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joegrundeman: Thanks for taking time to respond. Point to me where I said once that the man deserved to be shot. I never did. I said they would have been more then likely justified. No one deserves to die ultimately and I really wish that could be the fact, we would not to need be armed if that was the case, now wouldn't it.

Your argument about who pays my salary and therefore they have the right to criticize my actions. Lets break that down a bit more, shall we. By what you posit, that would make them by very definition, my boss. Then it follows logically that they can also tell me what to do. Think about that for a moment, I pull you over for reckless driving, and you remind me of the fact that you pay my salary, so I should not issue a citation. Utopia!

The point being the policeman had an objective, which was to talk the guy down. Then presumably he thought he could solve the problem with a taser, without actually thinking through the obvious consequences of his actions.

If you really read the article, why are you castigating the officer that used the taser? The officer was ordered to use the taser by his supervisor. Your outrage is directed at the wrong person. Don't you think that this will haunt him for the rest of his life? What the officer in charge of the scene was thinking, I'm not sure since I was not there.

HT: I wish I could shoot like that. The fact of the matter is there are many factors involved when a person gets involved in a situation where the reptile brain (the fight or flight instinct) takes over. Rapid breathing, rapid production of adrenaline, increase in heart rate, loss of fine motor skills and tunnel vision. Taking that all into account, that we're lucky enough to hit a target that realtively large only 3 out of 10 times, shows just how powerful these factors really are. Secondly, break glass and what do you have? An object just as dangerous as a straight razor.

Zachster:

So the officer was trapped. Could not retreat and thus it was warranted to kill? Tell me this Mr Public servant would you have pulled your sidearm and fired? If so please inform your department of your posts here because I think they need to know your mental state in my opinion.

Did you read the entire article? The man attempted to force himself into a 2nd floor occupied apartment. What happens if he makes entry and hurts the occupant? The folks would be screaming that the police did not do enough to prevent that from happening. And rightly so. I do not know what I would have done if I was there, since I was not there. What got my goat is, since no one had prefaced any of their critical statements with, "....I saw the whole thing happen, or I just happened to be there....." that they automatically become an expert in what the officers should have done. Funny thing is, I reread the article and not once did I see where the police tell him to get into a confrontation with his mother, took the man out of the apartment, strip him naked, put him on a fire escape, give him a flouresent glass tube, move his arms, attempt to push him through an apartment window and then instruct him to ignore them when they would use verbal commands. The officers did not discharge their duty weapons. They used a less than lethal force option, unfortunately to a tragic ending. And I never once brought up anyone's mental state on the board, so I'm not sure why you would take the time to question mine.

I could not stop laughing at your efforts to make the contents of tube lights look to be like some kind of super danger when in the case a broken bulb it is recommended to leave and move outside or well vented area. And simply sweep up the remains afterwords.

You do realize that the type of mercury used is released in vapor form. If there isn't any danger from inhaling mercury, why do they tell you to take those steps? Going another step, brake pads were made, back in the day, with asbestos. Asbestos is only dangerous when inhaled, so why did they ban it? You don't drive your vehicle inside? Asbestos brake pads were great for their longevity and performance, yet they were banned from use where their primary location and use was for outside?
Inhaling asbestos does not kill instantly but causes a deadly cancer with repeated exposure. Mercury causes damage to the central nervous system even in miniscule amounts , so if a substance does not cause immediate death, it's okay to be exposed to it?