Deputies shot 22 in vehicles since '99

[JayS]

June 6, 2004, 1:27AM
Deputies shot 22 in vehicles since '99
Incidents violate training; sheriff issues new rules
By LISE OLSEN and ROMA KHANNA
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2612171



Harris County sheriff's deputies have shot 22 shoplifters, speeders, innocent people and others since 1999 by firing on vehicles in violation of the deputies' own training, a Houston Chronicle investigation has found.

Deputies killed six and wounded 16 others. Two were fleeing from a violent crime. Six were teenagers. Nineteen were unarmed.

In at least seven cases, the deputies deliberately placed themselves in danger by stepping in front of a suspect's car or truck and then firing in self-defense -- a tactic considered foolish and dangerous by police agencies nationwide. In seven more cases, officers approached a vehicle on foot, but it is unclear whether they intentionally put themselves in the drivers' paths.

*SNIP*

As of Friday, none of the deputies involved in shootings had responded to requests for interviews with the Chronicle. But Burt Springer, the attorney for the Harris County Deputies' Organization, had little sympathy for Cisneros or others riding with lawbreakers.

"If you lay down with dogs you get fleas," he said.

*SNIP*

It's a common question at such scenes in Harris County, he said. Many citizens who survive the encounters, Springer explained, don't understand why an officer felt threatened enough to shoot.

[Pert_UK]

1. "If you lay down with dogs you get fleas".....or more precisely

"If you happen to be in a shoplifter's car, we may shoot you in violation of our own rules and training."

Brilliant. Chalk one more up to the good guys.

I've got an idea - how about we disarm these cops until they prove that they'll only use their weapons responsibly? I reckon they'd up their game pretty fast....

P.

[Randall]

2. No sympathy

I don't have sympathy for criminals. I also don't have sympathy for people that drive at cops. I am friends with several cops and they have to deal with meth heads on a daily basis.

I'd want to see every police report before I believe that cops are just randomly blowing away innocent people. Shooting 22 people in 5 years doesn't seem like that many. How many people were armed, or said they were armed?