Wednesday, November 30, 2011

You think your job is tough, try doing this....

Imagine having to make the toughest choice in the whole world, weather to take someones life or not. Well police in Atlanta had to make that decision this past week. Officers responded to a call reference an 8 year old boy being thrown out of a residential window. When officers arrived on scene they were informed that the mother of the 8 year old was inside stabbing the boys sister. When officers entered the residence, the witnessed the women sitting in a chair repeatedly stabbing her daughter. Officers instructed her to stop stabbing her daughter, and when she refused, the officers made the decision to open fire. Both the daughter and the women were announced dead at the scene. Between 10 and 16 shots were fired in the incident. The son was said to be in stable condition.

Officers around the world have to respond to call where they have to make tough decisions all the time. The officers in this incident and in my opinion made the correct call by using lethal force. They gave her repeated chances to stop harming her daughter but she refused. If she had stopped stabbing her daughter and had started to go after the fire responders there could have been more death and pain. These officers had to make the decision to end someones life in a split second. That decision is not an easy one, nor is it a light one. After an officer makes the decision to use lethal force, they spend many a moment reviewing that second to see what could have happened instead. I commend these officers on doing their jobs to the fullest extent.

This is the type of call that no officer wants to get. Not only did the mother throw the son out the window but she was also causing deadly harm to her other daughter. These officers and medical personnel that responded to this call take put their life out in harms way to help someone in their darkest time. I challenge you next time you see an officer walking, thank them for their service. I know that most officers have negative contacts with the public through traffic stops and such, but you must remember; they are just doing their jobs.

2 comments:

  1. That is horrifying!I feel for the children in this case.I just don't understand mother's who can hurt their own children like that.I could never become a police officer or work on a pediatric floor. My heart breaks for the poor defenseless children who are victimized.

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  2. I read this story the other day. It is rather sad, the woman had been living rent free in home because she didn't have a job, they didn't have water in home. Her neighbor thought she had snapped because she said she had demoms coming out of her. What is worse about this story, even as routine procedure it seems wrong that the two officers involved were put on leave. Sadly the daughter was already dead when the officers arrived

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