Times are tough for police officers around the United States. With the Ferguson shooting, and many others, officers are getting labeled killers. Officer involved shootings have happened for century's, they don't take an oath to want to kill people, but they do say they will protect the surrounding community at all costs..even with their lives. That being said, police officers deal with the scum of society that no one wants to deal with on a daily basis. Video cameras and cell phones have made police officers more effective but at the same time it has led to the down fall of a select few. Everyone wants to see the "video" now days of 'what exactly happened'. Not all videos will give you a clear picture of what happens off screen and sometimes gives the ability to be filled in by other peoples ideas. There are bad cops, good cops, and wanna be cops that just wear the badge. Unfortunately, social media thrives on negative exposure. For example when a police officer does something unethical like shoot a teen sixteen times when he had backup and was not in any immediate danger, "cop hate" spreads through communities. There are bad cops but not all cops are bad. It's that 5% of cops that make it difficult for society to think other wise. Its a new era with technology and cameras on every corner, which will make cops be more accountable. One thing that DOES need to be changed is releasing the footage right away, like they did in Ferguson. Doing so will give proper officials time to review the footage and see if the officer was in the right or in the wrong. It will stop unnecessary riots and will calm peoples nerves. Bassfishing123
I would have to agree with you my friend. People are thinking cops are bad because the news is portraying them as bad people. Which is not fair to the community that knows the real cops from the bad ones. I just wish we could all banned together and fight this war that we are going threw. Bodybuilder456.
I agree with you that only a slim few cops are bad cops but they make people form bad opinions on all cops. People need to get the whole story before they form an opinion on cops. I also agree with you on video being both good and bad for cops. People need to see the whole video of a situation and not just parts of it before they start labeling cops. dragons456
I agree with you in a few corrupt police are making all cops look bad. It's not true, people get so angry and they feel the need to take the hate out on the nearest police officer. I'm glad this man is getting put behind bars though. Maybe it will show the country that we are getting better at this and not letting men get out of trouble just because they are cops.
I agree with this. The media likes to see the bad. So, all they see is the wrong things officers do instead of the right. Those select few officers that are actually good get a bad name. Not all officers are bad. However there are some that put on the uniform, but don't act like real officers. Those are the ones that gives all officers bad names. dance456
You're right. Not all police officers are corrupt and horrible people. Yes, there are a few. But there are corrupt people in every career. The police that make it to the media give police a bad name. But the media loves it and just makes it worse than what it really is. They make it seem like all police officers are bad, when they are not. FBI123
I couldn't agree with you any more, I try to stress this to everyone that I talk to about the topic. Not all cops are bad, not even a lot of cops are bad the media only shows the negative and puts a false image in the publics mind. lilap123
The feeling is mutual. I have told people that I want to be a cop because I like it and its in my family history all the way back into the mid 1800's. What is their normal response, "why would you want to do that and deal with everything that is going on"? I just simply tell them, "because its what I want to do, its in my blood and its my passion". Ludwig123
Videos like this are the reason I want to be in the Criminal Justice field. I think the expression "Don't bring a knife to a gun fight." could have been reversed in this case. Although the suspect Laquan McDonald was supposedly armed with a knife I believe the proper precautions should have been to disarm the teen before drawing his weapon. This young man was only 17 which in Illinois is considered a minor, so the officer should've taken more of a rehabilitative approach when addressing this young man. The sheer amount of officers sent to the scene was more than needed for a simple car burglaries. Also with the fact that the McDonald was armed with a knife the officer was at a safe enough distance to not have to fire his gun. The proof of the negligence of the Van Dyke is shown in his other officers. Of 6 officers Van Dyke was the only to fire his weapon, and apparently thought 16 bullets was necessary to take down a teenager. This was not just another life, but the life of a child and Van Dyke should pay his debt to society for the rest of his natural life. I can't say whether or not this incident was based on race, but I do think that officers should have to take sensitivity training especially when dealing with Juvenile delinquents. What is even more unbelievable about this case is that it took the state's attorney over a year to even charge Van Dyke, the cause of many protests in Chicago. The title of this officer's profession is NOT a license to kill at his own discretion. Although not typically taught in the police academy Officer Van Dyke could have taken a non-fatal shot in the exception that the he was so young and not heavily armed. Scooby123
I totally agree with what you have to say here. I think he should have used a taser gun instead of killing this poor boy. Officers need to realize that their actions can have a huge effect on someone's life, and it meant the end of such a young life for this poor 17 year old boy. Our police force should be trained extensively for situations like these, and this is where we are failing in the academy. BenRoethlisberger123
This absolute makes me sick to the core. How could a police officer that is supposed to serve and protect his community kill a man in this way. It just makes me sad. All these police officers are worrying about if their doing a good job or not but when really they should be worrying about if there killing these people in cold blood or are they protecting and serving like they should be. Answer me that. Let me tell you about this one story that my girlfriends step cousin told me. I’m a little bit easy on this guy about shooting the guy multiple times with his gun that he even reloaded on him. When someone shoots somebody for the first time, there is a possibility that they will not stop shooting until they have ran out of bullets. In this case that would have solved and would have been in his favor when this guy did the shooting. He could have told the judge that is was not in his behavior to do so but that he had a mental breakdown and could not and would not stop shooting his gun at the unarmed suspect. I just wish cops would be more careful in their killing rampages that they seem to like going on. In my conclusion. We need to find a way to stop all of these violent acts of disturbers to the community right now and take stand. bodybuilder456
As we have learned in class, many policemen today are corrupt. This officer acted extremely harsh to a "harmless" situation. Why did he have to take out his gun and kill the poor 17 year old boy? He should have taken out his taser instead of pulling out his real gun! It was not right that the boy was breaking into cars, but it was even more of an injustice to kill the poor boy. The get tough on crime model is NOT working, we need to re-asses our methods, and change them for the good of society. Even though this young man may have been brandishing a knife, he still was walking away form police. You don't shoot someone who is retreating! We need more police officers who understand the world, and not officers like the ones we read about in bad news articles. This may be only a small part of the population of officers, but it gives the whole police community an awful name. This is the reason why people hate police now, because they think all cops are like this. We need to find a way to weed out the "officers" who have no grace and mercy in situations like these. Juveniles act out this way because of how they we brought up, and policemen need to keep this in mind. They need to really put themselves in the child's shoes before making any rash decisions like this. A lot of the people that get arrested come from poor backgrounds. We have learned in class that poverty DOES NOT cause crime, but it is one factor of many that feed into crime. Instead of this punitive justice, we need to start feeding our police force with restorative justice. If this officer had taken a step back and analyzed his choices, he would not have ended a young man's life. This injustice is rampant throughout our police force today, and we need to take a different approach in order to stop this chaos. We need more headlines that read, "Officer shows patience with juvenile",instead of "innocent juvenile slain." If we can do this, then our community would show more respect to our police force today. BenRoethlisberger123
I agree with you. Laquan McDonald breaking into cars was not right. But taking his life was not either. Sometimes officers need to sit back in think about what they do. He was only 17 years old still a teen growing up still need to know more about life. Hearing about this case makes me sad because he was just a juvenile, now like he was 20 years old in really got his head on right. Wrong is wrong I don't care what no one say, he didn't deserve to be gone. Every teen make bad decisions. The officer could of took care of the situation better then he did. Communtiy policing need to get better, they are here to serve and protect not harm people for nothing. It's was a better way to teach him that lesson then hurting his family and friends. Keya123
I agree I think that Officer Jason vandyke could have pulled his taser and the 17 year old would have dropped like a rock and would not have killed him in the process. I also agree that officers should think about how they were raised but when your in a situation like that you don't think of how they were raised. The only thing the officer should have been thinking about was how do I handle this situation safely to protect myself and the community around me. savage456
I agree with you, I believe that there are mutilple ways this situation could have been dealt with. There are so many different approaches that the officer could have taken in dealing with a situation that would have resulted in a less tragic and fatal outcome. The officer could have simply used his taser or even simply tried to reason with the suspect before resorting to his firearm. Now granted this was a very tragic situation and there are always two sides to a story as well. Some times you have to ask your self "what would you have done in this situation?" Sparks456
To clarify, I need to say we haven't learned about police being corrupt in class. We have only conversed about a few situations where police officers have acted irresponsibly. Sorry for the confusion. We have many great officers of the law who deserve respect and honor, and who do an amazing job in the police force. My comment was only aimed at the very few officers who abuse their power, and acted in ways they should not. Once again, sorry for the false accusations. BenRoethlisberger123
The shooting that happened in Chicago IL. A year ago was very unnecessary. Some officers just think they can shoot who ever they want, just because they have a badge or if they don't like the way a person move. What Jason van dyke did to Laquan McDonald was wrong, he did not deserve sixteen shots. If he got killed over his color, why do color even matter? Laquan McDonald got killed like he was a nobody. I just don't know why they are trying to cover up what he done to that teenager. The communtiy policing in Chicago is very bad because they always worry about the wrong things then things that matter. Jason van dyke need to be in jail with no bond. I don't care what color you are we all should get treated with respect. Protesting for Laquan McDonald was a waste because his killer is out of jail now. Laquan McDonald need justices, because Jason van dyke was not a nice person that man had a lot of complaints about how rude he is. The courts like him just get away that is not right. Life not always fair, but he need his justices. Keya123
I agree that Officer Van Dyke's action were unjust and very brutal, however he did not just get away with it. He is out on bail but still has to return to court to receive a sentencing. With this video out now, I cannot see him getting away with it that easily. Hopefully, he does pay for his crimes, or I fear this will only split the people and the police force so much more.
I agree with you, Officer Van Dyke's actions were very wrong and he could've have done so many other things than shoot Laquan, it was total overkill. I don't believe they are just going to give office van dyke a slap on the wrist there is too much evidence there to show what he did was wrong. -dicaprio456
You have some great points. What officer Van Dyke did was morally wrong, there were a lot of things he could have used rather than a lethal weapon. If it was to defend himself, I'm sure one or two shots would have been enough, but that isn't the case here. It was clear that McDonald was not deserving of the shots that were fired that day. KayaJ456
I believe that Officer Jason Vandyke could have prevented shooting Laquan McDonald. If I were to have to step in Officer Jason Vandyke's shoes I would have pulled my taser before my fire arm. I am in a Police Explorer Program and they teach us how far away someone with a knife can be before you can pull your firearm out. It only takes a person with a knife a split second to get to you running and in that split second that officer has to make a call or he is dead. My advisors for the Police Explorer Program said that 6 feet away or more is the safest distance to be when someone is armed with a knife. That 6 feet away allows any officer the time they need to arm themselves or back up and get away to a safe distance. I believe that this is what Officer Jason Vandyke’s split second decision was when he fired his weapon. Granted after looking at the footage frame by frame I saw he never lunged towards Officer Jason Vandyke. In that intense moment Officer Jason Vandyke was pumped up with adrenaline that was the only option he saw was to shoot him. I don't believe he should have shot Laquan McDonald 13 times. I hate how the media labels police officers as killers and cold blooded murderers. The greater majority of police officers are the good guys but every now and again you get the dirty bad cops. The media is the greatest enemy to the police force all the media does is report the shootings and violent crimes. I think that if the media reported police officers doing simple acts of kindness. For example I have seen videos of police officers buy shoes for a homeless man and buy Christmas presents for people who can't afford them with their own money. Not all police officers are bad like the media portrays them them to be.
