In my view, one who is willing to sacrifice one's own life to help others, is a hero.
The case in question, shooting an 18-year old person seems a bit extreme, but he was the criminal, not the victim. When you choose to break the law, you choose the consequences it will have.
The case in question, shooting an 18-year old person seems a bit extreme, but he was the criminal, not the victim. When you choose to break the law, you choose the consequences it will have.
Exactly...
If anyone arms themselves to commit a crime....18 or 80...they know what to expect in return if confronted by police & threaten them, or a member of the community....
If someone confronts police with any kind of seemingly threatening weapon...even a chocolate handgun that can't be differentiated in low light or distance etc....they know what to expect....police are justified to react...
It's great in hindsight to be able to dissect these events and say how they could have been handled better....but, in many situations police would only have a split second or a few seconds to observe, process and react..... They are trained what to do in these situations....and to avoid injury or death, to themselves and/or community, their training should kick in...
For the last 3 years I've worked with a police special investigations squad.....when our guys and gals don their sidearms to go out to an arrest, they can never be 100% sure what they're walking into.....as a citizen, I expect them to protect the community....and themselves...... we are getting far too soft on criminals.... I've often talked to them....all senior detectives....about experiences they've had in the past.....and situations they have talked down in their years rising through the ranks.....you never get to hear of them in the media unless it's a high profile situation....
When people with mental illness or very distraught from volatile domestic situations are killed or injured, it is tragic and I'm sure police try their best for a peaceful resolution....but I'd imagine it's a most dangerous situation....people not thinking rationally and not caring for their own personal safety....
I wouldn't say these police mentioned here were heroes....just doing the job they are trained to do...but I'm sure there are many situations that they handle that go unnoticed....and undocumented in the media....that are heroic....you don't need medals and recognition to be a hero. I do think anyone who has a job where he/she may be ultimately putting his/her life on the line in daily duty....is heroic though....takes a special kind of person, and I often think of the underlying stress this puts on their spouses and families too...
All that being said....there is always room for more upgrading of procedures...and more training....and looking for alternatives....not that tasers and sprays seem to have been too successful....
We all have choices....sometimes those choices are poor choices...which prove to be fatal....I would far rather the crim pay the price....than the cop...(link)..
I salute all the unsung heroes out there...of whom I'm sure there are many....
Shooting and killing an 18 y/o does not qualify for hero status, IMHO. To have talked him down and safelt secured the hostage without bloodshed, however, would have. Cops (and others) have become gun happy and too ofter shoot first, ask questions later.
I was at the Logan Hospital outside Brisbane a few years back when an unarmed and highly disturbed mental patient was refused treatment then later shot dead by police because he became 'uncontrollable' Police say that the man lunged at them with a knife, but he was a good 4 - 5 metres away and posed them no imminent/immediate threat. The fatality could have easily been prevented had the cops been observant enough and took evasive measures. The alleged knife turned out to be a metal tag on the man's keychain and wouldn't have cut soft butter... and with several cops in attendance, it beats me why they couldn't have used their self defence training to merely subdue the man until he was sedated.
To me, a hero is somebody who selflessly gives their time and own money the better the lot of those less fortunate than themselves. Australian, Professor Fred Hollows was one such man. Even though he was terminally ill himself, he continued to treat eye patients in 3rd World nations right up until he was no longer able to through ill health. There are far too many more like him to mention, but these are the people who deserve our admiration and respect because they are humble folk who care about their fellow man/woman.
A couple of days ago in romanian and spanish news there was a case of a real hero. A romanian man who saved 2 spanish people from drowning but unfortunately he couldn't make it Now that's a real hero. But I guess those cops are heroes too, they saved at least one life. Nobody can really know what that kid was capable of. I wish our cops could be named heroes for using their guns in these kind of situation. But unfortunately our legislation has many problems and our cops are affraid to make use of the guns cuz they might end up being sued or even worst. Those 2 cops did what they had to do, it should be pretty simple: you broke the laws, you threathen people lives, then you should pay!
The fallacy in dissecting the event in retrospect is that time in not divisable into infinitely many freeze frames. It is continuous and moves forward. You cannot go backwards and say "They should have...". True, they might have acted differently, but that "might have" could have had many tragic consequences. In that case we'd be asking, "Why didn't they just shoot him...they had guns, didn't they?".
Also true is that there are abuses. All you can ask in cases like this is "Try your best to cool it down and try not to do harm, but if you see you can't, act to save the innocent." None of us were in this situation, and the OP doesn't provide many details.
Hero? If you go by strict dictionary definition, yes. They were in danger of losing their lives (presumably) as on doesn't take a hostage by holding a swizzle stick to his/her throat and threating harm. The 18 year old was intoxicated and/or deranged and may well have been armed. That only makes him more dangerous as whatever judgment he had would have been compromised.
I don't think anything is gained by second guessing.
I do know that if someone was threatening my life and a police officer (or other) dispatched the offender, I wouldn't shed a tear and would find a way to thank those officers!
