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Why Do Cops Who Shoot Unarmed People Get Their Guns Back? [2]
By Kevin Mathews [3]
This pattern is a serious miscarriage of justice. By refusing to hold police officers to a certain standard, it signals that cops can pretty easily get away with murder. With no reason to fear consequences, the police can continue to shoot at innocent or not-dangerous suspects without worrying about how it will affect their careers.
Here are five of the most high profile cases that have been cleared in the past year:
1. While on a manhunt for Christopher Dorner last year, LAPD mistook a vehicle carrying two older women delivering newspapers for that of their suspect. (For the record, the truck was a different make and color than the one for which they were searching.) Without even first identifying the car’s driver or passenger, eight police officers fired more than 100 bullets [4] into the car, seriously injuring senior citizen Emma Hernandez.
This shoot first/check later approach cost the LAPD $4.7 million in a settlement, but the officers involved have received a minimal slap on the wrist: “retraining” before being re-armed and put back on the beat.
2. After being involved in two questionable shootings in a matter of a few months, Chicago cop Gildardo Sierra was permitted to continue to patrol the streets. Not even half a year since the first shooting, Sierra fired 16 bullets [5] into an unarmed man.
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