. In this case, the state’s Department of Criminal Investigation handled the case — and as it turns out, some of the state investigators who worked the case used to work for the Milwaukee Police Department.

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Can we get some freaking body cams already?

I've stared at the bad end of a .45 because I had a steak knife while on a camping trip.
"Step away from the blade!"
Sometimes it seem like being a violent #tard is a prerequisite to getting a badge.

a reply to: skunkape23

One comment I saw said it looks like there were two mentally ill people involved in this incident.

a reply to: Domo1

Charges? Apparently being fired from being [mostly] above the law is punishment enough.

a reply to: Domo1

Until cops are held accountable for using their guns, they will continue to reach for their gun before thinking of the consequences. Right now cops feel the laws will protect them no matter what they do.

I've shared in the past, information on procedures and training of officers on how to deal with confronting someone with mental illness. Basically for many PDs, their training does not cover on how to deal with mentally ill people.

a reply to: dreamingawake

I agree that's an issue.

Flynn said that while Manney correctly identified Hamilton as someone who was emotionally disturbed, he ignored his training and police policy and treated him as a criminal.

Not sure if he was one of the following officers:

About 400 officers, or less than one-fourth of the department, have received the full, recommended 40 hours of Crisis Intervention Team training considered the model for dealing with people who are emotionally distressed. Flynn said that starting next year, all officers will receive at least 16 hours of training.

Where else can officer dip# make up for his small endowment by puffing his chest and hiding behind a badge ?

Well hello mr correctional officer dip#. I hope someone shanks him with a piece of glass and breaks it off.

.......damn, I got to lay off these energy drinks.

How do words like these:

"There's got to be a way for us to hold ourselves accountable absent putting cops in jail for making mistakes,"

come out of the mouth of a police chief and still have people in law enforcement fail to comprehend why civilians are turning on them. When your mistake costs someone their life, regardless of if you're law enforcement or not, you should be held criminally responsible. If cops wish to avoid jail I suggest they hold themselves to a higher standard of conduct.

a reply to: FraggleRock

Yeah that comment chapped my glorious ass quite a bit.

I think there are certainly circumstances where police make mistakes given the nature of the job and how fast things can happen that are tragic but understandable, but when you ignore department policy and common f-ing sense and wind up killing someone you should expect a little more than just losing your job.

I think it should be repeated that just because charges haven't been filed, that doesn't mean they won't be.

That cop is mentally ill.

What I never understand about these situations is how anyone can believe that cops should be held to different standard than the average citizen. If there was no malice, then how about an involuntary manslaughter charge, or something of that nature, where the intent was not initially to kill? Obviously they admitted that the way he handled the situation was incorrect, therefore I do not think the fact he is a cop should keep him from being prosecuted for murdering the victim. Had he handled the situation the way he was legally supposed to, the way he was trained, the guy would not have been killed. Therefore he was not acting like a cop, and should not have his actions protected. And any time a cop's actions are not justifiable, they should be held accountable for whatever they do, and should be charged like any ordinary citizen would be charged. Where are the overzealous prosecutors who lock up innocent people for decades or for life? The system is broken. The favoritism shown to police sickens me. Sure they have a high-stress job, and they are tasked with using deadly force when necessary, but that is precisely why they should be trained properly and always follow that training, and why they should be held to a higher standard.

Cops don't follow the laws they uphold. Even the little things like traffic laws. Hypocrites and the largest, most brutal gang America's ever seen.

At least he was fired and not allowed to keep "protecting the people".

originally posted by: dreamingawake
I've shared in the past, information on procedures and training of officers on how to deal with confronting someone with mental illness. Basically for many PDs, their training does not cover on how to deal with mentally ill people.

Although it hasn't been officially declared yet, cops are mentally ill as well and they're getting worse. If they removed the sociopaths and egotistical monsters from their ranks, cops wouldn't be the menace they are today. It's a psychological cancer that spreads across the whole police force.