I do agree that the media has a very bad reputation for blowing things out of proportion especially when it comes to crimes such as this one, but I don't believe that the media the greatest enemy to the Criminal Justice System. I think that the police are giving themselves a bad name. Not only with the fact that some police are wrongfully killing the community they are suppose to protect and serve, but that they are literally getting away with murder! This is setting a horrible example for any aspiring officers, proving that their badge makes them above the law and thus immune to the consequences of their actions. Scooby123
These are difficult times to be a cop in the United States. With the police shootings some of the public and media is trying to label all cops as killer when the majority of cops aren't. People should walk in cops shoes for a day and see what they have to experience daily and they would change their mind on thinking cops are killing people for no reason. Their are some cops they use deadly force when it is unnecessary. For example, Officer Van Dyke could of handled the situation without the use of deadly force. The subject may of had a knife but he didn't charge the officers, he was walking away when Van Dyke shot him 13 times which was way too many times. Their are two types of cops, the actual cops and then the ones who just wear the uniform. The actual cops have a passion for their job and try to make a difference in people lives. The cops who just wear the uniform are the ones who do it just so they can have power and authority and they usually take advantage of it and are also usually the ones you hear about in the news for getting in trouble. Those few officer who get in trouble gives cops a bad name and makes people think that all cops are bad cops when only a slim few are bad cops. Another thing that can both be a good thing or bad thing is cops is recording with dash cams or a citizen recording on their cell phone. The video can show what really happened but if someone on their cell phone only catches a certain part of the altercation it could change the story. For example, if they only catch the part where the officer get physical with a subject or has to use his gun it will make everyone think the cops used that force when he didn't need to. But if they saw the whole video they could see the whole situation and understand why the cop used that force and not form a bad opinion on cops. dragons456
I agree with you. Nowadays these are very difficult times in being and becoming a police officer. In the news all the public hears is what bad a cop did. Never do they display on NBC, CNN, or Fox what good a police officer did that day. We should not let one terrible incident affect people’s views on the men and women serving in the force. Taggswag456
When watching this video along with a few others that I had watched with a little more length to them than the ones the media decided to show to the public and to society, there is a lot a person can pick up from watching them. However, the videos can be very deceiving. If you begin to look at the video and watch the correspondence between the victim/suspect along with the lines on the road as well as the two officers it looks as if though he was walking parallel towards the officers and not exactly "away" from them. He was also waving the knife in his right hand towards the police officers in a provocative manor. I would have to agree that the shooting was a very tragic incident as well as one that used unlawful and excessive force. There is something you have to take into consideration and that is if the officer "feared for his life" or felt "threatened". Granted, the officer could have felt that way but there was not even the slightest bit of communication between Vandyke and the individual. Within 30 seconds of the officer being out of the car he began to open fire on the suspect. The suspect was also on a very potent drug (PCP) which can cause a lot of confusion, hallucinations, numbness of your extremities, can be accompanied by a sense of strength, and so on. This can turn someone into a very dangerous individual. Although this individual was on this drug and it may not have been obvious at the time, Vandyke should have used more efficient and less dangerous tactics when dealing with a situation like this. It can also make a lot of people begin to think that this was intentional. Considering that Vandyke has had at least 17 reported complaints about his such as using unlawful force, misuse of his firearm and even some racial complaints. This can also begin to raise a lot of questions as to why Mr. Vandyke was still even on the police force or had not been pulled aside to be "retrained" or even fired. There are a lot of corrupt cops out there these days that let their discretion get to their heads and think that they can just do whatever they want. There are also a lot of cops that aren't exactly cops, they just wear the uniform. Sparks~456
Police Officers in the United States of America are here to protect and serve the public. However, no matter one goes in our great country there will always be the single person who just shouldn’t be in that certain career. This can go anywhere from a not so likeable eighth grade English teacher to the guy helping you find your paint at Lowes. In every profession across the country people are doing jobs they shouldn’t be in. “Officer” Jason Van Dyke just so happen to be one of those people. During the video Jason Van Dyke got out of his car and walked up to Laquan McDonald. What looked like they exchanged words then Jason shot McDonald over and over again. Even after Laquan was on the ground the officer continued to unload his magazine on the seventeen year old black male. Following the tragedy Van Dyke’s lawyer stated that he was “feared for his.” I am no crime scene investigator but to me he did not at all look feared for his life. Jason did not approach with caution and shot at Laquan McDonald who only had a three inch blade with him. The suspect wasn’t armed with any firearms and was smaller than the officer. However, Laquan is no the suspect, he is the victim and Jason Van Dyke is the suspect. Quite a role reversal. This is not a Cook County Police Department mistake. How would they know that fifteen years ago they hired a man who had all the qualifications but necessary didn’t really “fit” for the job? For the thousands of good police officers there are in the United States there is always going to be a couple of not so worthy ones. This heartbreaking incident should not let the public think wicked on police officers across the country. Taggswag456
The shooting of Laquan McDonald by Officer Jason Van Dyke is tragic even that should have been addressed much earlier. The fact that this took a year to even be brought to trial might be the worst thing about it. Van Dyke killing young Laquan can be summed up with an overzelous cop who did not think about his actions before hand or simply did not care. But the fact the it took so long for this to be brought to trial shows how deep this really goes. The police and apparently only the police were aware this video existed. They made a conscious decision to not release this video before, which terrifies me. If we have police forces that are actively holding evidence to protect their officers, who knows what else is out there. Police officers are in no way above the law. They should be held to even higher standards than the average citizen. When an officer puts on his uniform he is making a conscious decision to show that he represents the government and that his will fall according to what they government deems appropriate. If shooting a man armed only with a three inch knife sixteen times is considered appropriate, I do not want to be a police officer anymore. His actions however were not appropriate and he is now seeing charges for them. A police officers one and only job is to protect the citizens of the United States. Sometimes, unfortunately, this requires having to shoot or injure people that are a threat to the common citizen. Use of a firearm should always be a last case scenario action. I wish that Officer Van Dyke could have looked to the other side of his belt and grabbed his taser instead. This entire situation could have been avoided if he had. He could have stopped the man without brutally murdering him and without having to be labeled as a killer.
As I watch this video it really saddens me I cannot believe we have people like Van Dyke out here on the streets. Police officers are here to protect and serve the community not shoot innocent people. Yes i know Laquan had a small 3 inch knife on him but you did not once him see approach or attack the officers. Laquan was also on PCP which is a mind altering drug that causes hallucinations. There are many other ways Officer Van Dyke could've handled this situation,especially when Laquan was on drugs. The officer had no reason to proceed and shoot Laquan after he was on the ground, total overkill. I also do not find it right that they didn't show the dash cam video to the judge, if it happen to be the other way around where the officer happen to be the one shot, you know they would've presented that no questions asked. We live in such a violent America, what happened to the land of the free? When did all this violence and hate become the focus of our America. We need to stop and think about who we are giving these badges to, about who is really protecting us. Not all cops are bad cops, there are cops out there who believe in the badge and live to protect and serve our communities. I believe this is just another case of a cop on a power trip, Officer Van Dyke was in the wrong in this situation. The sad thing is, so many shootings have happened over the last few years, its going to be very hard for people to trust police officers. We are on a very long and hard journey but i believe we can live in peace again. -dicaprio456
I agree with your statement the 16 times McDonald was shot is complete overkill. I really would like to know how that happened. Police Officers are taught to shoot twice and then reassess the situation. After Van Dyke shot him the first few times McDonald is laying on the ground no longer a threat, weather he was a threat to begin with is debatable. Unfortunatly as Americans we fight fire with fire or in this case violence with violence. Its getting out of control. Someone needs to bring in the water and stop this violence. Craig456
This video shows first degree murder. Straight forward. Officer Van Dyke was in no harm of being hurt. Most of the time I will take the side of the law. But not in this case. After reading the article a few things jumped out at me. That fact that the reports said that McDonald lunged at Officer Van Dyke. I watched the video multiple times and I see nothing of the sort. McDonald is walking away from Van Dyke when he is shot. I would also like to point out that I saw many pictures of McDonald in what looks like graduation robes showing him as a student. Well at the time of the shooting McDonald did have PCP in his system. What PCP does is basically separate you from your conscious body and brain. It is a very real possibility that McDonald had no idea what he was doing. However he did ingest the drug so I'm not excusing that fact. What I'm trying to say is there is two sides to every story. Neither party was one hundred percent in the clear. McDonald was on drugs and was brandishing a long knife. While Van Dyke was in no foreseeable harm. It is hard to say what you would do in that situation as the officer with your adrenaline going and your gun drawn. Until you are put in that situation. I will say from what I saw in the video it looked like right before McDonald was shot he turned his feet towards Officer Van Dyke. But just from looking at the video Officer Van Dyke was definitely in the wrong. When you put on that uniform and swear in as a police officer it is your duty to protect your community. If you feel like the best way to do that is to shoot a kid high on PCP then this is not the job for you. I do believe Officer Van Dyke is just an example of a bad apple. But what we need to do as Americans is not let that one bad apple spoil the batch. Craig456
I like how you brought up the fact that Van Dyke was in no harms way. The 17 year old boy was a fair distance away from Van Dyke. Even though he was in possession of a three inch blade, the boy was far enough away and not even facing the officer, Van Dyke was not in danger. There were also multiple officers on the scene, so he really had nothing to fear. I mean, what is a 17 year old boy compared to a 37 year old fully equipped police officer with backup?? -Eclipse456
I agree with most of what you said, but i don't think that this was first degree murder. I don't think officer van dyke woke up that morning or was planing for weeks to kill this person. I do believe however that he deserves to be punished for what he did and the police department trying to cover it up made it even worse.
I am actually glad to hear that Van Dyke is being forced to take responsibility for his obviously wrong actions. Normally, we would view a situation where the cop is not guilty and had a reason for his wrongdoings. In this case, there is absolutely no reason as to why Van Dyke should have fired his weapon. Van dyke claims we was in fear for his life at the moment of the shooting? Self defense is protecting yourself or others when a threat is presented, as soon as the threat is gone, there should be no more action taken. Yes, there was a threat, but do you really believe Van Dyke should have been that scared? The 17 yea old, Laquan was a fair distance away from Van Dyke and there were multiple officers on the scene. Laqaun was in possession of a three inch blade, but he was not in reach of Van Dyke. Using common sense in this situation would have saved everyone a bunch of time and trouble. The media needs to stop making the situation worse and provide the true details of the situation. The medias main focus is getting top views and making their ratings increase, in order to do this, they focus on negative world events The media puts a ton of emphasis on the 1/1000 bad cops that are in society today. When people see this type of nonsense on television, it makes them think that is what the entire world is like. If we could just get away from the way we present our media, then things would be just fine. -Eclipse456
I agree that this man should be facing the full punishment for what he did. Not only to the teen but to that whole community as a whole. He has started riots and all sorts of protests for his humiliating mistake. I think this might show the world that cops are not invincible and hopefully since he being sent to prison people wont riot for too long. KLICK456
I agree as well, Van Dyke should be held responsible for the death of McDonald. His act poorly demonstrated not just the department but also the community he was "protecting." Tension is already high with police and will continue to rise till something worse spawns out of this. The media is doing more harm than they are doing good by getting involved and covering these kinds of stories. The idea of a general shift in ideology and understanding what purpose the news serves is a good idea. Showing what are we really being spoon fed. My friend has international news channels at his home and from what I have seen there is an abundance of knowledge one can take away from than our one sided poorly written stories..
I am also glad he is facing punishment. I also agree with your statement about the media. I think the media is trying to brainwash us and get us all edgy. In a way the conservative and liberal media kinda make you side with one or the other. That is the problem with the nation. We are all willing to argue rather than work together. Cowboy123
With law enforcement today you have to really use your head. This officer was just wearing a costume that day. He was not out there to help people or save them from tragic situations. When trying to think about what was going through this cops mind before he opened fire on the teen 16 times is impossible. There were no signs of the teen being violent and he did not have a firearm. This could have easily been avoided if the police force kept better track on who they are hiring. This officer was obviously not mentally stable enough to be carrying a gun, also looking at his previous history for being a sketchy police officer is a sign that he should have been fired a long time ago. This is also a sign that there isn't any community policing being practice in that area. If the cop would have been better at his job he would have known the kid or maybe just knew he wasn't violent and known that he wasn't going to harm anyone. Now on the other side you don't know what was running through this officers head and we don't know how many times this officer has dealt with this kid and thought he was going to open fire on him and his fellow officers. KLICK456
You bring up some good points and I like the used the sentence about the cop wearing a costume that day. Referring to the Van Dyke as an officer that is not mentally stable. The best part was when you spoke about the lack of community policing in the area. Which I agree with and think most people who also. Jfl123
I have to admit I read the line about Van Dyke wearing a costume and I laughed even though it is true. I also like how you pointed out how we don’t know the thoughts in the mind of the officer at the time. Why did he shoot the child 16 times? Was it race? Did he just fit into the group of bad cops? Community policing is also an important role in this field and if it is very miniscule or nonexistent that can affect the outcome of the situation. CSI 123
People who make the news such as in this case Laquan McDonald, who was fatally shot by Jason Van Dyke are not in the right mind mentally. Mental illness has been stressed day in and out, but does McDonald deserve to get shot for this? Going off the title, “Bad Apple Cops” are too quick to shoot. Our buckets have been tainted and after the dash-cam video surfaced, we always see what could have and should have been done to prevent this situation from going down the way it did. Overall, cops aren’t all trigger happy like the stigma the populace may believe, not everyone in uniform is really a “cop” that has sworn to truly protect and serve. With that in mind, police officers are equipped for all kinds of scenarios. Just looking at a police officers service belt, you can see a lethal firearm and a variety of non lethal such as a tazer, pepper spray, and a baton. Judging by the situation of life and death the lethal must be drawn, but where is the “threat” from McDonalds non-visible lunge on the officers? Judging by the video, it appears that there was not any time for assessing the situation, nor was there really any noticeable verbal cues. From what I have observed, Van Dyke opened his door, and then began to fire upon McDonald in a barrage of bullets. If you watch the video closely, you can see smoke coming from his body. Police work is a double edge sword, people either respect you and appreciate you or they don’t and want you dead. Judging by the video, McDonald did have a weapon, BUT there were plenty of officers to back up Van Dyke. Van Dyke failed to handle the situation with his verbal skills which resulted in him murdering the 17 year old child. McDonald was under the drug PCP, which is a halleucijan. (A link will be provided at the bottom of this post for the effects and more facts and information on the drug.) Going back to the idea of a certain level of risk, but that doesn’t mean to shoot anything that moves due to being in fear of your life. Fear, doesn’t mean you are going to die. No action was taken to talk to the boy. Essentially the police pulled up, Van Dyke took it upon himself to unload his gun into McDonald, then lied in regard to McDonald lunging at the officers. Overall, this event and many other events involving high profile cases like Ferguson only make this profession harder when people see this. None of your local police officers would agree with Van Dyke’s decision to take the minor's life. I believe what Van Dyke’s ruling is what he deserves.
~ “Police officers take risks and suffer inconveniences to protect the lives, defend civil liberties, secure the safety of fellow citizens, and they endure such risks and tolerate such inconveniences on behalf of strangers. Consequently, police work is one of the more noble and selfless occupations in society. Making a difference in the quality of life is an opportunity that policing provides, and few other professions can offer.” International Association of Chiefs of Police
Palmdaddy456
Link to PCP: http://www.drugs.com/illicit/pcp.html
Clearly Van Dyke is a criminal. Police are held to a higher standard because they are there to protect and serve. It should be less common to see this stuff then it really is. We have been hearing a lot of stories about cops shooting innocent people. Was this race related? Maybe it was. With that being said, I personally try not to look into that stuff. Though every cold blooded murder case is wrong. I don't like to sit there and get worked up about every time someone is to do something so harsh. I know there are plenty of police officers that would say this is completely wrong. I think the next generation of police officers will be less likely to make the same mistakes. Van Dyke needs to know that just because someone is on a unpredictable drug does not give the right to shoot them. He should also suffer the consequences as a criminal and get no special treatment. I don't think it is necessarily fair that a delinquent african american represents his whole race in some peoples eyes. I also don't think it is fair that a dirty cop could represent all police in someones eyes. Each group has there bad people. Yet, each group also has many great people. It is time that we let the civilians be civilians and the police protect and serve. We have a bit of a way to go because these changes can not happen over night but we need to start taking steps in the right direction because clearly this is not a civilized society and the more worked up people get the worst it will be. Cowboy123
Police officers everyday witness events that stick with them everyday. I find it hard to judge the officers actions because I can not put myself in his situation. We have no idea what the officer was feeling at that exact time. Personally I feel as if 16 shots was unnecessary. The situation clearly could have been handled differently. Every department is going to have "bad apples" but the same can be said for every business. The only major difference is for example, if being in retail is not the career for you and you make mistakes, it is not a big deal because you might have just under or over charged someone at the register. But, if being a cop is not for you and you don't realize it, the mistakes are life and death or ruining someones life by locking them up. One of the major ways we can prevent this is starting to weed out the unfit people during training and etc. Like I said earlier, we have no idea what the officer was feeling or thinking. With the number of officers that were on scene, they should have been able to surround him and take him down with a less lethal weapon. But also PCP is a very dangerous drug and can cause people to be very unpredictable. 16 shots was too much for this situation and clearly this officer was in the wrong. I do find it concerning that he lied about him lunging at the officers and that makes us wonder what else he lied about. Broncos456
With this shooting, let's look at the facts... Yes Laquan McDonald did have a knife. But was the officer in immediate danger? No he was not. It is an outrage how the young man was shot not once, not twice, and not even three times... but 16. He was shot 16 times. And to make things worse, McDonald was mentally ill. He was afraid and started walking away from the police. That's it. I think the officer being charged with murder is the right thing to do. He needs to be spending the rest of his life in prison for what he did. He could have simple ran after him and tackled him to the ground if need be... not shot him. Taking this back to the idea of community policing.. it's not making it any better. Now the communities are even more furious at the police and it's going to make it much much harder for the police to do their jobs, and it is going to make it harder for the community and police relationship to be restored to its previous peaceful state.
