Parkland parents and survivors condemn acquittal of ‘coward’ school policeman

HAYSIE

Parkland parents and survivors condemn acquittal of ‘coward’ school policeman over mass shooting response



https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/parkland-parents-and-survivors-condemn-acquittal-of-coward-school-policeman-over-mass-shooting-response/ar-AA1dhh5U?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=efeb086baac24cca963e55cfb6775e9f&ei=29

TheEdge949

I get really angry when people with no understanding of what it's like to truly fear for your life feel qualified to judge others.

Cops, soldiers, fire fighters, rescue personnel, asset protection officers and the like are first and foremost HUMAN, with all the traits, peculiarities and flaws that come with being a human.

The need to be a hero runs as far from reason and understanding as the need to be a coward.

You can train a person to respond to a threat, you can arm that person, you can even increase the chances of a successful engagement with the right equipment. But, until the moment comes when it's all on top and you think that this is where you, end you can never predict how someone will act.

I'm not saying that the officer isn't open to criticism but perspective and understanding are required not hyperbole and hostility.

HAYSIE

TheEdge949 said:

I get really angry when people with no understanding of what it's like to truly fear for your life feel qualified to judge others.

Cops, soldiers, fire fighters, rescue personnel, asset protection officers and the like are first and foremost HUMAN, with all the traits, peculiarities and flaws that come with being a human.

The need to be a hero runs as far from reason and understanding as the need to be a coward.

You can train a person to respond to a threat, you can arm that person, you can even increase the chances of a successful engagement with the right equipment. But, until the moment comes when it's all on top and you think that this is where you, end you can never predict how someone will act.

I'm not saying that the officer isn't open to criticism but perspective and understanding are required not hyperbole and hostility.

“Remember even when there ARE cops on campus doesn’t mean they will do a **** thing and when they don’t the system does NOTHING,” the activist David Hogg, a student at the time of the shooting, wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “The cop in Parkland like those in Uvalde wasn’t a good guy with a gun, he was a coward with a gun.”

“He was the only officer on campus with a gun while the defenseless were slaughtered,” Max Schachter, father of the slain Alex Schachter, added on Twitter. “He knew where the shots were coming from. He could’ve gone in to save them but he chose to run and hide. Not only was he a coward, but he instructed other officers to stay 500 feet away and not go in. Even after officers ran into the building he chose not to help or render aid to the victims. He stayed hidden behind a concrete pillar for 40 minutes and never ever went into the building.”

TheEdge949

That's exactly my point. Nobody can know how they will react until they are in that situation. It's ok to say I would do this or I would do that or to hypothesise what should be done.

Until it's you in that situation you will never know.

It's not the same thing but I've seen so called hard men run from a pitched battle where knives, axes, machetes, baseball bats, hammers and the like have been used whilst people you would never expect to stand their ground, did just that, and had my back.

I don't begrudge those who chose to retreat, in a different time under different circumstances I may have chosen to do the same.

Like I stated, the man deserves criticism, maybe even contempt but not hatred. If the parents want to hate, then hate the gunman and the system that allows these atrocities to continue.

HAYSIE

TheEdge949 said:

That's exactly my point. Nobody can know how they will react until they are in that situation. It's ok to say I would do this or I would do that or to hypothesise what should be done.

Until it's you in that situation you will never know.

It's not the same thing but I've seen so called hard men run from a pitched battle where knives, axes, machetes, baseball bats, hammers and the like have been used whilst people you would never expect to stand their ground, did just that, and had my back.

I don't begrudge those who chose to retreat, in a different time under different circumstances I may have chosen to do the same.

Like I stated, the man deserves criticism, maybe even contempt but not hatred. If the parents want to hate, then hate the gunman and the system that allows these atrocities to continue.

I agree that none of us know how we would react in a particular situation.
I also think that the majority of us dont really know how the parents feel.
I think this is completely different to the example you quoted.
The real difference is that it was his job to protect the children.
People who prefer to be hiding behind pillars while defenceless children get massacred shouldnt be doing his job.
It is easy to see why the parents resent his actions.
I dont suppose that he will have many friends left.

VespaPX

Parkland cop gets vilified for not reacting.

Paris cop gets vilified (charged with murder) for over-reacting.

Who would want that job?

TheEdge949

HAYSIE said:

TheEdge949 said:

That's exactly my point. Nobody can know how they will react until they are in that situation. It's ok to say I would do this or I would do that or to hypothesise what should be done.

Until it's you in that situation you will never know.

It's not the same thing but I've seen so called hard men run from a pitched battle where knives, axes, machetes, baseball bats, hammers and the like have been used whilst people you would never expect to stand their ground, did just that, and had my back.

I don't begrudge those who chose to retreat, in a different time under different circumstances I may have chosen to do the same.

Like I stated, the man deserves criticism, maybe even contempt but not hatred. If the parents want to hate, then hate the gunman and the system that allows these atrocities to continue.

I agree that none of us know how we would react in a particular situation.
I also think that the majority of us dont really know how the parents feel.
I think this is completely different to the example you quoted.
The real difference is that it was his job to protect the children.
People who prefer to be hiding behind pillars while defenceless children get massacred shouldnt be doing his job.
It is easy to see why the parents resent his actions.
I dont suppose that he will have many friends left.

Don't dispute that although in the example I quoted we were being paid, and well paid at that, to prevent the assailants from gaining entry to a particular social event.

My point is that people who are heaping vitriol on him are coming at it from a point of ignorance.

You don't realise that you shouldn't be doing the job until you should be doing it and cannot through fear, terror and fright.

Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to do the right thing in the presence of fear. Some people can, others can't.

HAYSIE

TheEdge949 said:

HAYSIE said:

TheEdge949 said:

That's exactly my point. Nobody can know how they will react until they are in that situation. It's ok to say I would do this or I would do that or to hypothesise what should be done.

Until it's you in that situation you will never know.

It's not the same thing but I've seen so called hard men run from a pitched battle where knives, axes, machetes, baseball bats, hammers and the like have been used whilst people you would never expect to stand their ground, did just that, and had my back.

I don't begrudge those who chose to retreat, in a different time under different circumstances I may have chosen to do the same.

Like I stated, the man deserves criticism, maybe even contempt but not hatred. If the parents want to hate, then hate the gunman and the system that allows these atrocities to continue.

I agree that none of us know how we would react in a particular situation.
I also think that the majority of us dont really know how the parents feel.
I think this is completely different to the example you quoted.
The real difference is that it was his job to protect the children.
People who prefer to be hiding behind pillars while defenceless children get massacred shouldnt be doing his job.
It is easy to see why the parents resent his actions.
I dont suppose that he will have many friends left.

Don't dispute that although in the example I quoted we were being paid, and well paid at that, to prevent the assailants from gaining entry to a particular social event.

My point is that people who are heaping vitriol on him are coming at it from a point of ignorance.

You don't realise that you shouldn't be doing the job until you should be doing it and cannot through fear, terror and fright.

Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to do the right thing in the presence of fear. Some people can, others can't.

I think your argument may be more applicable to the UK, than the US.
Where all law enforcement are armed, and mass shootings seem to occur every 5 minutes.