Police Takedown Done Properly

I just happened to come across this video of an effective police arrest.



I hope this is the right forum, as it does offer an enlightening contrast to some other situations we have seen.

The suspect, possibly holding something that could be construed as a weapon makes several loops in a public area. At some points he gets close to officers and other civilians, yet the responding officers, in my opinion anyway, do a great job of bring the situation to a safe conclusion without the need to kill anyone.

We have seen similar, if not more benign situations where individuals have been dealt with using excessive force.

Grant it, the guy did get a stomach full of what appears to be a bean bag shot, but based on the information presented in the video, I feel that the officers gave him ample opportunity to surrender or deescalate the situation before taking "non-lethal" action to end the situation.




Thoughts?

ETA: Some of the observers comments I find a bit shocking. Are their thoughts testament to the current climate and perception of law enforcement interactions?

reply to post by MDDoxs


I have found a news report to accompany the video, in case anyone is interested:

SOURCE

A video has surfaced of Vancouver police taking down a syringe-wielding man with a bean bag shotgun outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The incident occurred Aug. 12, and the video was posted just over a week later.

The man was running around in traffic on Georgia Street in a distraught state, and confronted a number of people in the area, VPD spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham said in a press conference Thursday.

The article makes mention that the individual was in some kind of drug-induced psychosis. I think the officers recognized this and took specific actions in dealing with this.

“This was not an emotionally-disturbed person. It wasn’t a mental illess; it was a drug-induced psychosis that caused the person’s behaviour,” Fincham said.

Situational awareness is important in any potentially violent scenario.

No one has an opinion on this?

Has the positive perspective scared away most people?

The guy is unarmed, half naked and saying "Come at me, bro'!" and the cop fires a bean bag at him from about 20ft away, despite having back up right on hand if the threat suddenly got too close for comfort. I'll give them a 6 out of 10..

reply to post by IvanAstikov


So you feel the response was only 60% appropriate based on the fact he was half naked and alone?

He did have a syringe in hand. Grant it, not the most threatening weapon, but who knows if he has aids or attempts to attack them with it.

I certainly would not try to try and wrestle someone in the midst of a drug induced psychosis with a presumable filthy needle in hand. But, that is just me.

Thank you for the reply

reply to post by MDDoxs


Give me a job as a policeman, give me a baton, put me up against anyone threatening me with a syringe, and they'll be going away in cuffs with very sore knuckles at the minimum. I wouldn't just grab the old bean bag shotgun because I'd not had a chance yet to test it out on the streets.

reply to post by IvanAstikov


I do not not doubt you could. Though I think this all falls back onto procedure. Which tends to be used as an excuse a lot for cases of "excessive-force". But, as per my OP, I feel the procedure followed to be appropriate.

To be honest, I am unsure of the lethality of supposed "non-lethal" or "less-lethal" equipment like the bean bag shotgun. As i seem to recall the potential for death to occur as a result is still present. Now, whether or not the bean bag shotgun is better then using a tazer, I cannot say for certain.

How do you feel about the "takedown" below, where an unarmed man moving AWAY from an officer is tasered in the back, causing him to fall face down without the ability to put his hands down to lessen the impact? This action was as dangerous as giving a sucker punch to an arguing suspect. They only get a 2 out of 10 for this one.

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by IvanAstikov


Excessive. If i had to apply to a scale I would say 2 or 3 out of 10 based on the context. Again, I am not entirely sure what this individual did, but it must have been serious to warrant that, well one would hope it was serious.

7/10 for video title

The old fashioned Bolas would be nice, it has a habit of making people fall over, and on grass a cinch.

Perfect 10 out of 10.

They stayed out of range of the syringe.

I'll add that these weren't US cops.....who are equally capable of using force judiciously.