Crazy Guy with Knife

[clayton]

I dont know if you have this scenario where you live, but it happens about 4 times a year out here: crazy guy has knife--cops approach, demand crazy guy drop knife--crazy guy refuses, lunges at cops, cops shoot and kill him.  This happened in SF about an hour ago--again. Anybody think there should be some special approach law enforcement could take to avoid regularly shooting crazy guys with knives? And they said they "think" the guy had mental problems--no thinking about it--anybody who thinks a little knife is equal to a police revolver belongs in the funny farm--but maybe not in the morgue. This one lived. Any ideas?

[DJ]

Suicide by police?  That happens sometimes.

A better approach than a cop with a gun would be a cowboy with a lasso to stop the guy.  Yeehaa!

[ray38]

That happens here in Mobile every now and then but the police started using those "bean bag guns". The are like shotguns that fire beanbags. They are very affective and nonlethal.

[Phyllis]

The cops out here LOVE to use the taser guns. They have been known to use them on pregnant women too.

[clayton]

The chief concern of the cops in such matters is the safety of the cops. I think this particular guy was just really mad and his anger destroyed his good sense and he really thought he could take out a couple of cops with his little knife--he thought wrong. Tazers are unreliable and the cops wouldnt use them when faced with a "deadly weapon", even if its just a paring knife.  Certainly, if he lives, this guy is facing a bunch of charges, so he'd better enjoy the care he is getting in the ICU!   

[donna14]

Police in most departments adhere to the 21 foot rule.  Basically you never allow anyone with a sharp object within 21 feet of you because a person can traverse 21 feet and stab you before you can draw, and fire.  We actually had a police officer killed very close to where I live because they allowed the guy to get to close and kept trying to get him to put the knife down.
Honestly it is to protect the officers.  Unfortunately there will always be people who are willing to or so sick that they push the police and most unfortunately some of them will be hurt or killed.  I do have to admit I have personally known some very Taser-happy cops that could probably use a good Tasing themselves to remind them how bad it is.
I wish I had a good answer...

Donna

[clayton]

This is an update--a local talk show host choose this topic and many people called in, among which was a former police trainer who said you could take the knife away from the guy, and a current cop who said you can't, roo dangerous.  I suspect that some guys are just too wild tp worry about--that's my conclusion.

[jtokc]

Jist think--would you be willing to take a knife away from some guy who is waving it around? Is it worth it to you  to get stabbed? One of the major goals of a cop everyday is to go home safe. Some cops are better than others at talking people down--and some people are better at being talked down. This is one subject that people have been trying to solve all my life.

Jane