Several of you on Facebook know that I have a very unique background that provides me with both sides of perspective on the shooting in Ferguson, MO. I paid my way through college by working as a Joplin Police Officer on the midnight shift. I am now a criminal defense attorney. I have a son that is white. I also have a son that is black. Because of all of this, people have asked my opinion of what happened quite often in the past couple of weeks. Is there still an issue with racism in America? Absolutely. Our family has experienced it first-hand. Do I believe that racism is what caused Mike Brown to get shot by a police officer? I do not. We still dont know what happened that day, and probably wont for quite some time. What I do know is this: When I was a police officer, I owed it to Carmen and Devyn (she was our only child at the time) to live through every shift. I am amazed by the number of times that I have been asked Why didnt the cop just shoot him in the leg? I wasnt going to put anything on Facebook about the subject until I read a great article with video links this morning. I am sharing it to help shed some light to those without a police background about the use of force. I am not jumping to conclusions. If the officer shot him without justification, he should be prosecuted. If the facts show that Mr. Brown attacked the officer, then his own actions led to his death. I tell my clients that I can only defend them if they are alive, and that their chances of living go down dramatically if they initiate a confrontation with an officer. Only time will tell which happened in the Ferguson case. What I do know is that when presented with what is perceived as a life-threatening situation, every police officer has in the back of his mind the exact same thing that our Patrol Sergeant told us when I was working the street 20 years ago - I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6…
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 14:34:22 +0000
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