News-Record.com

Law enforcement officials are highly trained in the use of firearms, when to use a firearm and the ability to use excellent judgement.
As a law enforcement officer back in the 1970's, I shot 2 violent criminals. One was shooting at me and fired 4 rounds before I returned fire. The criminal did care care where his bullets flew. We were in a department store parking lot 5 days before Christmas. I took the time to select my target area and make sure that if my round did not hit the criminal, it would not hit anyone else. My round flew true, and the perp was down. The other shooting took place in a wooded field. The "funny" part was--both criminals were hit in the left buttocks? Both survived the shootings.
The point of this is, when a law enforcement officer uses his firearm, everything they have learned and practiced comes into tight focus. They realize that if they do not fire on the criminal, this thug will hurt or kill another person.
The shooting takes place within a few seconds. Evert law enforcement shooting ends with the officers involved scared, re-assessing everything, and hoping that after weeks of study, the various judgement panels will determine that their actions were justified.
All the rest of us can jump to immediate conclusions of what you think happened. But, unless you have worn the shoes and walked in the steps of law enforcement, you have not earned the right to make that judgement.
Both of the shootings I was involved in were ruled legal and justifiable. Both thugs were sent to prison.
The officer did his job as trained, now let the legal panels do theirs. The Dog's outa here.
Crime Dog

Oh, one more thing, the good news! One more violent thug has been removed from society, forever. That's good. I know that he had family that loved him. However, better his family cry over his violent death, than the family of an innocent person eventually killed by this mindless, violent monster. The Dog's outa here, again.
Crime Dog

I don't think Allen Johnson exactly judged the outcome in his editorial. He rode the fence in expressing concern for the both criminal and officer, and for the reasons that lead to the deadly confrontation in the first place. What I do find completely useless is the title and basic point of the piece. Perhaps he and/or the editorial staff of the N&R think that there IS NOT close scrutiny of deadly police incidents.

If that's what they think, that assumption is absolutely wrong, as any death caused by a police officer is investigated by both the local and state agencies (SBI). There is also an internal review EVERY time an officer kills somebody. That officer is placed on a three day paid suspension, and then put on light duty (a desk job) for months while every last detail is rehashed. It's a stressful time that no officer ever wants to deal with.

If the N&R staff thinks that there IS close scrutiny given to such incidents, then the editorial is no more than another fluff piece wasting space in the paper. It's simply a chance for someone on the staff to pontificate and try to sound like the moral conscience of the community. Quite boring.

As for the origin of the incident, any felony larceny is well within the bounds of justification for a high speed pursuit. Any police agency in the country that abides by a pursuit policy (some that have abondoned pursuits attempt to call in other agencies like county or SHP to assist whenever possible) will pursue for felonies when the suspect is yet unidentified. The editorial at the least suggested that a larceny of jewelry may not be important enough to justify a police pursuit. That line of reasoning would be crushed if law enforcement ever adopted a similar policy, and criminals knew that all they have to do to get away is drive fast.

Ironically, Allen Johnson wrote critically two months ago of a store owner defending himself with a firearm while being shot at by a would-be robber/murderer. If police were to stop chasing felons, protection of person and property would fall much more heavily on the citizen. I can't quite figure out the logic in having citizens stand down while being robbed or shot at, only to have police fall back while the criminal speeds away. We all better stay in the house if that fantasy ever becomes reality.

"Law enforcement officials are highly trained in the use of firearms, when to use a firearm and the ability to use excellent judgement. ".......
dog apparently not all officers are highly trained as you seem to portray. take a few minutes to watch this video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7ufT_6Kgy0

the fool then proceeded to bring more guns out - the children sound terrified and at least one adult takes a child out of the room. the empty gun he said he was holding could have easily killed or seriously injured one of those children. this 'professional' didn't even check to see if one was in the chamber, fortunately he shot himself and not someone else. yeah he use excellent judgment.