Today, it is so hard for someone to make judgment of a police officer unless that said person has been in the officer's shoes. Police officers encounter so many struggles and decisions each day that they have to be able to stand strong and not pass their bias upon citizens. However, any time you hear about a white officer shooting a black civilian, riots break loose. We all know that racism is a rather large issue, and it is possible for officers to be bias. Although, just because there is one bad cop, it does not mean that they need to compare the bad officers to other officers. It needs to be taken into consideration that upon most circumstances, the officer is defending himself, making his best judgement, or protecting the community. Speaking of community, the article mentioned how the community of Chicago might be outraged due to Dyke's bail issued by the judge. Not only did the judge set his bail, Dyke is currently out of jail and presumed innocent. In order to remain at peace, all of the officers need to really stick together and crack down. If they do not take matters into their own hands, this whole situation could turn out like Ferguson. If there were ever a time to "get tough on crime", it would be the time when the community becomes outraged. I'm sure they do not precisely agree with the judge’s decision, or the fact that he is out of jail. By sticking together and getting tough on crime, it would show the community that the officers are not going to back down. Personally, I feel as if what Dyke did was wrong. There were many different ways that the situation could have gone. On another note, police officers are already required to partake in numerous hours of training, but is that enough? Any time you are reading an article about any offender being shot by an officer, it usually relates to a mental illness. There are a lot of people who don't even know the difference between some of the illnesses, or how to be able to tell if it is existent. In these instances, police officers need to be more aware of the situations at hand. They need to be able to observe and comprehend the situation upon the arrival almost immediately. With that being said, the community should be more knowledgeable of what the goal of a police department is. KayaJ456
Officers do need to make split second decisions but for the good of the people. There was no need to kill the young man, let alone shot the young boy 16 times? Just overkill if you ask me. Number1whiteguy
What happened in Chicago should never happen. And it is a shame it did. What Van Dyke did was very clear it was murder no two ways about it. When I see something like this happen it proves to me that as cops have to be put on a pedestal taller and larger than anyone else because we have an duty to respect everyone. And most importantly service and protect them no matter the color of there skin, age, and area they live in. the sad part is that everyone failed in this instance not just Van Dyke but the men he served with and the states attorney Anita Alverez. But more importantly this story and many others are part of the reason I want to become a cop. To show the world and the citizens I serve that just maybe there are cops that care and want to do the job for the correct reasons. Even though I don’t like what happened we have to realize that what we see here is not all that happened. There is a beginning to what lead up to the instance in the first place. And when we get that only then will we know if Van Dyke responded appropriately to the circumstance that he was face with. To that most likely he was more in the wrong going by the way the other officers reacted themselves. With him being a cop and like I said cops being held to a higher standard not every cop deserves to be wearing on because you do the things you do not for yourself but for others everyday all shift. And that takes a special kind of person to do the things a cop has to do. And when a cop starts thinking for himself that where he will get in trouble. Jfl123
I don't really know where to start....Police in todays society already have an extremely hard time doing their job because of media and because of previous events. In 2015 I do not think that race or any type of discrimination should be present, but sadly this is the world we live in. Keep in mind that the young man that was shot was indeed a YOUNG man, a juvenile and while he was shot he was not approaching the cop or anything of that matter. With that being said I feel like the majority of people will say it was a race issue, and the media will eat that up. I sometimes wonder in some situations "what if the cop was black and the young man was white" would I even know about it? would the media make it a big deal? Its a question I ask myself a lot.. But no matter the color what the officer did was extremely wrong, and it is extremely unfair that he was able to get bailed out. But with that being said I believe it only take a little over a second or two for someone with a blade to reach you if they are sprinting, so maybe the officer did indeed feel like his life was in danger. But I don't find it possible that he fired 16 shots out of fear. That was complete overkill. As I said before we have to keep in mind that this was also a juvenile. So did the officer think that the juvenile would really harm him as he was already walking away? I have more questions than answers but im really just suspicious of how the officer felt that this was the right thing to do. lilap123
i think you bring up a great point about the media and the difference in races because those are two factors that can be looked upon by media to make this case more broad than what it is already. Media is a big factor because once viewers see something a to notice that this was wrong that brings in the protest that have been going on lately. bball456
Police officers seem to be all over the media lately. It is not all officers though. The only thing we see are the bad ones that ruin the reputation. The ones that wear the uniforms as a source of power. The bad thing is that is what the media likes to see. They don't want to see what good the officers are doing. They want to see that hand full that do something bad. It is also now a trend to catch an officer doing something wrong and only video tape the officer using force. Most of the time what we see is an officer protecting himself. We don't know any background. Officers are trained to protect not only the community lives, but theirs as well. If they feel threatened they will do something about it. There are the officers though that use force when the situation does not call for it. They are the ones that see themselves as above everyone else. They also demand respect when they do not really deserve it. Those officers are the ones we see in the media. In that Chicago shooting the officer was definitely in the wrong. Someone can clearly see that the officer was not being attacked or charged. The problem too is that the video is just now coming to the public. That officer should not have shot that kid. He had his hands up and was not doing anything threatening. dance456
Many are quick to put those few who commit psychotic-fueled actions into a lump some to create a stereotype for the entire population of the group. We have experienced this for quite some time now with the prevalence of police corruption recently. What is forgotten by many is that just because there are a few "bad apples" does not mean the entire bunch is rotten. Similar to racism and other prejudice, it is important not to judge an entire group based on the negative actions of few.
I agree with this. Officers are taking on more power towards themselves and not protecting the community which is causing distrust between policing and the people. The media gets their stories from what is being done that is wrong. There are good police officers still out there they just don’t get as much recognition as the people who do bad things. CSI 789
In the article that we were assigned to read, a tragic crime was committed by an officer: a situation that is all too familiar to citizens of the United States. An officer, Jason VanDyke, was recently charged with the murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald after shooting him for 15 seconds, hitting McDonald 16 times. This action was performed and recorded by a patrol car’s dashcam over a year ago in October 2014. The video revealing the heinous crime was never released until recently due to the State Attorney’s lack of action. The actions that were committed by VanDyke shattered me completely. To discover yet another man win a position of power then continue to abuse that power is always an unfortunate finding. While VanDyke’s attorney and witnesses on the scene are declaring that it was a reaction acted upon self defense, this overkill does not justify those statement. Judging by VanDyke’s age, he has most likely been working for the force for a minimum of 10 years. If not, he has had experience in high stress situations, for this is required of a police officer. The defense states that VanDyke was completely and unequivocally fearful. With the experience that VanDyke had, he should have known and had it ingrained into his head the way to properly act when dealing with physical threats. It was stated by a protester that he was angry once VanDyke was released on bail and although it is true that all are innocent until proven guilty, this broke the community’s trust even more than the situation at hand did. Members of the community not only feel betrayed, but they feel as if it is “us vs. them.” Events like these cause a gap to be built between the police force and its community, resulting in less respect, resulting in more crime. VanDyke’s monstrous actions could have been easily prevented by not allowing him a gun in the first place, but since the action has been committed, it is best to only look forward and determine the best way to achieve justice for Laquan.
Whenever there is a shooting involving a police officer it come up controversial. Many people have different opinions on why they think the act happened the way it did, such as a race factor or the police officer went into the situation such as the training that he previously had. One of the most disappointing things about this case is that a juvenile was shot and killed because of a mistake that he had made. This juvenile may or may not have known better on what he was doing, but at a young age many people chose to make stupid mistakes, Yes, most of these mistakes come with consequences but death should not be a consequence for a mistake made by a young adult. By the other police officers stating in this story that this officer, who fired against the juvenile, was just going off of his basic training, shows that the academy should be teaching a different way to enter into this certain situation, A young boy should not die because he was carrying around a knife and breaking into cars, a young man should get a consequence, but police officers should learn how to problem solve not just fire their guns. No one will know the true reason of why this certain officer shot and killed the juvenile. Only that officer knows the reason why he made that certain act. Media can make up assumptions as to what happened but that does not mean the media is correct in what they are saying. The media bases their information on what they think the viewers want to see and hear. bball456
I agree with you when you said that we should be teaching a different way if the officer was just going off what he was taught. However that young boy was carrying a blade that was legal and yes he did put a hole in the tire he still did not deserve to be shot like that . He should of just been arrested and taken into custody. He did not deserve to die and I think that we all agree on that. Green789
This article has made me so upset with how they are handling this. Yes the boy was walking around on drugs and he had a 3 inch blade (which is legal for him to have) on him and also used it to flatten the tire of a cop car. However I did not see the boy trying to come at the officer in any way that would make the officer fear for his life. The officer was wrong and I think that he should have to pay for what he has done. He had no right to fire at that young boy for any reason. If you watch the video the boy was even walking away from the police officer and was not coming towards him at all. So as the article said that the officer was "fearing for his life", that is ridiculous because other than the boy putting a hole in the tire he was leaving the police alone. I still can not believe that the court set bail for the officer even after reviewing the video and seeing that he was clearly in the wrong and should not have even fired his weapon. I hope that the court will open up their eyes and see what has truly happened. Another thing that they are not going to look at is the fact that is this an African American boy and this officer has been known to be very aggressive towards them. That right there should be the sign that they need that he was in the wrong. I hope that they find everything that they need to keep this officer off the streets. We do not need someone like this patrolling the streets we need people that are going to help us and protect us not harm us. Green789
It's pretty foul for that cop to do what he did, it's sick and disheartening. I wish it was possible to see what type a person a cop is and what their motive is for the community.Along with the judge she does not deserve her job anymore because anybody like her ppl with that type of mind Wil be free of no charge nd it's really scary to know that it's ppl on the streets walking around like their God thinking they did the most important. I feel sorry for that family I sure will be working hard to get justice especially knowing he was ill and all they could do was kill him. Thought less act. Non of this is justifiable under any circumstances. LifeImagine789
How many times do we have to hear about these so called cops, these cops are simply pathetic and deserve no service on protecting the community. We are loosing young ones because of them and it's not fair let alone by our own race, and still aren't help part of it. It's true to see that this cop really wasn't in fear of his life because first off the tire was the one that got ruined then the kid walked away so it's pretty obvious the cops wants to fake and take the kids life because he was probably mad his tired got messed up. The cop is very much boogy and so is the screwed up mind of the judge that set his tail free. I would like to know how the heck he got that bail money if it wasn't him or the judeg, it must have been somebody working to get him out. Lord knows this was wrong and that whatever may happen to him, whatever he doing he's going to get what he deserve along with the other silly low life ass cops that think their safe. We all know these cops didn't want or would save the community but themselves in the community nd would do just about anything to make them look sweet. LifeImagine789
Jason Van Dyke is not a police officer. He is a man on a power trip wearing a badge and a gun. He was not justified in the shooting of this kid. Yes, Laquan McDonald had a knife , but Van Dyke and the other officers were well out of range of McDonald. McDonald was also under the influence of PCP and most likely didn't know what was going on in his altered state of consciousness. Being shot 16 times was also a total overkill. McDonald was probably dead after the first few shots. The video on the website is cut short and you only are able to see a few shots. After watching the entire video you see McDonald body twitching on the ground not because he is dead, but because he is continuously being shot. Van Dyke then goes over to McDonald and kicks the knife out of his hand because a dead person can obviously still hurt you when he has a knife. I can't say for sure that this shooting is a race thing or not, i'm not 100% sure. Would Van Dyke have shot this man if he were white? Would he have been shot 16 times if he were white? However, I don't think Van Dyke should be charged with first degree murder, but instead be charged with second degree murder. I don't think Van Dyke planned to shoot this man when he woke up that day or was planning it for weeks. It may have possibly been a nervous reaction to the situation. We don't know all of the facts because the dash camera only shows a small portion of it. He was possibly not in a lot of danger. There were other officers who also had guns and could protect and give him back up. Maybe if he and the other police officers were trained in talking to people under the influence and mentally unstable people this could have turned out a lot better than it did. Van dyke was very wrong for what he did and i think he deserves to be punished for it.
