This guy is as dumb as a hemlock stump...

[WheelWalker]

http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2010/05/police_witness_to_iphone_theft.html

WTF?

[katzenjammers]

1. It sure does seem that he is...but then if he had been a cop it would have gotten him a week

paid 'leave' while they 'investigate'.

[WheelWalker]

3. I think the conventional wisdom

among many in Portland is probably that Portland police wouldn't have been trying to "shoot out the tires." There have been allegations of acceleration to lethal force in inappropriate circumstances.

[katzenjammers]

8. I didn't mean to specify Portland, although you're surely right...I was a policeman

in a very different U.S. locale many moons ago and saw more than a few examples.
Not saying all cops are bad...but for sure they're not all good either.

[WheelWalker]

9. Law enforcement seems like it must be

a thankless job at times. Judgment calls one after another, on which might turn life or death. It also carries the baggage of authority and power. Not everyone who has the job will be suited for it. I imagine there's a tendency to sharpen the blurry grays of reality into starker blacks and whites to justify choices that beg clarity. Not the job for me. If I had to do it, I probably would disassociate pretty early on.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Apparently they didn't tell him in CCW class that petty theft is not grounds for

deadly force. What an idiot.

[WheelWalker]

4. I think some of the commentors are of the opinion

that the Portland Police Department has been setting a bad example in the inappropriate use of deadly force. I'm not personally following that issue, however, and have no opinion about that.

[crim son]

7. Unfortunately such examples today are hardly limited to the Portland PD

or any PD for that matter.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. They likely stole more than 750$ worth of iPhones, so Felony Theft in Oregon

Not Petty Theft.

Still, dumb to shoot at people committing a felony when no lives are in danger.

[Euromutt]

5. Well intentioned, but none too smart

The only justification for using lethal force is when you have a reasonable belief that an innocent may be permanently injured or killed if you don't intervene. No amount of iPhones is worth sending high-velocity lead into the environment, especially not when they're new and thus don't contain anyone's personal information yet.

[crim son]

6. Even I, a gun "hater", cannot make the claim that this is a likely consequence

of carrying a weapon; it's just unbelievable rash ignorance and stupidity.

[X_Digger]

10. What an idiot.

Throw the book at him.