Bradenton, Fla., police officer hailed for pistol whipping burglar rather than using deadly force

[True Dough]

The cop would have been justified in firing his weapon after the man lunged at him and allegedly tried to gouge his eyes but the officer chose to strike the suspect with it instead.

“I feel I would have been justified in shooting him, but deadly force is to be used as the last resort, and I had one other resort I could use and I used it,” Lt. William Weldon explained. ” If that resort didn’t work then there’s a chance I [would have] used lethal force.”

“Anytime that you can get into a fight like this and walk away, and you both walk away, its always a good day,” said Weldon.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3358643/florida-cop-under-attack-chooses-not-to-shoot-apprehends-suspect-with-pistol-whip/?utm_source=GlobalEdmonton&utm_medium=Facebook

[Stuart G]

1. Watch the video..42 seconds...The officer could have killed this guy, but didn't..

The video is clear, the bad guy came at the cop, and the did not shoot him

think about that..he could have fired, but didn't.....watch the video...

[Lee-Lee]

2. That happens I'm in law enforcement every day and it just never makes the news

When I was a deputy I had dozens of times where lethal force would have been a legal option where I chose not to go that route.

This is literally a daily event in most agencies of any size that officers face situations that could have risen to deadly force but were handled otherwise.

That people see this as unusual or rare shows how out of touch with the reality of daily law enforcement people are, thanks to the media always highlighting the rare exceptions that go wrong without the context of the 9999+ times it doesn't go wrong.

[Stuart G]

4. Thank You for your input...I am glad this story made the news..and

things went right and here is a video to show it.

[True Dough]

5. I think that is a valid statement

Our perception is skewed because what makes the news is incidents where excessive force is used. I'm glad there is a lot of publicity geared toward that issue, however, because it does occur too often, IMO. More has to be done to ensure improper police conduct is reduced and when it does occur it must be dealt with harshly. I'm not talking about occasions when a police officer's life is legitimately in jeopardy and he/she pulls the trigger, and then the general public scrutinizes whether a better alternative existed without feeling the heightened anxiety of the situation or having a mere second or two to make a critical decision.

I'm referring to police having suspects subdued but then continuing to pummel the individual in anger or retribution.

That said, it's still the minority of cases where such things take place. We can easily lose sight of that based on having the ugliest of cases reinforced once a day or so in the media.

[Lee-Lee]

7. The media definitely skews peoples perceptions, as do people who misrepresent police encounters.

Not much that can be done, however.

One of these headlines would make national news, one wouldn't.

"Sheriffs Deputy shoots mentally challenged teen in grandparents home after grandparents call for help" would be a headline everyone sees.

"Sheriffs Deputy attacked with knife by 18 year old in a psychotic episode after grandparents call and report "grandson acting wild and needs to be talked to" and don't tell dispatchers of his history of mental illness, violent history or that he has a knife. Manages to subdue attacker without killing him."


The latter is exactly how it went down when I got dispatched to a call for a "disruptive teenager" in the home. Those are typically BS calls where parents expect us to be the parents for them. But in this case it was grandparents who misrepresented the facts on the call because they didn't want a "big response". Turns out they were caregivers for the grandson who had several diagnosed mental illnesses and had badly managed his care. He had previously attacked both of them as well as made many threats, and had attacked other family members and they kept sweeping it under the rug because they didn't want him "in the system". That night before they called he had punched the grandfather hard enough to give him a concussion and was in the kitchen with a knife. But they didn't tell the dispatcher any of that, so they didn't send me with any backup and I had no clue what I was walking in to- I literally came in the door and had an 18 year old in a psychotic break who was 100 pounds heavier than me coming at me with a knife.

Deadly force would have been 100% legitimate in that case. Had any element of that gone down any different even slightly I may have used it. As it was I reacted and was able to get the knife away and get him subdued until backup came (8 minutes later) because luckily he had not slept in 2 days and was weak. A big part was luck on my part that I didn't end up stabbed, and luck that a table was there I was able to knock him over and get him off balance.

[True Dough]

8. It's fortunate it turned out the way it did

For you and for that young man.

Your suggested headlines could be altered. Even by using the necessary physical force to subdue your armed assailant, if captured on video by a bystander (had it occurred outside), it could get a lot of views and considerable criticism from some corners. especially if edited to remove the portion where you faced him brandishing a knife. Regardless of the anti-po po types and their complaints, there are obviously situations where force is necessary, like the one you found yourself in.

Mental illness -- and drunkenness and being strung out on drugs -- can lead to dangerous situations for emergency responders, for sure. We can all lament when a person under the influence of a mind-altering condition (particularly mental illness because, unlike booze and drugs, it isn't a choice) is "manhandled" by the authorities, but if we're fair about it, there is sometimes no choice.

Again, I draw the line at the point where, while you had that young man under control, you reflect on how he could have taken your life and deprived your wife/husband and kids (if any of those apply) of having you come home that night, or ever again, and so you haul off and give him a punch or two to the head.

Of course, there are also the Laquan McDonalds and Walter Scotts of the world who get shot by police officers while posing no imminent danger. Each case should be judged on its own merits.

Anyway, glad you survived the encounter and the young man did as well.

[Lee-Lee]

10. There are a lot of folks out there who will always alter headline or videos to make the cops look ba

The clearly wrong examples like you mention deserve all the attention and aggressive prosecution.

But far too often we see attempts to try and paint cases of the officers just doing their jobs as abuse or misconduct. Like all the times it was a 15 minute response but all that goes on social media is a 15 second clip that shows an action without context.

Quite often it's a lose/lose proposition that an officer finds themselves in where no matter what happens either they end up badly injured or dead or they take action that is justifiable but then find themselves totally destroyed in the media and the focus of great hatred because people lie about the incident or releas edited video or any combination of that and more.

You can look at what happened in Charlotte last year as a great example. Perfectly legitimate use of force against a person with a history of violent behavior with an illegally carried gun refusing to drop the gun or follow any commands.

Immediate reaction was attacks on the officers with all sorts of false narratives- he didn't have a gun, he's not a violent person, he was just sitting there reading a book all were proven false. But the attacks on the officers character and reputation and threats made to them and their families were real.

You are seeing reports now more and more of arrests being down in places like LA and Chicago despite crime going up. And a lot of that is blowback from the constant attacks on police just for doing their job. You can do your job to the best of your ability and get out there trying to do as much possible and get as many criminals off the street, or you can do the bare minimum required not to get fired and make sure all calls have at least two officers so you have a witness even if it means a delayed response. Well when you feel like your job is in danger at every single call because people will misrepresent what happens if things force you to make hard choices you are no longer eager to go on calls- limiting the number of calls you answer a shift and demanding two officer response on all calls means less risk.

In all those areas where officers are backing off enforcement because they feel that way it is just the community getting what they are asking for.

[EX500rider]

6. yeah I totally agree....I don't think people realize how many people are arrested..

...everyday. It's about a million people a month or around 30,000 a day.

[Takket]

3. pretty low bar we've set for ourselves

[snooper2]

9. I guess the cop should have just said, oh, sorry- You can go

Please don't slam the door as you leave, please don't break into stores or attack cops anymore mkay? Pretty Please