Looking into Officer Van Dyke, he has had over 20 previous complaints and two lawsuits filed against him since he started in 2001. If an officer has had that many complaints, why is he still an officer? I know officers take an oath to protect and serve...protect the surrounding communities by all costs. But shooting a person, 16 times seems like an overkill. Laquan is still a minor, so they should have taken a different approach to the whole situation. Yes, he had a three inch blade on him, but there are other ways to get the blade away from him. You don't just shoot a person 16 times. Maybe once to get him to stop what hes doing but not 16. I understand that he "lunged" himself at Van Dyke, and he was just "protecting" himself from the knife, but while Van Dykes history with racial slurs, manhandling suspects, and unjustifiably pointing his gun at arrestees. It seemed like there was more to the story that never got told. In order to be an officer, there is so much more than just arresting people. You have to be able to connect with people and know where they are coming from. If someone grew up in a home where there was a lot of violence, and drugs, then the children that come out of that house will most likely be using drugs, and some sort of violence. Van Dyke was not a police officer. He was just an ordinary guy who put on the uniform and carried a gun. He let all the power that the police have get over his head and made it seem like he was the boss of everything. He should not have been able to keep his position after the 20 complaints and two law suits that were filed against him. FBI123
I agree with all you have said honestly. I took another approach at the situation but did include the facts of the complaints against officer Van Dyke. He is the slum of police officers and what they stand for. Slashing tires does not deserve the death penalty in which McDonald received 16 bullets for that matter. Instead of using his taser gun that would have been the better suit for this situation. Too many occurrences where the power goes to the police mans head. I feel for the police officers who do the job right, but now have the community grow hate for them. The youth will see that they are enemies due to one cop deciding to shoot their neighbor, brother, cousin, friend and filling him with 16 bullets. rugby123
Officer Van Dyke should not have been there anyway. Looking at his track record, he has received many complaints. Not being close to ones community and have had many complaints is the sign of a crooked cop. Shooting a 17 year old 16 times is beyond unnecessary and from any knowledge that I have, they do not teach you in the academy to shoot juveniles if they are acting up. Also from what I noticed what USA today has done, they have once again portrayed it to be an act of racism. Stating Mcdonalds and Van Dyke's race numerous times. I find that to be the issue with trying to label or stigmatize youth. Why must one mention someone's race? A 17 year old died. PERIOD. His nationality has nothing to with the situation as it was blown up when they have showed and emphasized that the officer who shot McDonald was white. No one would naturally ask someone who killed someone their nationality. But since it is so advertised, it has turned into a race war and youth see's all the mess that goes on from police officers. Juveniles will only continue to rebel against authority if the hate between the feds and them begin to grow even more. The delinquents will never learn from anyone who they despise. Being labeled as the victim or the offender also can take a toll on one's personal identity whether it is good or bad. How must youth begin to trust police officers if the only thing that they see is cops harassing and killing your brothers and sisters. The firing of the police chief is a step in the right direction as he blatantly avoided the complaints of citizens. Officer Van Dyke is the reason why he makes police officers look unprofessional and the "enemy". When in reality there are more good cops than bad cops. Media has a big affect on this as well, as all you see on t.v is white cop kills 17 year old black minor. Of course the youth sees all of this and creates hate and not connection.
The entire shooting with van Dyke and Labuan was unnecessary and could have definitely been avoided . It is very tough to be a cop today , no matter what state your in . Some officers in the police force have taken up the wrong career so they're not the best at what they're supposed to be doing , which is to protect and serve the public . It was much more people willing to help him hide this tragedy than the media is exposing to the American public to see . It's really disturbing to see that people in this world is seriously cruel . It made no sense to me at all to continuously shoot Labuan after he was down on the ground . In a way I feel like the police force should be more complicated because with officers like him I feel like it's no challenge at all to get in . Too many officers like him ,the world will be nothing . Everyone would probably be afraid to go out , especially if we can't carry legal weapons to protect ourselves . It's simple and clear that this case was first degree murder officer van dyke should have been punished more severely , especially after he tried to destroy all evidence . This family have no justice . Cashes123
They quoted someone in the article stating that the video did not accurately show what all went down but I think it showed enough . Although the video may not show everything it is the only thing that the court has to go by and looking at it with all the other things discussed in the case does lead to an unjustified shooting in my opinion. If police officers were doing their job properly they should not have to worry about how much or how little a camera shows of them because if they do the right things then they will always be caught on camera doing the right things and would not have to use to excuse of the camera not showing the whole thing, or laws should be passed to have the on body cameras for all officers so we always have their prospective of the situation. This shooting would be unjustified in my opinion because from the video it shows about three to four police cars around the victim and all he had was a three inch blade on him and the officer is trying to say that he had done something so crazy with that knife that four officers were not able to get themselves in position to taze the man and arrest him. Also I didn’t like the fact that the other officers were donating their money to bail out their co-worker when in the article it says that not one of the other officers had fired one shot which to me means that they did not think the situation had called for shots to be fired but them putting up money for his bail makes it seem like they agree with the choice of the officer. I feel that this certain situation just proves how much the ability of communication is within the field. I think that if the officer was better with his communication that he would have been able to take many other approaches to the situation that would have resulting in not shooting his gun but instead he just shot the man and gave him no chance. -Acerunner789
The video clearly showed that there was no need for self defense. The saying taking a knife to a gun fight you will loss is an accurate representation of what happened in this video. Not only did the officer have guns to "threaten" the suspect, but had number as well. You use a gun as a last resort form of self defense and ONLY use it when your life is severely threaten first. It amazes me that the officer was able to make bond. Why would the department try defending a corrupt cop as well? Maybe it's because they don't want the media thinking that he is a bad cop and trying to make them seem better then they actually are? What ever the answer is this officer needs to be punished for his unjustifiable actions. Just like the officers at Ferguson were when the whole county was forced to fire all the officers and rethink their way of approaching community based policing, I believe that Chicago by have to rethink their way of approaching community based policing as well. Maybe his actions where justified to start firing but to end up firing 16 times? That's insane! The only people that overkill like that are murders who have a huge grudge against there victim or mentally insane people who are out for blood. Non of what officer Van Dyke did seem ligament to me and anything that is coming to him is well deserved. Number1Whiteguy
Slashing a hole in a police car’s tire is not something that requires the officer to shoot and kill someone sixteen times. In the article, it talks about 13 of those 16 times he was already on the ground. Van Dyke was not someone who was “fearing for his life” and acting in self-defense. McDonald was walking away from the police officers and not being of any threat to them. The five other officers that were on the scene did not fire their weapons, but what gave Van Dyke that option to fire? Was it a racial issue? Will we ever know why? It’s possible but maybe not. I like that it says “there are certain things that quite frankly nobody else knows.” There probably is but because of the media there is no way that we can get an exact answer. I was watching the news about the most recent shooting in California and I couldn’t stand to watch it anymore because they were filling it with speculations because they didn’t have a confirmed story yet. I think Van Dyke should be charged with first degree murder and NOT out on bond right now. More and more shootings are happening every day. We can continue to talk about things like this happening around the world, but we have to be the ones to overcome this. To do the right thing. CSI 123
In today’s world racial issues are still a very serious matter, especially with the number of shootings that have occurred where members of opposite races have been shot by police officers, most notably white officers shooting black suspects. In the case of Van Dyke I believe that he should be guilty of the crime he committed. There is video evidence to support the belief that this shooting was over the top and could have been caused by racial bias due to the high crime rates of Chicago, but there is something telling me that there is more not being shown that happened. Shooting someone 13 times is a bit excessive in a lot of scenarios where a police officer’s life is not being threatened. Not to mention shooting someone while they are already on the ground. When it comes to the issue of Van Dyke being able to post bail for himself he can do that, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is going to sit back and let it happen. It does create a lot of racial tension, but if you were to deny him of bail, you would also have to deny a lot of other suspects of crimes bail and it would cause a slippery slope affect. However I believe that it could cause a lot more protests that could become violent because of the nature of the crime that Van Dyke is being charged with. CSI 789
What happened can swing both ways. The kid did not deserve what was given to him and neither did the cop. The officer was acting out of self defense when he reportedly thought the kid was lunging at him, but they were completely separated to where the child was not even close to him as seen in the video. The only explanation I have for that is that the officer was scared and just acted out to what he maybe thought was the right thing to do. The child should have known better and just stopped and behaved correctly and the police officer should of used something else that he had on his side. Are these officers forgetting that they have tasers on their belt? Are the forgetting that these children are completely immature and do not know how to behave properly yet? I believe this is a toss up because the child does need justice for what went wrong in this officers mistake and the cop should not get in trouble for doing what he thought was right at the time of the incident. If we did not have all off these common incidents within the past few years I don't think that we would have such a controversy over this. If none of these cases of officers killing African Americans then I think that we would of just treated this as a everyday shooting incident of self defense. So that is why there is such a dilemma with these cases lately of racism. -Ibanez123
I like how in the title it says "one bad apple". I talked to a police officer at a game I went to recently and this was exactly how he described it. He stated "i took this job to do good things and help people, but idots ruin our image and make our job damn near impossible". Which I could see understandable, why would the public respect a cop if they think that they are just out to get them and not actually help them. The correctional system is here to rehabilitate and help people and get them on the right track. this was a minor that was shot. You cant help someone by shooting them 16 times. The kid was slashing tires, not a very uncommon thing for teenagers to do. What should have been done was the teen should have been taken into custody and dealt with the right way. And if enough fair punishment was given I doubt they would have had this problem with him again. lilap789
This is true. Stigmatizing all cops as a whole is not very accurate or the right thing to do but when the media gets a hold of information like this they blow it up so they can have a story but they do not realize that when they do that it causes a huge uproar that makes people dislike all police instead of a select few. Not every cop is a great cop and not every cop makes good decisions but generalizing a group of people is not right by any means. Teens are also going to make mistakes and do bad things but to shoot and kill a teen that was only slashing tires is outrageous. In this situation they should have used non-lethal way to get him away from the knife that way instead of killing him they could have rehabilitated him and let him get a second chance at life rather then ending it.
The stigmatization of all cops being "bad" has really plagued our society in a very negative way. This distrust between officers and the community, I feel, play a huge part in why these unfortunate events take place. It creates a sense of fear among the public that the officers are only meant to incriminate them rather than provide them with protective social services. Hopefully as time goes on we can all forget about the general misconception of all cops being bad. -Pack123
This video is quite a small amount of information to go off of. The way it is portrayed makes it seem like the police shot the teen for no reason. Sure, he was armed with a knife but there were other ways to go about taking the teen down rather than shooting him 16 times. Police should have a taser that they could have used to disarm the teen at least or some sort of gun that does not kill on hit. They did not even get to get the teens side of the story before they killed him. The teen was high on PCP which could potentially portray how his life at home was. He could have been affected by social control theory in the way of maybe his parents do hard drugs and as a child seeing that could make it more likely to do hard drugs because he see's the people in his life around him doing such things. If that is the case then that might make sense as to why he was on the drug in the first place. They should have took a much more reasonable approach and got the kid some drug rehabilitation because he could have been a very important person and done great things with his life after that. He could potentially be apart of the 80 percent of teens that get arrested and never return. IT also puts a stigma on the police because teens now more than ever have access to media whether it be watching the news or seeing posts or articles on the internet but when youth see violence being done to them for something that could have been avoided they will think twice before trusting a police officer when if they ever encounter one. When that child grows up he or she might tell their children that the police are not there to help but to hurt them and when you have millions of people seeing this that could make for a pretty bad future if incidents like these continue to happen.
This really is an unfortunate event that took place. However the way the officer handled the situation was very poor and cost the life of a young man. I did like how the title was named "one bad apple" as lilap789 stated. It really points to the idea that not all cops are bad however there are a bad cops out there. The key to this is we, as a criminal justice system, need to find out which officers are at risk to perform outrageous acts like the murder of Laquan McDonald. With the offense McDonald was committing, there was no need for the officer to take the action he did. Hopefully we can learn from these unfortunate events for this is just one of many like it. -Pack123
The days that our parents grew up in are gone, today shows anything is possible, in terms of things going wrong. The shootings, terrorist activities, and every police movement is immediately targeted by the media and everyone else. What people simply need to do is respect the police again and stuff just won't happen. We simply need to make basically a no "bs" rule. If people don't antagonize the police and do these sort of things to them that have lead up to these events, nothing will happen. Now back to the trial stuff. We need to have the media stop being biased, that could solve a lot of problems. Showing only parts of the clip to the public to get reactions and ratings should not be aloud and should be punishable. The protests as well; what are they protesting about? Just like other previous police shootings, everyone flips out and says that they are tired of being oppressed by the police and everything. They aren't protesting for something like people were in the 50's, they are doing it just because they can. They don't need to protest, that's the courts job to do what is right if he did wrong. They need to just go home and wait for the results. Then protest if you feel like it, but don't demand shutting down one of the biggest areas in the city to try and state something we already know. We need to rethink our mentalities toward the people that keep us safe. People should thank our police for what they do not treat them like evil. We simply need to all just simply grow a brain, get some common sense, and get into reality. Ludwig123
I agree with you partially ludwig. People need to wake up and realize that same officers they're protesting against today, could be at their doorstep tomorrow taking care of a service for them. Where I disagree with you at is stopping the people from protesting. If we do that, then we would be violating their 1st Amendment right, freedom of speech. But, to settle media problems, they show what they have. I wouldn't fully blame the media on this one. Explain the part when Van Dyke deleted the film from burger king? But yes, people need to respect Law Enforcement period. Going into this field, and working security in one of Peoria's largest attraction, the golden rule better be imprinted in our brain before we step foot to enforce any rule or law. ThinBlue94789
The title alone sets the attitude for the community between law enforcement. You think things are going well with the relationship of the community and law enforcement, until one bad apple spoils the bunch. Van was totally unjustified for gunning down McDonald. We discussed this situation and reenacted similar scenarios to this situation for the police explorers. It’s unknown to any eye, trained or not, that in a split second that you don’t know if someone is holding a cellphone or a gun. But it as well depends on how intense the situation was. McDonald may have been welding a knife, however in the video, at no point do you see McDonald lunge towards Van Dyke, as it stated in the article. Only time Deadly is used when the officer’s life or someone else life is in danger, and running a risk of being killed. Again, referring to the video, at no point did it seem at any point that Van Dyke life was in danger. Yes. McDonald did have a blade. But he did not lunge at any officer and also his back was turned to the officers. Officers are trained to shoot, if ever have to, to shoot two to the body, one to the head. Unfortunately, McDonald received 16 shots. That’s 13 more than what officers are trained to shoot to stop a threat if in danger. Van Dyke showed that he let adrenaline and rage into his system, hence explaining the shooting of McDonald while he is down on the ground. Do I believe Van Dyke is going to be indicted on First Degree? No. Voluntary Manslaughter? Yes. Only because it’ll be difficult to prove he had motive and it was intentional, disregarding the 16 shots. Also to be honest, because he’s part of a union, I believe he’s going to take a plea deal. ThinBlue94789
Times are tough for police officers around the United States. With the Ferguson shooting, and many others, officers are getting labeled killers. Officer involved shootings have happened for century's, they don't take an oath to want to kill people, but they do say they will protect the surrounding community at all costs..even with their lives. That being said, police officers deal with the scum of society that no one wants to deal with on a daily basis. Video cameras and cell phones have made police officers more effective but at the same time it has led to the down fall of a select few. Everyone wants to see the "video" now days of 'what exactly happened'. Not all videos will give you a clear picture of what happens off screen and sometimes gives the ability to be filled in by other peoples ideas. There are bad cops, good cops, and wanna be cops that just wear the badge. Unfortunately, social media thrives on negative exposure. For example when a police officer does something unethical like shoot a teen sixteen times when he had backup and was not in any immediate danger, "cop hate" spreads through communities. There are bad cops but not all cops are bad. It's that 5% of cops that make it difficult for society to think other wise. Its a new era with technology and cameras on every corner, which will make cops be more accountable. One thing that DOES need to be changed is releasing the footage right away, like they did in Ferguson. Doing so will give proper officials time to review the footage and see if the officer was in the right or in the wrong. It will stop unnecessary riots and will calm peoples nerves.
