The liberal solution to arrests that turn deadly: just let criminals escape
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Here's a serious question for liberals: At what point is it okay to arrest a suspected criminal?
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The answer apparently falls somewhere between, "When the suspect has given his consent" and "never."
Washington Post liberal Paul Butler weighed in last week on the police shooting death of Andrew Brown in Elizabeth City, N.C., telling his readers that the episode could have been avoided if Brown, who was wanted for distributing drugs, had simply been allowed to get away.
"The reasonable thing, in this case, would be for the cops to get out of the way and let Brown escape," wrote Butler. "They could have arrested him another time; they knew where he lived and what his car looked like."
They could have arrested him another time. Really? When? Why was it unacceptable timing when the police had a warrant and had planned the apprehension in advance? Liberals say it's because Brown tried to escape, which then created a dangerous situation and then ended up with Brown dead from a gun shot wound to the head. But two things. First, who's to say Brown won't resist arrest the same way next time you try? When he does, do the police just have to let him go yet again? Should he be permitted to evade arrest indefinitely in this manner?
Second, whose fault is it that there was a dangerous situation? Brown was suspected of breaking the law by selling cocaine and fentanyl-laced heroin. The way this is supposed to work is that police obtain an arrest warrant and then detain the suspect. There's nothing in there about ensuring that it's a convenient time for the criminal to go to jail. (Brown had a litany of previous convictions, 12 of which were drug-related.)
Video footage of the attempted arrest showed several police officers in a pickup truck driving to Brown's home, where they found him inside his car. They surrounded the vehicle while telling him to exit. Then Brown backed the car up then drove forward in an attempt to flee, apparently striking one of the officers with the right front of the car. As Brown peeled away, police fired the multiple shots which ultimately killed him.
Attempting to evade arrest not only endangers the safety of the suspect and the police, but also the rest of the public. Brown could have accidentally run over a random pedestrian when he chose to floor it in his BMW.
And again, if police had chosen to allow Brown to flee, why should it be assumed that the next time they tried to arrest him that the same thing won't happen again? Maybe next time he will be waiting at his home with a gun. Maybe Paul Butler should be sent to execute arrests that don't go smoothly on the first try.
There's no way around it. If police can't conduct an arrest without deferring to the wishes of a dangerous suspect, then there is no point in enforcing the law. But at least for now, crime is still illegal.
Tags:Opinion, Beltway Confidential, Crime, Police, Black Lives Matter
Original Author:Eddie Scarry
Original Location:The liberal solution to arrests that turn deadly: just let criminals escape
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I am sure the officers involved are contrite about attempting to arrest someone when it was obviously inconvenient for the suspect.
Defund the police means funding the mortuaries.
Sadly, too few realize the truth in that statement.
Coming to a city near you soon................unless sanity is restored soon.
Maybe instead of having police serve and execute warrants, we can get a cadre of woke progressive mental health experts to take on those tasks just in case the people named in the warrants don't want to be arrested that day.
I'm almost positive that it would make America a much safer place.
So long as they BTOBB I am all for it.
I don't know what that means.
As my former Ranger friend would say Bring Their Own Body Bags.
Ah! Thanks!!