[sunnykerr]

Wash, set, and shoot: Cop takes on gunman in beauty salon A New York police officer getting her hair done over the weekend thwarted a would-be robber in a beauty salon, shooting the weapon from the gunman's hands, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in awarding the officer a promotion. Kelly praised the actions of newly promoted Det. Feris Jones Tuesday, saying she "showed the steely courage and professionalism that epitomizes the finest traditions of the New York City Police Department." "Well done and congratulations," the commissioner said as he pinned a gold detective shield to Jones' uniform. Mayor Michael Bloomberg also expressed his gratitude at the news conference. "This officer, like the other officers that are out there every day, really do take care of us," he said. Kelly said Jones was a customer in a salon Saturday when a man walked in with a gun. "'This is no joke, this is a robbery. I will kill you,"' Kelly quoted the gunman as saying. After the man ordered the customers and employees into the bathroom, Jones reemerged with her weapon drawn, identified herself as a police officer, and told the man not to move, Kelly said. The suspect fired four shots at Jones, narrowly missing her head with one, the commissioner recounted. She fired five shots back -- emptying her service revolver and marking the first time she'd ever fired her weapon in the line of duty -- and hit both of the man's hands, causing him to drop his 44-caliber gun. Her shots also knocked the handle off the door of the salon, briefly trapping the man as he tried to escape, Kelly said. He eventually broke the window in the door and fled on foot. "She knew the gunman might shoot, and when he did, she was ready for him, demonstrating stunning marksmanship in the process," the commissioner said. "To describe Officer Jones as cool under fire would be a gross understatement," he added. "That's my personality. I don't fuss about much," Jones responded modestly, asking reporters to address her as "Jonesy" instead of Detective Jones. The new detective said she got her start in the department when her then-husband brought home an application for the force because he "liked the coverage and medical benefits." The accused gunman was arrested Monday, police said. Winston Cox, 19, is charged with attempted murder, attempted aggravated robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon.

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I can't get over the part where she clipped both his hands. She's either a very lucky shot or, holy freaking cow is that a good shooter!

[Callace]

TFTNT love the title

[sunnykerr]

Thanks.

[Callace]

And yeah, she's a remarkable shooter one hand is lucky. Both looks more like skill

But why was she wearing her service weapon on her time off?

[Wildfire Girl]

Thanks for the new thread

[TheAngel]

Originally Posted by Callace (View Post) And yeah, she's a remarkable shooter one hand is lucky. Both looks more like skill But why was she wearing her service weapon on her time off?

Most cops wear their service weapons and carry their badges off-duty. You might be off the clock, but you never stop being a cop.

[sunnykerr]

This may come off as very ignorant, but I also believe there is at least a perception that most Americans are armed.

And I have heard the argument that it's better to be armed since the "bad guys" are.

I would imagine that's extra true when it comes to a police officer.

[Callace]

Originally Posted by TheAngel (View Post) Most cops wear their service weapons and carry their badges off-duty. You might be off the clock, but you never stop being a cop.

I see that sounds like good work morale really

[sunnykerr]

Hm. Interesting point, Callace. I'd never thought of it as reflecting morale.

[Callace]

And it seems police officers are rewarded for it too this girl, anyhow. Unlike the doctor who perform professional duties during an emergency on their off time, and may get malpractice sued for it (i wonder if that could have happened here, if her shooting were less excellent or so, so that the situation escalated)

[sunnykerr]

I don't know, but I doubt it.

It was a robbery in progress. Unless she accidentally shot someone else, I don't see how her inaction would have been better than her action.

[TheAngel]

Yeah, well, in the US, and probably other countries, there simply aren't enough cops to cover everything on duty. Having cops carry off-duty allows them to be like a rapid response team. There have been several stories in the US of off-duty cops stopping muggings, robberies, or break-ins because they happen to be in the area when something happens. It's kind of like the on-duty cops being active duty soldiers and the off-duty ones being the national guard or reserves. They're there if we need them and sometimes, that's a good thing.

[sunnykerr]