ReplyDeleteBassfishing123
I would have to agree with you my friend. People are thinking cops are bad because the news is portraying them as bad people. Which is not fair to the community that knows the real cops from the bad ones. I just wish we could all banned together and fight this war that we are going threw. Bodybuilder456.
DeleteI agree with you that only a slim few cops are bad cops but they make people form bad opinions on all cops. People need to get the whole story before they form an opinion on cops. I also agree with you on video being both good and bad for cops. People need to see the whole video of a situation and not just parts of it before they start labeling cops. dragons456
DeleteI agree with you in a few corrupt police are making all cops look bad. It's not true, people get so angry and they feel the need to take the hate out on the nearest police officer. I'm glad this man is getting put behind bars though. Maybe it will show the country that we are getting better at this and not letting men get out of trouble just because they are cops.
Deleterose456
I agree with this. The media likes to see the bad. So, all they see is the wrong things officers do instead of the right. Those select few officers that are actually good get a bad name. Not all officers are bad. However there are some that put on the uniform, but don't act like real officers. Those are the ones that gives all officers bad names.
Deletedance456
You're right. Not all police officers are corrupt and horrible people. Yes, there are a few. But there are corrupt people in every career. The police that make it to the media give police a bad name. But the media loves it and just makes it worse than what it really is. They make it seem like all police officers are bad, when they are not.
DeleteFBI123
I couldn't agree with you any more, I try to stress this to everyone that I talk to about the topic. Not all cops are bad, not even a lot of cops are bad the media only shows the negative and puts a false image in the publics mind.
Deletelilap123
The feeling is mutual. I have told people that I want to be a cop because I like it and its in my family history all the way back into the mid 1800's. What is their normal response, "why would you want to do that and deal with everything that is going on"? I just simply tell them, "because its what I want to do, its in my blood and its my passion". Ludwig123
DeleteVideos like this are the reason I want to be in the Criminal Justice field. I think the expression "Don't bring a knife to a gun fight." could have been reversed in this case. Although the suspect Laquan McDonald was supposedly armed with a knife I believe the proper precautions should have been to disarm the teen before drawing his weapon. This young man was only 17 which in Illinois is considered a minor, so the officer should've taken more of a rehabilitative approach when addressing this young man. The sheer amount of officers sent to the scene was more than needed for a simple car burglaries. Also with the fact that the McDonald was armed with a knife the officer was at a safe enough distance to not have to fire his gun. The proof of the negligence of the Van Dyke is shown in his other officers. Of 6 officers Van Dyke was the only to fire his weapon, and apparently thought 16 bullets was necessary to take down a teenager. This was not just another life, but the life of a child and Van Dyke should pay his debt to society for the rest of his natural life. I can't say whether or not this incident was based on race, but I do think that officers should have to take sensitivity training especially when dealing with Juvenile delinquents. What is even more unbelievable about this case is that it took the state's attorney over a year to even charge Van Dyke, the cause of many protests in Chicago. The title of this officer's profession is NOT a license to kill at his own discretion. Although not typically taught in the police academy Officer Van Dyke could have taken a non-fatal shot in the exception that the he was so young and not heavily armed. Scooby123
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what you have to say here. I think he should have used a taser gun instead of killing this poor boy. Officers need to realize that their actions can have a huge effect on someone's life, and it meant the end of such a young life for this poor 17 year old boy. Our police force should be trained extensively for situations like these, and this is where we are failing in the academy.
DeleteBenRoethlisberger123
This absolute makes me sick to the core. How could a police officer that is supposed to serve and protect his community kill a man in this way. It just makes me sad. All these police officers are worrying about if their doing a good job or not but when really they should be worrying about if there killing these people in cold blood or are they protecting and serving like they should be. Answer me that. Let me tell you about this one story that my girlfriends step cousin told me. I’m a little bit easy on this guy about shooting the guy multiple times with his gun that he even reloaded on him. When someone shoots somebody for the first time, there is a possibility that they will not stop shooting until they have ran out of bullets. In this case that would have solved and would have been in his favor when this guy did the shooting. He could have told the judge that is was not in his behavior to do so but that he had a mental breakdown and could not and would not stop shooting his gun at the unarmed suspect. I just wish cops would be more careful in their killing rampages that they seem to like going on. In my conclusion. We need to find a way to stop all of these violent acts of disturbers to the community right now and take stand. bodybuilder456
ReplyDeleteAs we have learned in class, many policemen today are corrupt. This officer acted extremely harsh to a "harmless" situation. Why did he have to take out his gun and kill the poor 17 year old boy? He should have taken out his taser instead of pulling out his real gun! It was not right that the boy was breaking into cars, but it was even more of an injustice to kill the poor boy. The get tough on crime model is NOT working, we need to re-asses our methods, and change them for the good of society. Even though this young man may have been brandishing a knife, he still was walking away form police. You don't shoot someone who is retreating! We need more police officers who understand the world, and not officers like the ones we read about in bad news articles. This may be only a small part of the population of officers, but it gives the whole police community an awful name. This is the reason why people hate police now, because they think all cops are like this. We need to find a way to weed out the "officers" who have no grace and mercy in situations like these. Juveniles act out this way because of how they we brought up, and policemen need to keep this in mind. They need to really put themselves in the child's shoes before making any rash decisions like this. A lot of the people that get arrested come from poor backgrounds. We have learned in class that poverty DOES NOT cause crime, but it is one factor of many that feed into crime. Instead of this punitive justice, we need to start feeding our police force with restorative justice. If this officer had taken a step back and analyzed his choices, he would not have ended a young man's life. This injustice is rampant throughout our police force today, and we need to take a different approach in order to stop this chaos. We need more headlines that read, "Officer shows patience with juvenile",instead of "innocent juvenile slain." If we can do this, then our community would show more respect to our police force today.
ReplyDeleteBenRoethlisberger123
I agree with you. Laquan McDonald breaking into cars was not right. But taking his life was not either. Sometimes officers need to sit back in think about what they do. He was only 17 years old still a teen growing up still need to know more about life. Hearing about this case makes me sad because he was just a juvenile, now like he was 20 years old in really got his head on right. Wrong is wrong I don't care what no one say, he didn't deserve to be gone. Every teen make bad decisions. The officer could of took care of the situation better then he did. Communtiy policing need to get better, they are here to serve and protect not harm people for nothing. It's was a better way to teach him that lesson then hurting his family and friends. Keya123
DeleteI agree I think that Officer Jason vandyke could have pulled his taser and the 17 year old would have dropped like a rock and would not have killed him in the process. I also agree that officers should think about how they were raised but when your in a situation like that you don't think of how they were raised. The only thing the officer should have been thinking about was how do I handle this situation safely to protect myself and the community around me. savage456
DeleteI agree with you, I believe that there are mutilple ways this situation could have been dealt with. There are so many different approaches that the officer could have taken in dealing with a situation that would have resulted in a less tragic and fatal outcome. The officer could have simply used his taser or even simply tried to reason with the suspect before resorting to his firearm. Now granted this was a very tragic situation and there are always two sides to a story as well. Some times you have to ask your self "what would you have done in this situation?" Sparks456
DeleteTo clarify, I need to say we haven't learned about police being corrupt in class. We have only conversed about a few situations where police officers have acted irresponsibly. Sorry for the confusion. We have many great officers of the law who deserve respect and honor, and who do an amazing job in the police force. My comment was only aimed at the very few officers who abuse their power, and acted in ways they should not. Once again, sorry for the false accusations.
DeleteBenRoethlisberger123
The shooting that happened in Chicago IL. A year ago was very unnecessary. Some officers just think they can shoot who ever they want, just because they have a badge or if they don't like the way a person move. What Jason van dyke did to Laquan McDonald was wrong, he did not deserve sixteen shots. If he got killed over his color, why do color even matter? Laquan McDonald got killed like he was a nobody. I just don't know why they are trying to cover up what he done to that teenager. The communtiy policing in Chicago is very bad because they always worry about the wrong things then things that matter. Jason van dyke need to be in jail with no bond. I don't care what color you are we all should get treated with respect. Protesting for Laquan McDonald was a waste because his killer is out of jail now. Laquan McDonald need justices, because Jason van dyke was not a nice person that man had a lot of complaints about how rude he is. The courts like him just get away that is not right. Life not always fair, but he need his justices. Keya123
ReplyDeleteI agree that Officer Van Dyke's action were unjust and very brutal, however he did not just get away with it. He is out on bail but still has to return to court to receive a sentencing. With this video out now, I cannot see him getting away with it that easily. Hopefully, he does pay for his crimes, or I fear this will only split the people and the police force so much more.
DeleteEarthquake 456
I agree with you, Officer Van Dyke's actions were very wrong and he could've have done so many other things than shoot Laquan, it was total overkill. I don't believe they are just going to give office van dyke a slap on the wrist there is too much evidence there to show what he did was wrong. -dicaprio456
DeleteYou have some great points. What officer Van Dyke did was morally wrong, there were a lot of things he could have used rather than a lethal weapon. If it was to defend himself, I'm sure one or two shots would have been enough, but that isn't the case here. It was clear that McDonald was not deserving of the shots that were fired that day. KayaJ456
DeleteI believe that Officer Jason Vandyke could have prevented shooting Laquan McDonald. If I were to have to step in Officer Jason Vandyke's shoes I would have pulled my taser before my fire arm. I am in a Police Explorer Program and they teach us how far away someone with a knife can be before you can pull your firearm out. It only takes a person with a knife a split second to get to you running and in that split second that officer has to make a call or he is dead. My advisors for the Police Explorer Program said that 6 feet away or more is the safest distance to be when someone is armed with a knife. That 6 feet away allows any officer the time they need to arm themselves or back up and get away to a safe distance. I believe that this is what Officer Jason Vandyke’s split second decision was when he fired his weapon. Granted after looking at the footage frame by frame I saw he never lunged towards Officer Jason Vandyke. In that intense moment Officer Jason Vandyke was pumped up with adrenaline that was the only option he saw was to shoot him. I don't believe he should have shot Laquan McDonald 13 times. I hate how the media labels police officers as killers and cold blooded murderers. The greater majority of police officers are the good guys but every now and again you get the dirty bad cops. The media is the greatest enemy to the police force all the media does is report the shootings and violent crimes. I think that if the media reported police officers doing simple acts of kindness. For example I have seen videos of police officers buy shoes for a homeless man and buy Christmas presents for people who can't afford them with their own money. Not all police officers are bad like the media portrays them them to be.
ReplyDeletesavage456
DeleteI do agree that the media has a very bad reputation for blowing things out of proportion especially when it comes to crimes such as this one, but I don't believe that the media the greatest enemy to the Criminal Justice System. I think that the police are giving themselves a bad name. Not only with the fact that some police are wrongfully killing the community they are suppose to protect and serve, but that they are literally getting away with murder! This is setting a horrible example for any aspiring officers, proving that their badge makes them above the law and thus immune to the consequences of their actions. Scooby123
DeleteThese are difficult times to be a cop in the United States. With the police shootings some of the public and media is trying to label all cops as killer when the majority of cops aren't. People should walk in cops shoes for a day and see what they have to experience daily and they would change their mind on thinking cops are killing people for no reason. Their are some cops they use deadly force when it is unnecessary. For example, Officer Van Dyke could of handled the situation without the use of deadly force. The subject may of had a knife but he didn't charge the officers, he was walking away when Van Dyke shot him 13 times which was way too many times. Their are two types of cops, the actual cops and then the ones who just wear the uniform. The actual cops have a passion for their job and try to make a difference in people lives. The cops who just wear the uniform are the ones who do it just so they can have power and authority and they usually take advantage of it and are also usually the ones you hear about in the news for getting in trouble. Those few officer who get in trouble gives cops a bad name and makes people think that all cops are bad cops when only a slim few are bad cops. Another thing that can both be a good thing or bad thing is cops is recording with dash cams or a citizen recording on their cell phone. The video can show what really happened but if someone on their cell phone only catches a certain part of the altercation it could change the story. For example, if they only catch the part where the officer get physical with a subject or has to use his gun it will make everyone think the cops used that force when he didn't need to. But if they saw the whole video they could see the whole situation and understand why the cop used that force and not form a bad opinion on cops. dragons456
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Nowadays these are very difficult times in being and becoming a police officer. In the news all the public hears is what bad a cop did. Never do they display on NBC, CNN, or Fox what good a police officer did that day. We should not let one terrible incident affect people’s views on the men and women serving in the force. Taggswag456
DeleteWhen watching this video along with a few others that I had watched with a little more length to them than the ones the media decided to show to the public and to society, there is a lot a person can pick up from watching them. However, the videos can be very deceiving. If you begin to look at the video and watch the correspondence between the victim/suspect along with the lines on the road as well as the two officers it looks as if though he was walking parallel towards the officers and not exactly "away" from them. He was also waving the knife in his right hand towards the police officers in a provocative manor. I would have to agree that the shooting was a very tragic incident as well as one that used unlawful and excessive force. There is something you have to take into consideration and that is if the officer "feared for his life" or felt "threatened". Granted, the officer could have felt that way but there was not even the slightest bit of communication between Vandyke and the individual. Within 30 seconds of the officer being out of the car he began to open fire on the suspect. The suspect was also on a very potent drug (PCP) which can cause a lot of confusion, hallucinations, numbness of your extremities, can be accompanied by a sense of strength, and so on. This can turn someone into a very dangerous individual. Although this individual was on this drug and it may not have been obvious at the time, Vandyke should have used more efficient and less dangerous tactics when dealing with a situation like this. It can also make a lot of people begin to think that this was intentional. Considering that Vandyke has had at least 17 reported complaints about his such as using unlawful force, misuse of his firearm and even some racial complaints. This can also begin to raise a lot of questions as to why Mr. Vandyke was still even on the police force or had not been pulled aside to be "retrained" or even fired. There are a lot of corrupt cops out there these days that let their discretion get to their heads and think that they can just do whatever they want. There are also a lot of cops that aren't exactly cops, they just wear the uniform.
