Wednesday, July 16, 2014

"ACLU gets involved. Questions Racine DA Rich Chiapete’s dismissal of Racine Police Dept in fatal shooting of mentally ill man."

From Racine Community Media:

Image Credit: Racine Community Media



4 comments:

kkdither said...

I would not want to be a police officer. It is so easy to sit on the outside, looking in and questioning everything.

When you are the one who is responsible for a dangerous situation and the unknown potential actions of others, (especially those who have conditions which make them more excitable or are known to be violent or unpredictable) there comes a fine line where a volatile situation can go either way.

We complain about non-action of our legal system, and that it allows criminals the freedom to break the law. When we were children, we were taught that if you steal, you go to jail. If you run from the police, they can shoot you. More extreme than reality, but it gave you pause. Nowadays, it is the common thing to break the rules and get away with it. We've tied the hands of the police's authority.

I've witnessed both from police officers: far too much control, and sometimes too little self control in dealing with situations. It is a hard job.

I hope they do a thorough investigation and put this question to rest, one way or another for all involved.

OrbsCorbs said...

The mentally ill have roamed our streets since the Reagan era when he cut funding to many clinics that served the mentally ill. Untreated mental illness can cause confrontations with the police.

Our police are also expected to raise the children of the lower echelons of society.

kkdither said...

There was a recent program on television about just that, orbs. The warden at Cook County jail quoted statistics of repeat incarcerations directly related to mental illness. They also mentioned the Regan era release and then lack of necessary services available to the severely mentally challenged.

The chief guy said there are more people in jail who have no where else to be, than there are real (what society would call) criminals. It is a revolving door.

Toad said...

I personally wondered HOW this decision about being a justified shooting was made so quickly? This would have NEVER happened In the 70s, and before, when Racine had a REAL Police Department, with REAL trained officers. If anyone doesn't believe It, ask yourself HOW did Racine make It through the late 60s and early 70s without incidents like this? I know 2 Officers were killed In the line of duty during that time, but I only remember 1 shooting of a suspect, by an officer, and he didn't shoot to kill.