Tulsa Oklahoma police officer Betty Shelby was arrested for manslaughter after shooting Terence Crutcher.
This is another situation in which there is video taken of the incident. Not one but actually multiple. I find it amazing that we can all watch a video of a situation and so many different views of what happened. I watch it and in the helicopter video I cannot hear anything so technically I don't know if the police are telling him to freeze or stop moving. They obviously told him to put his hands up because he has them up most of the time. There is also a police video but it's from behind the officer that shoots Terence so you can't really see what's going on. I also could not completely hear what's going on. So for me there is no way for me to know exactly what happened. What I do know is that Terence takes his hands down and appears to reach into the vehicle.
The officer has stated that she told him to stop and he not only didn't stop but didn't answer her questions. If she told him to freeze and put his hands up then why did he not listen? I've heard his sister speaking out about this and how he's a respectable man. About how the guy in the helicopter can be heard saying he looks like a bad man and that it looks like he's on something. She also talked about how the cops had no good reason to make him put his hands in the air in the first place. My opinion is that none of that matters when deciding whether the officer had cause to shoot him. It doesn't matter who he is as an individual or whether the guy in the helicopter was profiling. None of that matters in respects to the shooting. The helicopter pilot can be accused of making inappropriate comments. But that is completely separate from the shooting.
All I need to know for the shooting is whether officer Shelby's training reinforces her actions. We as civilians have no idea what it's like in a moment like that. I do know that people should listen to the commands given by police whether they think they deserve it or not. If they disagree they can file a report. Eventually, if enough people complain about an officer they'll be disciplined. That's our system we created we have to follow it. Or fix it as a society. But going with the facts it sure looks like Terence Crutcher disobeyed commands to stop, answer questions, keep his hands up, etc. Just because there was no gun found at the scene does not mean there was not a threat that he did have one. To me it doesn't matter if he's black or white.
At one point he can be clearly seen taking his hand down and reaching into the car. At that point how is an officer supposed to know what he's reaching for? People are also saying she should have tased him instead. When you're in a moment of wondering if someone is going to pull out an AR15 and start shooting I don't know if the mind of some people works fast enough to choose. I also don't specifically know what her training says. I do know that if I had several police pointing guns at me and they told me to freeze and put my hands in the air? You better believe I'm going to stand as still as possible and keep my hands in the air as high as possible. You tell me to jump I'm going to say how high? If they shoot me the video is no doubt going to show they acted inappropriately. By disobeying multiple commands it gives benefit of the doubt as to whether the officer was acting inappropriately. Nothing anyone else said or did matters when discussing the actual shooting. Are some cops racist, yes. Are they all, no.
I feel horrible for Terence's family, I also feel horrible for Betty Shelby. If it turns out she is a bad person then I won't feel as horrible for whatever happens to her. That's a sinister thought though isn't it? Assuming that she is a racist killer instead of looking objectively and realizing the situation got out of hand? That sounds like a dark place to me. I hope an organization wouldn't hire someone that believes a black man deserves less justice and equality than a white man. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but as a whole I hope that we are way more mature than that as a society. Terence should have followed orders like we all have to do sometimes. I'm not judging him just pointing out that people are rushing to judgement but the simple fact is that with guns pointed at him he continued to disobey orders. Yes, I wish there was a way for them to have tased him instead. But, for people to just align this with all other shootings by cops of black individuals is gross negligence. Whether the man was white or black he still put himself in the situation by continuing to walk to his vehicle, then taking his hands down, and also appearing to reach into the vehicle. I just ask people to respect the police and do as your told. Don't challenge them while they have guns pointed at you. Your life is too valuable and expecting another human to perform brilliantly in the moment of stress and crisis is outside of your control. Instead keep yourself alive to go home to your family. Death is way more serious than profiling, racism, lack of sympathy/empathy. Live to fight another day. After this was done he could have sued and forced changes for things like media in helicopters making rash judgments about whether someone is a bad person or on drugs. Put focus on whether the police had the right to stop him or pull guns on him. Instead, we're discussing another situation where no matter what your opinion is. There is no clear fault in this situation. Only another person not going home to their family and another police officer facing charges as well as living the rest of her life knowing she killed a man.
Here is a link to the story
http://abcnews.go.com/US/tulsa-police-officer-shares-side-story-terence-crutchers/story?id=42243843
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