ReplyDeleteSparks~456
Police Officers in the United States of America are here to protect and serve the public. However, no matter one goes in our great country there will always be the single person who just shouldn’t be in that certain career. This can go anywhere from a not so likeable eighth grade English teacher to the guy helping you find your paint at Lowes. In every profession across the country people are doing jobs they shouldn’t be in. “Officer” Jason Van Dyke just so happen to be one of those people. During the video Jason Van Dyke got out of his car and walked up to Laquan McDonald. What looked like they exchanged words then Jason shot McDonald over and over again. Even after Laquan was on the ground the officer continued to unload his magazine on the seventeen year old black male. Following the tragedy Van Dyke’s lawyer stated that he was “feared for his.” I am no crime scene investigator but to me he did not at all look feared for his life. Jason did not approach with caution and shot at Laquan McDonald who only had a three inch blade with him. The suspect wasn’t armed with any firearms and was smaller than the officer. However, Laquan is no the suspect, he is the victim and Jason Van Dyke is the suspect. Quite a role reversal. This is not a Cook County Police Department mistake. How would they know that fifteen years ago they hired a man who had all the qualifications but necessary didn’t really “fit” for the job? For the thousands of good police officers there are in the United States there is always going to be a couple of not so worthy ones. This heartbreaking incident should not let the public think wicked on police officers across the country. Taggswag456
ReplyDeleteThe shooting of Laquan McDonald by Officer Jason Van Dyke is tragic even that should have been addressed much earlier. The fact that this took a year to even be brought to trial might be the worst thing about it. Van Dyke killing young Laquan can be summed up with an overzelous cop who did not think about his actions before hand or simply did not care. But the fact the it took so long for this to be brought to trial shows how deep this really goes. The police and apparently only the police were aware this video existed. They made a conscious decision to not release this video before, which terrifies me. If we have police forces that are actively holding evidence to protect their officers, who knows what else is out there. Police officers are in no way above the law. They should be held to even higher standards than the average citizen. When an officer puts on his uniform he is making a conscious decision to show that he represents the government and that his will fall according to what they government deems appropriate. If shooting a man armed only with a three inch knife sixteen times is considered appropriate, I do not want to be a police officer anymore. His actions however were not appropriate and he is now seeing charges for them. A police officers one and only job is to protect the citizens of the United States. Sometimes, unfortunately, this requires having to shoot or injure people that are a threat to the common citizen. Use of a firearm should always be a last case scenario action. I wish that Officer Van Dyke could have looked to the other side of his belt and grabbed his taser instead. This entire situation could have been avoided if he had. He could have stopped the man without brutally murdering him and without having to be labeled as a killer.
ReplyDeleteEarthquake 456
As I watch this video it really saddens me I cannot believe we have people like Van Dyke out here on the streets. Police officers are here to protect and serve the community not shoot innocent people. Yes i know Laquan had a small 3 inch knife on him but you did not once him see approach or attack the officers. Laquan was also on PCP which is a mind altering drug that causes hallucinations. There are many other ways Officer Van Dyke could've handled this situation,especially when Laquan was on drugs. The officer had no reason to proceed and shoot Laquan after he was on the ground, total overkill. I also do not find it right that they didn't show the dash cam video to the judge, if it happen to be the other way around where the officer happen to be the one shot, you know they would've presented that no questions asked. We live in such a violent America, what happened to the land of the free? When did all this violence and hate become the focus of our America. We need to stop and think about who we are giving these badges to, about who is really protecting us. Not all cops are bad cops, there are cops out there who believe in the badge and live to protect and serve our communities. I believe this is just another case of a cop on a power trip, Officer Van Dyke was in the wrong in this situation. The sad thing is, so many shootings have happened over the last few years, its going to be very hard for people to trust police officers. We are on a very long and hard journey but i believe we can live in peace again. -dicaprio456
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement the 16 times McDonald was shot is complete overkill. I really would like to know how that happened. Police Officers are taught to shoot twice and then reassess the situation. After Van Dyke shot him the first few times McDonald is laying on the ground no longer a threat, weather he was a threat to begin with is debatable. Unfortunatly as Americans we fight fire with fire or in this case violence with violence. Its getting out of control. Someone needs to bring in the water and stop this violence. Craig456
DeleteThis video shows first degree murder. Straight forward. Officer Van Dyke was in no harm of being hurt. Most of the time I will take the side of the law. But not in this case. After reading the article a few things jumped out at me. That fact that the reports said that McDonald lunged at Officer Van Dyke. I watched the video multiple times and I see nothing of the sort. McDonald is walking away from Van Dyke when he is shot. I would also like to point out that I saw many pictures of McDonald in what looks like graduation robes showing him as a student. Well at the time of the shooting McDonald did have PCP in his system. What PCP does is basically separate you from your conscious body and brain. It is a very real possibility that McDonald had no idea what he was doing. However he did ingest the drug so I'm not excusing that fact. What I'm trying to say is there is two sides to every story. Neither party was one hundred percent in the clear. McDonald was on drugs and was brandishing a long knife. While Van Dyke was in no foreseeable harm. It is hard to say what you would do in that situation as the officer with your adrenaline going and your gun drawn. Until you are put in that situation. I will say from what I saw in the video it looked like right before McDonald was shot he turned his feet towards Officer Van Dyke. But just from looking at the video Officer Van Dyke was definitely in the wrong. When you put on that uniform and swear in as a police officer it is your duty to protect your community. If you feel like the best way to do that is to shoot a kid high on PCP then this is not the job for you. I do believe Officer Van Dyke is just an example of a bad apple. But what we need to do as Americans is not let that one bad apple spoil the batch. Craig456
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought up the fact that Van Dyke was in no harms way. The 17 year old boy was a fair distance away from Van Dyke. Even though he was in possession of a three inch blade, the boy was far enough away and not even facing the officer, Van Dyke was not in danger. There were also multiple officers on the scene, so he really had nothing to fear. I mean, what is a 17 year old boy compared to a 37 year old fully equipped police officer with backup?? -Eclipse456
DeleteI agree with most of what you said, but i don't think that this was first degree murder. I don't think officer van dyke woke up that morning or was planing for weeks to kill this person. I do believe however that he deserves to be punished for what he did and the police department trying to cover it up made it even worse.
DeleteGodfieri456
I am actually glad to hear that Van Dyke is being forced to take responsibility for his obviously wrong actions. Normally, we would view a situation where the cop is not guilty and had a reason for his wrongdoings. In this case, there is absolutely no reason as to why Van Dyke should have fired his weapon. Van dyke claims we was in fear for his life at the moment of the shooting? Self defense is protecting yourself or others when a threat is presented, as soon as the threat is gone, there should be no more action taken. Yes, there was a threat, but do you really believe Van Dyke should have been that scared? The 17 yea old, Laquan was a fair distance away from Van Dyke and there were multiple officers on the scene. Laqaun was in possession of a three inch blade, but he was not in reach of Van Dyke. Using common sense in this situation would have saved everyone a bunch of time and trouble. The media needs to stop making the situation worse and provide the true details of the situation. The medias main focus is getting top views and making their ratings increase, in order to do this, they focus on negative world events The media puts a ton of emphasis on the 1/1000 bad cops that are in society today. When people see this type of nonsense on television, it makes them think that is what the entire world is like. If we could just get away from the way we present our media, then things would be just fine. -Eclipse456
ReplyDeleteI agree that this man should be facing the full punishment for what he did. Not only to the teen but to that whole community as a whole. He has started riots and all sorts of protests for his humiliating mistake. I think this might show the world that cops are not invincible and hopefully since he being sent to prison people wont riot for too long.
DeleteKLICK456
I agree as well, Van Dyke should be held responsible for the death of McDonald. His act poorly demonstrated not just the department but also the community he was "protecting." Tension is already high with police and will continue to rise till something worse spawns out of this. The media is doing more harm than they are doing good by getting involved and covering these kinds of stories.
DeleteThe idea of a general shift in ideology and understanding what purpose the news serves is a good idea. Showing what are we really being spoon fed. My friend has international news channels at his home and from what I have seen there is an abundance of knowledge one can take away from than our one sided poorly written stories..
Palmdaddy456
I am also glad he is facing punishment. I also agree with your statement about the media. I think the media is trying to brainwash us and get us all edgy. In a way the conservative and liberal media kinda make you side with one or the other. That is the problem with the nation. We are all willing to argue rather than work together. Cowboy123
DeleteWith law enforcement today you have to really use your head. This officer was just wearing a costume that day. He was not out there to help people or save them from tragic situations. When trying to think about what was going through this cops mind before he opened fire on the teen 16 times is impossible. There were no signs of the teen being violent and he did not have a firearm. This could have easily been avoided if the police force kept better track on who they are hiring. This officer was obviously not mentally stable enough to be carrying a gun, also looking at his previous history for being a sketchy police officer is a sign that he should have been fired a long time ago. This is also a sign that there isn't any community policing being practice in that area. If the cop would have been better at his job he would have known the kid or maybe just knew he wasn't violent and known that he wasn't going to harm anyone.
ReplyDeleteNow on the other side you don't know what was running through this officers head and we don't know how many times this officer has dealt with this kid and thought he was going to open fire on him and his fellow officers.
KLICK456
You bring up some good points and I like the used the sentence about the cop wearing a costume that day. Referring to the Van Dyke as an officer that is not mentally stable. The best part was when you spoke about the lack of community policing in the area. Which I agree with and think most people who also.
DeleteJfl123
I have to admit I read the line about Van Dyke wearing a costume and I laughed even though it is true. I also like how you pointed out how we don’t know the thoughts in the mind of the officer at the time. Why did he shoot the child 16 times? Was it race? Did he just fit into the group of bad cops? Community policing is also an important role in this field and if it is very miniscule or nonexistent that can affect the outcome of the situation. CSI 123
DeletePeople who make the news such as in this case Laquan McDonald, who was fatally shot by Jason Van Dyke are not in the right mind mentally. Mental illness has been stressed day in and out, but does McDonald deserve to get shot for this? Going off the title, “Bad Apple Cops” are too quick to shoot. Our buckets have been tainted and after the dash-cam video surfaced, we always see what could have and should have been done to prevent this situation from going down the way it did. Overall, cops aren’t all trigger happy like the stigma the populace may believe, not everyone in uniform is really a “cop” that has sworn to truly protect and serve.
ReplyDeleteWith that in mind, police officers are equipped for all kinds of scenarios. Just looking at a police officers service belt, you can see a lethal firearm and a variety of non lethal such as a tazer, pepper spray, and a baton. Judging by the situation of life and death the lethal must be drawn, but where is the “threat” from McDonalds non-visible lunge on the officers? Judging by the video, it appears that there was not any time for assessing the situation, nor was there really any noticeable verbal cues. From what I have observed, Van Dyke opened his door, and then began to fire upon McDonald in a barrage of bullets. If you watch the video closely, you can see smoke coming from his body.
Police work is a double edge sword, people either respect you and appreciate you or they don’t and want you dead. Judging by the video, McDonald did have a weapon, BUT there were plenty of officers to back up Van Dyke. Van Dyke failed to handle the situation with his verbal skills which resulted in him murdering the 17 year old child. McDonald was under the drug PCP, which is a halleucijan. (A link will be provided at the bottom of this post for the effects and more facts and information on the drug.)
Going back to the idea of a certain level of risk, but that doesn’t mean to shoot anything that moves due to being in fear of your life. Fear, doesn’t mean you are going to die. No action was taken to talk to the boy. Essentially the police pulled up, Van Dyke took it upon himself to unload his gun into McDonald, then lied in regard to McDonald lunging at the officers.
Overall, this event and many other events involving high profile cases like Ferguson only make this profession harder when people see this. None of your local police officers would agree with Van Dyke’s decision to take the minor's life. I believe what Van Dyke’s ruling is what he deserves.
~ “Police officers take risks and suffer inconveniences to protect the lives, defend civil liberties, secure the safety of fellow citizens, and they endure such risks and tolerate such inconveniences on behalf of strangers. Consequently, police work is one of the more noble and selfless occupations in society. Making a difference in the quality of life is an opportunity that policing provides, and few other professions can offer.” International Association of Chiefs of Police
Palmdaddy456
Link to PCP: http://www.drugs.com/illicit/pcp.html
Clearly Van Dyke is a criminal. Police are held to a higher standard because they are there to protect and serve. It should be less common to see this stuff then it really is. We have been hearing a lot of stories about cops shooting innocent people. Was this race related? Maybe it was. With that being said, I personally try not to look into that stuff. Though every cold blooded murder case is wrong. I don't like to sit there and get worked up about every time someone is to do something so harsh. I know there are plenty of police officers that would say this is completely wrong. I think the next generation of police officers will be less likely to make the same mistakes. Van Dyke needs to know that just because someone is on a unpredictable drug does not give the right to shoot them. He should also suffer the consequences as a criminal and get no special treatment. I don't think it is necessarily fair that a delinquent african american represents his whole race in some peoples eyes. I also don't think it is fair that a dirty cop could represent all police in someones eyes. Each group has there bad people. Yet, each group also has many great people. It is time that we let the civilians be civilians and the police protect and serve. We have a bit of a way to go because these changes can not happen over night but we need to start taking steps in the right direction because clearly this is not a civilized society and the more worked up people get the worst it will be. Cowboy123
ReplyDeletePolice officers everyday witness events that stick with them everyday. I find it hard to judge the officers actions because I can not put myself in his situation. We have no idea what the officer was feeling at that exact time. Personally I feel as if 16 shots was unnecessary. The situation clearly could have been handled differently. Every department is going to have "bad apples" but the same can be said for every business. The only major difference is for example, if being in retail is not the career for you and you make mistakes, it is not a big deal because you might have just under or over charged someone at the register. But, if being a cop is not for you and you don't realize it, the mistakes are life and death or ruining someones life by locking them up. One of the major ways we can prevent this is starting to weed out the unfit people during training and etc. Like I said earlier, we have no idea what the officer was feeling or thinking. With the number of officers that were on scene, they should have been able to surround him and take him down with a less lethal weapon. But also PCP is a very dangerous drug and can cause people to be very unpredictable. 16 shots was too much for this situation and clearly this officer was in the wrong. I do find it concerning that he lied about him lunging at the officers and that makes us wonder what else he lied about. Broncos456
ReplyDeleteWith this shooting, let's look at the facts... Yes Laquan McDonald did have a knife. But was the officer in immediate danger? No he was not. It is an outrage how the young man was shot not once, not twice, and not even three times... but 16. He was shot 16 times. And to make things worse, McDonald was mentally ill. He was afraid and started walking away from the police. That's it. I think the officer being charged with murder is the right thing to do. He needs to be spending the rest of his life in prison for what he did. He could have simple ran after him and tackled him to the ground if need be... not shot him. Taking this back to the idea of community policing.. it's not making it any better. Now the communities are even more furious at the police and it's going to make it much much harder for the police to do their jobs, and it is going to make it harder for the community and police relationship to be restored to its previous peaceful state.
ReplyDeleterose456
Today, it is so hard for someone to make judgment of a police officer unless that said person has been in the officer's shoes. Police officers encounter so many struggles and decisions each day that they have to be able to stand strong and not pass their bias upon citizens. However, any time you hear about a white officer shooting a black civilian, riots break loose. We all know that racism is a rather large issue, and it is possible for officers to be bias. Although, just because there is one bad cop, it does not mean that they need to compare the bad officers to other officers. It needs to be taken into consideration that upon most circumstances, the officer is defending himself, making his best judgement, or protecting the community.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of community, the article mentioned how the community of Chicago might be outraged due to Dyke's bail issued by the judge. Not only did the judge set his bail, Dyke is currently out of jail and presumed innocent. In order to remain at peace, all of the officers need to really stick together and crack down. If they do not take matters into their own hands, this whole situation could turn out like Ferguson. If there were ever a time to "get tough on crime", it would be the time when the community becomes outraged. I'm sure they do not precisely agree with the judge’s decision, or the fact that he is out of jail. By sticking together and getting tough on crime, it would show the community that the officers are not going to back down. Personally, I feel as if what Dyke did was wrong. There were many different ways that the situation could have gone.
On another note, police officers are already required to partake in numerous hours of training, but is that enough? Any time you are reading an article about any offender being shot by an officer, it usually relates to a mental illness. There are a lot of people who don't even know the difference between some of the illnesses, or how to be able to tell if it is existent. In these instances, police officers need to be more aware of the situations at hand. They need to be able to observe and comprehend the situation upon the arrival almost immediately. With that being said, the community should be more knowledgeable of what the goal of a police department is.
KayaJ456
Officers do need to make split second decisions but for the good of the people. There was no need to kill the young man, let alone shot the young boy 16 times? Just overkill if you ask me.
DeleteNumber1whiteguy
What happened in Chicago should never happen. And it is a shame it did. What Van Dyke did was very clear it was murder no two ways about it. When I see something like this happen it proves to me that as cops have to be put on a pedestal taller and larger than anyone else because we have an duty to respect everyone. And most importantly service and protect them no matter the color of there skin, age, and area they live in. the sad part is that everyone failed in this instance not just Van Dyke but the men he served with and the states attorney Anita Alverez. But more importantly this story and many others are part of the reason I want to become a cop. To show the world and the citizens I serve that just maybe there are cops that care and want to do the job for the correct reasons. Even though I don’t like what happened we have to realize that what we see here is not all that happened. There is a beginning to what lead up to the instance in the first place. And when we get that only then will we know if Van Dyke responded appropriately to the circumstance that he was face with. To that most likely he was more in the wrong going by the way the other officers reacted themselves. With him being a cop and like I said cops being held to a higher standard not every cop deserves to be wearing on because you do the things you do not for yourself but for others everyday all shift. And that takes a special kind of person to do the things a cop has to do. And when a cop starts thinking for himself that where he will get in trouble.
ReplyDeleteJfl123
I don't really know where to start....Police in todays society already have an extremely hard time doing their job because of media and because of previous events. In 2015 I do not think that race or any type of discrimination should be present, but sadly this is the world we live in. Keep in mind that the young man that was shot was indeed a YOUNG man, a juvenile and while he was shot he was not approaching the cop or anything of that matter. With that being said I feel like the majority of people will say it was a race issue, and the media will eat that up. I sometimes wonder in some situations "what if the cop was black and the young man was white" would I even know about it? would the media make it a big deal? Its a question I ask myself a lot.. But no matter the color what the officer did was extremely wrong, and it is extremely unfair that he was able to get bailed out. But with that being said I believe it only take a little over a second or two for someone with a blade to reach you if they are sprinting, so maybe the officer did indeed feel like his life was in danger. But I don't find it possible that he fired 16 shots out of fear. That was complete overkill. As I said before we have to keep in mind that this was also a juvenile. So did the officer think that the juvenile would really harm him as he was already walking away? I have more questions than answers but im really just suspicious of how the officer felt that this was the right thing to do.
ReplyDeletelilap123
i think you bring up a great point about the media and the difference in races because those are two factors that can be looked upon by media to make this case more broad than what it is already. Media is a big factor because once viewers see something a to notice that this was wrong that brings in the protest that have been going on lately.
Deletebball456
Police officers seem to be all over the media lately. It is not all officers though. The only thing we see are the bad ones that ruin the reputation. The ones that wear the uniforms as a source of power. The bad thing is that is what the media likes to see. They don't want to see what good the officers are doing. They want to see that hand full that do something bad. It is also now a trend to catch an officer doing something wrong and only video tape the officer using force. Most of the time what we see is an officer protecting himself. We don't know any background. Officers are trained to protect not only the community lives, but theirs as well. If they feel threatened they will do something about it. There are the officers though that use force when the situation does not call for it. They are the ones that see themselves as above everyone else. They also demand respect when they do not really deserve it. Those officers are the ones we see in the media. In that Chicago shooting the officer was definitely in the wrong. Someone can clearly see that the officer was not being attacked or charged. The problem too is that the video is just now coming to the public. That officer should not have shot that kid. He had his hands up and was not doing anything threatening.
ReplyDeletedance456
Many are quick to put those few who commit psychotic-fueled actions into a lump some to create a stereotype for the entire population of the group. We have experienced this for quite some time now with the prevalence of police corruption recently. What is forgotten by many is that just because there are a few "bad apples" does not mean the entire bunch is rotten. Similar to racism and other prejudice, it is important not to judge an entire group based on the negative actions of few.
DeleteOldHollywood
I agree with this. Officers are taking on more power towards themselves and not protecting the community which is causing distrust between policing and the people. The media gets their stories from what is being done that is wrong. There are good police officers still out there they just don’t get as much recognition as the people who do bad things. CSI 789
DeleteIn the article that we were assigned to read, a tragic crime was committed by an officer: a situation that is all too familiar to citizens of the United States. An officer, Jason VanDyke, was recently charged with the murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald after shooting him for 15 seconds, hitting McDonald 16 times. This action was performed and recorded by a patrol car’s dashcam over a year ago in October 2014. The video revealing the heinous crime was never released until recently due to the State Attorney’s lack of action. The actions that were committed by VanDyke shattered me completely. To discover yet another man win a position of power then continue to abuse that power is always an unfortunate finding. While VanDyke’s attorney and witnesses on the scene are declaring that it was a reaction acted upon self defense, this overkill does not justify those statement. Judging by VanDyke’s age, he has most likely been working for the force for a minimum of 10 years. If not, he has had experience in high stress situations, for this is required of a police officer. The defense states that VanDyke was completely and unequivocally fearful. With the experience that VanDyke had, he should have known and had it ingrained into his head the way to properly act when dealing with physical threats. It was stated by a protester that he was angry once VanDyke was released on bail and although it is true that all are innocent until proven guilty, this broke the community’s trust even more than the situation at hand did. Members of the community not only feel betrayed, but they feel as if it is “us vs. them.” Events like these cause a gap to be built between the police force and its community, resulting in less respect, resulting in more crime. VanDyke’s monstrous actions could have been easily prevented by not allowing him a gun in the first place, but since the action has been committed, it is best to only look forward and determine the best way to achieve justice for Laquan.
ReplyDeleteOldHollywood456
Whenever there is a shooting involving a police officer it come up controversial. Many people have different opinions on why they think the act happened the way it did, such as a race factor or the police officer went into the situation such as the training that he previously had. One of the most disappointing things about this case is that a juvenile was shot and killed because of a mistake that he had made. This juvenile may or may not have known better on what he was doing, but at a young age many people chose to make stupid mistakes, Yes, most of these mistakes come with consequences but death should not be a consequence for a mistake made by a young adult. By the other police officers stating in this story that this officer, who fired against the juvenile, was just going off of his basic training, shows that the academy should be teaching a different way to enter into this certain situation, A young boy should not die because he was carrying around a knife and breaking into cars, a young man should get a consequence, but police officers should learn how to problem solve not just fire their guns. No one will know the true reason of why this certain officer shot and killed the juvenile. Only that officer knows the reason why he made that certain act. Media can make up assumptions as to what happened but that does not mean the media is correct in what they are saying. The media bases their information on what they think the viewers want to see and hear.
ReplyDeletebball456
I agree with you when you said that we should be teaching a different way if the officer was just going off what he was taught. However that young boy was carrying a blade that was legal and yes he did put a hole in the tire he still did not deserve to be shot like that . He should of just been arrested and taken into custody. He did not deserve to die and I think that we all agree on that. Green789
DeleteThis article has made me so upset with how they are handling this. Yes the boy was walking around on drugs and he had a 3 inch blade (which is legal for him to have) on him and also used it to flatten the tire of a cop car. However I did not see the boy trying to come at the officer in any way that would make the officer fear for his life. The officer was wrong and I think that he should have to pay for what he has done. He had no right to fire at that young boy for any reason. If you watch the video the boy was even walking away from the police officer and was not coming towards him at all. So as the article said that the officer was "fearing for his life", that is ridiculous because other than the boy putting a hole in the tire he was leaving the police alone. I still can not believe that the court set bail for the officer even after reviewing the video and seeing that he was clearly in the wrong and should not have even fired his weapon. I hope that the court will open up their eyes and see what has truly happened. Another thing that they are not going to look at is the fact that is this an African American boy and this officer has been known to be very aggressive towards them. That right there should be the sign that they need that he was in the wrong. I hope that they find everything that they need to keep this officer off the streets. We do not need someone like this patrolling the streets we need people that are going to help us and protect us not harm us. Green789
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty foul for that cop to do what he did, it's sick and disheartening. I wish it was possible to see what type a person a cop is and what their motive is for the community.Along with the judge she does not deserve her job anymore because anybody like her ppl with that type of mind Wil be free of no charge nd it's really scary to know that it's ppl on the streets walking around like their God thinking they did the most important. I feel sorry for that family I sure will be working hard to get justice especially knowing he was ill and all they could do was kill him. Thought less act. Non of this is justifiable under any circumstances. LifeImagine789
DeleteHow many times do we have to hear about these so called cops, these cops are simply pathetic and deserve no service on protecting the community. We are loosing young ones because of them and it's not fair let alone by our own race, and still aren't help part of it. It's true to see that this cop really wasn't in fear of his life because first off the tire was the one that got ruined then the kid walked away so it's pretty obvious the cops wants to fake and take the kids life because he was probably mad his tired got messed up. The cop is very much boogy and so is the screwed up mind of the judge that set his tail free. I would like to know how the heck he got that bail money if it wasn't him or the judeg, it must have been somebody working to get him out. Lord knows this was wrong and that whatever may happen to him, whatever he doing he's going to get what he deserve along with the other silly low life ass cops that think their safe. We all know these cops didn't want or would save the community but themselves in the community nd would do just about anything to make them look sweet. LifeImagine789
ReplyDeleteJason Van Dyke is not a police officer. He is a man on a power trip wearing a badge and a gun. He was not justified in the shooting of this kid. Yes, Laquan McDonald had a knife , but Van Dyke and the other officers were well out of range of McDonald. McDonald was also under the influence of PCP and most likely didn't know what was going on in his altered state of consciousness. Being shot 16 times was also a total overkill. McDonald was probably dead after the first few shots. The video on the website is cut short and you only are able to see a few shots. After watching the entire video you see McDonald body twitching on the ground not because he is dead, but because he is continuously being shot. Van Dyke then goes over to McDonald and kicks the knife out of his hand because a dead person can obviously still hurt you when he has a knife. I can't say for sure that this shooting is a race thing or not, i'm not 100% sure. Would Van Dyke have shot this man if he were white? Would he have been shot 16 times if he were white? However, I don't think Van Dyke should be charged with first degree murder, but instead be charged with second degree murder. I don't think Van Dyke planned to shoot this man when he woke up that day or was planning it for weeks. It may have possibly been a nervous reaction to the situation. We don't know all of the facts because the dash camera only shows a small portion of it. He was possibly not in a lot of danger. There were other officers who also had guns and could protect and give him back up. Maybe if he and the other police officers were trained in talking to people under the influence and mentally unstable people this could have turned out a lot better than it did. Van dyke was very wrong for what he did and i think he deserves to be punished for it.
ReplyDeleteGodFieri456
Looking into Officer Van Dyke, he has had over 20 previous complaints and two lawsuits filed against him since he started in 2001. If an officer has had that many complaints, why is he still an officer? I know officers take an oath to protect and serve...protect the surrounding communities by all costs. But shooting a person, 16 times seems like an overkill. Laquan is still a minor, so they should have taken a different approach to the whole situation. Yes, he had a three inch blade on him, but there are other ways to get the blade away from him. You don't just shoot a person 16 times. Maybe once to get him to stop what hes doing but not 16. I understand that he "lunged" himself at Van Dyke, and he was just "protecting" himself from the knife, but while Van Dykes history with racial slurs, manhandling suspects, and unjustifiably pointing his gun at arrestees. It seemed like there was more to the story that never got told. In order to be an officer, there is so much more than just arresting people. You have to be able to connect with people and know where they are coming from. If someone grew up in a home where there was a lot of violence, and drugs, then the children that come out of that house will most likely be using drugs, and some sort of violence. Van Dyke was not a police officer. He was just an ordinary guy who put on the uniform and carried a gun. He let all the power that the police have get over his head and made it seem like he was the boss of everything. He should not have been able to keep his position after the 20 complaints and two law suits that were filed against him.
ReplyDeleteFBI123
I agree with all you have said honestly. I took another approach at the situation but did include the facts of the complaints against officer Van Dyke. He is the slum of police officers and what they stand for. Slashing tires does not deserve the death penalty in which McDonald received 16 bullets for that matter. Instead of using his taser gun that would have been the better suit for this situation. Too many occurrences where the power goes to the police mans head. I feel for the police officers who do the job right, but now have the community grow hate for them. The youth will see that they are enemies due to one cop deciding to shoot their neighbor, brother, cousin, friend and filling him with 16 bullets.
Deleterugby123
Officer Van Dyke should not have been there anyway. Looking at his track record, he has received many complaints. Not being close to ones community and have had many complaints is the sign of a crooked cop. Shooting a 17 year old 16 times is beyond unnecessary and from any knowledge that I have, they do not teach you in the academy to shoot juveniles if they are acting up. Also from what I noticed what USA today has done, they have once again portrayed it to be an act of racism. Stating Mcdonalds and Van Dyke's race numerous times. I find that to be the issue with trying to label or stigmatize youth. Why must one mention someone's race? A 17 year old died. PERIOD. His nationality has nothing to with the situation as it was blown up when they have showed and emphasized that the officer who shot McDonald was white. No one would naturally ask someone who killed someone their nationality. But since it is so advertised, it has turned into a race war and youth see's all the mess that goes on from police officers. Juveniles will only continue to rebel against authority if the hate between the feds and them begin to grow even more. The delinquents will never learn from anyone who they despise. Being labeled as the victim or the offender also can take a toll on one's personal identity whether it is good or bad. How must youth begin to trust police officers if the only thing that they see is cops harassing and killing your brothers and sisters. The firing of the police chief is a step in the right direction as he blatantly avoided the complaints of citizens. Officer Van Dyke is the reason why he makes police officers look unprofessional and the "enemy". When in reality there are more good cops than bad cops. Media has a big affect on this as well, as all you see on t.v is white cop kills 17 year old black minor. Of course the youth sees all of this and creates hate and not connection.
ReplyDeleteRugby123
The entire shooting with van Dyke and Labuan was unnecessary and could have definitely been avoided . It is very tough to be a cop today , no matter what state your in . Some officers in the police force have taken up the wrong career so they're not the best at what they're supposed to be doing , which is to protect and serve the public . It was much more people willing to help him hide this tragedy than the media is exposing to the American public to see . It's really disturbing to see that people in this world is seriously cruel . It made no sense to me at all to continuously shoot Labuan after he was down on the ground . In a way I feel like the police force should be more complicated because with officers like him I feel like it's no challenge at all to get in . Too many officers like him ,the world will be nothing . Everyone would probably be afraid to go out , especially if we can't carry legal weapons to protect ourselves . It's simple and clear that this case was first degree murder officer van dyke should have been punished more severely , especially after he tried to destroy all evidence . This family have no justice . Cashes123
ReplyDeleteThey quoted someone in the article stating that the video did not accurately show what all went down but I think it showed enough . Although the video may not show everything it is the only thing that the court has to go by and looking at it with all the other things discussed in the case does lead to an unjustified shooting in my opinion. If police officers were doing their job properly they should not have to worry about how much or how little a camera shows of them because if they do the right things then they will always be caught on camera doing the right things and would not have to use to excuse of the camera not showing the whole thing, or laws should be passed to have the on body cameras for all officers so we always have their prospective of the situation. This shooting would be unjustified in my opinion because from the video it shows about three to four police cars around the victim and all he had was a three inch blade on him and the officer is trying to say that he had done something so crazy with that knife that four officers were not able to get themselves in position to taze the man and arrest him. Also I didn’t like the fact that the other officers were donating their money to bail out their co-worker when in the article it says that not one of the other officers had fired one shot which to me means that they did not think the situation had called for shots to be fired but them putting up money for his bail makes it seem like they agree with the choice of the officer. I feel that this certain situation just proves how much the ability of communication is within the field. I think that if the officer was better with his communication that he would have been able to take many other approaches to the situation that would have resulting in not shooting his gun but instead he just shot the man and gave him no chance. -Acerunner789
ReplyDeleteThe video clearly showed that there was no need for self defense. The saying taking a knife to a gun fight you will loss is an accurate representation of what happened in this video. Not only did the officer have guns to "threaten" the suspect, but had number as well. You use a gun as a last resort form of self defense and ONLY use it when your life is severely threaten first. It amazes me that the officer was able to make bond. Why would the department try defending a corrupt cop as well? Maybe it's because they don't want the media thinking that he is a bad cop and trying to make them seem better then they actually are? What ever the answer is this officer needs to be punished for his unjustifiable actions. Just like the officers at Ferguson were when the whole county was forced to fire all the officers and rethink their way of approaching community based policing, I believe that Chicago by have to rethink their way of approaching community based policing as well. Maybe his actions where justified to start firing but to end up firing 16 times? That's insane! The only people that overkill like that are murders who have a huge grudge against there victim or mentally insane people who are out for blood. Non of what officer Van Dyke did seem ligament to me and anything that is coming to him is well deserved.
ReplyDeleteNumber1Whiteguy
Slashing a hole in a police car’s tire is not something that requires the officer to shoot and kill someone sixteen times. In the article, it talks about 13 of those 16 times he was already on the ground. Van Dyke was not someone who was “fearing for his life” and acting in self-defense. McDonald was walking away from the police officers and not being of any threat to them. The five other officers that were on the scene did not fire their weapons, but what gave Van Dyke that option to fire? Was it a racial issue? Will we ever know why? It’s possible but maybe not. I like that it says “there are certain things that quite frankly nobody else knows.” There probably is but because of the media there is no way that we can get an exact answer. I was watching the news about the most recent shooting in California and I couldn’t stand to watch it anymore because they were filling it with speculations because they didn’t have a confirmed story yet. I think Van Dyke should be charged with first degree murder and NOT out on bond right now. More and more shootings are happening every day. We can continue to talk about things like this happening around the world, but we have to be the ones to overcome this. To do the right thing. CSI 123
ReplyDeleteIn today’s world racial issues are still a very serious matter, especially with the number of shootings that have occurred where members of opposite races have been shot by police officers, most notably white officers shooting black suspects. In the case of Van Dyke I believe that he should be guilty of the crime he committed. There is video evidence to support the belief that this shooting was over the top and could have been caused by racial bias due to the high crime rates of Chicago, but there is something telling me that there is more not being shown that happened. Shooting someone 13 times is a bit excessive in a lot of scenarios where a police officer’s life is not being threatened. Not to mention shooting someone while they are already on the ground. When it comes to the issue of Van Dyke being able to post bail for himself he can do that, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is going to sit back and let it happen. It does create a lot of racial tension, but if you were to deny him of bail, you would also have to deny a lot of other suspects of crimes bail and it would cause a slippery slope affect. However I believe that it could cause a lot more protests that could become violent because of the nature of the crime that Van Dyke is being charged with. CSI 789
ReplyDeleteWhat happened can swing both ways. The kid did not deserve what was given to him and neither did the cop. The officer was acting out of self defense when he reportedly thought the kid was lunging at him, but they were completely separated to where the child was not even close to him as seen in the video. The only explanation I have for that is that the officer was scared and just acted out to what he maybe thought was the right thing to do. The child should have known better and just stopped and behaved correctly and the police officer should of used something else that he had on his side. Are these officers forgetting that they have tasers on their belt? Are the forgetting that these children are completely immature and do not know how to behave properly yet? I believe this is a toss up because the child does need justice for what went wrong in this officers mistake and the cop should not get in trouble for doing what he thought was right at the time of the incident. If we did not have all off these common incidents within the past few years I don't think that we would have such a controversy over this. If none of these cases of officers killing African Americans then I think that we would of just treated this as a everyday shooting incident of self defense. So that is why there is such a dilemma with these cases lately of racism.
ReplyDelete-Ibanez123
I like how in the title it says "one bad apple". I talked to a police officer at a game I went to recently and this was exactly how he described it. He stated "i took this job to do good things and help people, but idots ruin our image and make our job damn near impossible". Which I could see understandable, why would the public respect a cop if they think that they are just out to get them and not actually help them. The correctional system is here to rehabilitate and help people and get them on the right track. this was a minor that was shot. You cant help someone by shooting them 16 times. The kid was slashing tires, not a very uncommon thing for teenagers to do. What should have been done was the teen should have been taken into custody and dealt with the right way. And if enough fair punishment was given I doubt they would have had this problem with him again.
ReplyDeletelilap789
This is true. Stigmatizing all cops as a whole is not very accurate or the right thing to do but when the media gets a hold of information like this they blow it up so they can have a story but they do not realize that when they do that it causes a huge uproar that makes people dislike all police instead of a select few. Not every cop is a great cop and not every cop makes good decisions but generalizing a group of people is not right by any means. Teens are also going to make mistakes and do bad things but to shoot and kill a teen that was only slashing tires is outrageous. In this situation they should have used non-lethal way to get him away from the knife that way instead of killing him they could have rehabilitated him and let him get a second chance at life rather then ending it.
Delete36chambers123
The stigmatization of all cops being "bad" has really plagued our society in a very negative way. This distrust between officers and the community, I feel, play a huge part in why these unfortunate events take place. It creates a sense of fear among the public that the officers are only meant to incriminate them rather than provide them with protective social services. Hopefully as time goes on we can all forget about the general misconception of all cops being bad. -Pack123
DeleteThis video is quite a small amount of information to go off of. The way it is portrayed makes it seem like the police shot the teen for no reason. Sure, he was armed with a knife but there were other ways to go about taking the teen down rather than shooting him 16 times. Police should have a taser that they could have used to disarm the teen at least or some sort of gun that does not kill on hit. They did not even get to get the teens side of the story before they killed him. The teen was high on PCP which could potentially portray how his life at home was. He could have been affected by social control theory in the way of maybe his parents do hard drugs and as a child seeing that could make it more likely to do hard drugs because he see's the people in his life around him doing such things. If that is the case then that might make sense as to why he was on the drug in the first place. They should have took a much more reasonable approach and got the kid some drug rehabilitation because he could have been a very important person and done great things with his life after that. He could potentially be apart of the 80 percent of teens that get arrested and never return. IT also puts a stigma on the police because teens now more than ever have access to media whether it be watching the news or seeing posts or articles on the internet but when youth see violence being done to them for something that could have been avoided they will think twice before trusting a police officer when if they ever encounter one. When that child grows up he or she might tell their children that the police are not there to help but to hurt them and when you have millions of people seeing this that could make for a pretty bad future if incidents like these continue to happen.
ReplyDelete36chambers123
This really is an unfortunate event that took place. However the way the officer handled the situation was very poor and cost the life of a young man. I did like how the title was named "one bad apple" as lilap789 stated. It really points to the idea that not all cops are bad however there are a bad cops out there. The key to this is we, as a criminal justice system, need to find out which officers are at risk to perform outrageous acts like the murder of Laquan McDonald. With the offense McDonald was committing, there was no need for the officer to take the action he did. Hopefully we can learn from these unfortunate events for this is just one of many like it. -Pack123
ReplyDeleteThe days that our parents grew up in are gone, today shows anything is possible, in terms of things going wrong. The shootings, terrorist activities, and every police movement is immediately targeted by the media and everyone else. What people simply need to do is respect the police again and stuff just won't happen. We simply need to make basically a no "bs" rule. If people don't antagonize the police and do these sort of things to them that have lead up to these events, nothing will happen. Now back to the trial stuff. We need to have the media stop being biased, that could solve a lot of problems. Showing only parts of the clip to the public to get reactions and ratings should not be aloud and should be punishable. The protests as well; what are they protesting about? Just like other previous police shootings, everyone flips out and says that they are tired of being oppressed by the police and everything. They aren't protesting for something like people were in the 50's, they are doing it just because they can. They don't need to protest, that's the courts job to do what is right if he did wrong. They need to just go home and wait for the results. Then protest if you feel like it, but don't demand shutting down one of the biggest areas in the city to try and state something we already know. We need to rethink our mentalities toward the people that keep us safe. People should thank our police for what they do not treat them like evil. We simply need to all just simply grow a brain, get some common sense, and get into reality. Ludwig123
ReplyDeleteI agree with you partially ludwig. People need to wake up and realize that same officers they're protesting against today, could be at their doorstep tomorrow taking care of a service for them. Where I disagree with you at is stopping the people from protesting. If we do that, then we would be violating their 1st Amendment right, freedom of speech. But, to settle media problems, they show what they have. I wouldn't fully blame the media on this one. Explain the part when Van Dyke deleted the film from burger king? But yes, people need to respect Law Enforcement period. Going into this field, and working security in one of Peoria's largest attraction, the golden rule better be imprinted in our brain before we step foot to enforce any rule or law. ThinBlue94789
DeleteThe title alone sets the attitude for the community between law enforcement. You think things are going well with the relationship of the community and law enforcement, until one bad apple spoils the bunch. Van was totally unjustified for gunning down McDonald. We discussed this situation and reenacted similar scenarios to this situation for the police explorers. It’s unknown to any eye, trained or not, that in a split second that you don’t know if someone is holding a cellphone or a gun. But it as well depends on how intense the situation was. McDonald may have been welding a knife, however in the video, at no point do you see McDonald lunge towards Van Dyke, as it stated in the article. Only time Deadly is used when the officer’s life or someone else life is in danger, and running a risk of being killed. Again, referring to the video, at no point did it seem at any point that Van Dyke life was in danger. Yes. McDonald did have a blade. But he did not lunge at any officer and also his back was turned to the officers. Officers are trained to shoot, if ever have to, to shoot two to the body, one to the head. Unfortunately, McDonald received 16 shots. That’s 13 more than what officers are trained to shoot to stop a threat if in danger. Van Dyke showed that he let adrenaline and rage into his system, hence explaining the shooting of McDonald while he is down on the ground. Do I believe Van Dyke is going to be indicted on First Degree? No. Voluntary Manslaughter? Yes. Only because it’ll be difficult to prove he had motive and it was intentional, disregarding the 16 shots. Also to be honest, because he’s part of a union, I believe he’s going to take a plea deal. ThinBlue94789
ReplyDelete