Jury recommends death to ringleader of 'ninja' robbers A jury has recommended that a Florida man be sentenced to death, a day after he was convicted of first-degree murder for leading a crew of masked men dressed as ninjas to ambush a Florida home. Ten members of the 12-person Escambia County jury voted to recommend the death penalty for Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., with two dissenting. On Thursday night, the same jury found Gonzalez guilty on two counts of murder for the execution-style murder of Byrd and Melanie Billings. He was also found guilty of armed home-invasion robbery. The penalty phase began Friday morning, with the jury delivering the sentence -- after about an hour and ten minutes of deliberation -- just before 2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET). A formal sentencing hearing for Gonzalez is scheduled for December 9. Until then, he will remain behind bars. During the trial, the 35-year-old Gonzalez frequently conversed with his attorneys, shook his head and smirked. He told Judge Nickolas Geeker that he didn't need to call any witnesses or testify on his own behalf because "the evidence speaks for itself." And after the jury came out to ask a question during its four hours of deliberations, he said, "I've already been tried and convicted by the media." But Gonzalez was stoic just before both the recommended sentence and verdict came in. During the latter, he bowed his head after the clerk announced he was guilty of each murder count and appeared to wipe his eyes while the jury was being polled. Meanwhile, the Billings family cried in the courtroom, with Byrd's and Melanie's daughter Ashley Markham hugging prosecutors. Gonzalez nodded to the Billings family -- as he'd done earlier Thursday -- after he was fingerprinted and led away. The jury of 11 women and one man deliberated for four hours before reaching the verdict. In that time, they requested to see a 14-minute surveillance video, culled from 16 cameras around the Billings house that were set up around the house to watch the nine special-needs children that the couple had adopted and were in the house at the time of the murder. One video showed a masked man -- whom Frederick Thornton, a member of the group, identified as Gonzalez -- shooting Byrd Billings once in each leg. Another video showed a scene from a girl's bedroom as a red van packed with people arrives outside the house. The girl gets up from bed as the masked men enter the house, then hides under the covers pretending to sleep after hearing the commotion nearby. The van was owned by Gonzalez. A camera was not in the master bedroom. But Thornton said that Gonzalez led the Billings' couple into the room. And expert witnesseses showed how Gonzalez shot Byrd Billings once in the head and twice more as he lay face down on the floor, and then shot Melanie Billings through the head and chest. During closing arguments, Assistant State Attorney John Molchan painted an involved picture depicting Gonzalez as the ringleader who hatched the plan, formed the team, outfitted six other men with guns and clothes, then led them as they barged into the Billings' large home in Beulah, Florida.

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I'm very much against the death penalty, but this is one of those cases that would test my resolve, I think. I don't know how strong the decision for vengeance would have been in me had I been on that jury.

When someone can do that to a couple that was, by all accounts, nothing but decent and loving people... It chills you to the marrow.

[sunnykerr]

Ex-officer Mehserle jailed for killing unarmed US man A white ex-police officer has been sentenced to the minimum possible jail term of two years for shooting dead an unarmed black man in California. Johannes Mehserle was convicted in July of involuntary manslaughter in what was seen as one of the most racially divisive US trials in recent years. He shot Oscar Grant in the back on the subway on 1 January 2009, while attempting to subdue him after a fight. Mehserle, 28, had faced a possible 14-year maximum term. The case has previously sparked several incidents of racial unrest, and police in the city of Oakland - where the shooting occurred - were on standby on Friday night after a sentence some perceived as too light. The Associated Press reported that when Wanda Johnson, Grant's mother, heard Superior Court Judge Robert Perry issue the two-year sentence she burst out of the courtroom saying, "He got nothing! He got nothing!" Johnson family attorney John Burris said the sentence was insufficient, adding: "What you take from that is that Oscar Grant's life was not worth very much." But Justice Perry said there was overwhelming evidence the shooting, on New Year's Day 2009, had been accidental. 'Gun mistaken for Taser' On the night of the shooting, police officers identified Grant, a 22-year-old African-American man, as a participant in a fight on a train. Mehserle and another officer attempted to subdue him, and Mehserle testified that he saw Grant digging in his pocket and feared he had a gun. He told his trial he had intended to use an electric Taser weapon but mistakenly pulled and fired his duty handgun instead. The incident, recorded by onlookers on their mobile phones, sparked a period of violence, with protesters clashing with police and rioters setting cars ablaze and damaging businesses. The case was moved to Los Angeles, because of tensions in Oakland. After a jury in July rejected charges of murder or voluntary manslaughter a crowd of about 500 people marched in protest in Oakland at the outcome of the trial. Later sporadic violence broke out in the town with rioters damaging shops, cars and setting fires.

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What a horrible, horrible, tragic mistake to make. I can't see how it wasn't a mistake. But it's the kind of mistake you rather hope police officers would be trained to avoid.

Which is also why I can see how the dead man's mother thinks the cop got nothing. It is a horrible mistake, but two years for an innocent man's life?

[sunnykerr]

South Africa fury at inaction over school gang-rape The failure of a South African school to respond to an alleged gang-rape of a pupil on school grounds has angered rights groups and ministers. The alleged attack, during school hours last Thursday, was reportedly filmed by three teenage boys on their phones. The Commission for Gender Equality said the school was more worried about upsetting the boys during exams than the rights of the alleged victim. Earlier, the children's minister said she was shocked by the inaction. "The Children's Act requires all people in positions of authority who suspect that child abuse may be taking place to report such incidents, and this includes teachers," the South African Press Association quotes Lulu Xingwana, minister for women, children and persons with disabilities, as saying. South Africa has one of the highest incidences of rape in the world. 'Hilarious' The alleged attack happened in a school east of Johannesburg on Thursday. The school girl was allegedly drugged with a spiked drink before the rape. The failure of the school authorities to respond to the allegations was widely reported in the media and has sparked outrage. "The three boys were not arrested as they alleged that they did not want to traumatise the school during the exams," CGE spokesman Javu Baloyi said in a statement. He said the clip of the rape was shown to teachers, who reportedly found it "hilarious". The local education authority has said the school could not comment while investigations into the incident were continuing. Collins Chabane, a minister in the presidency, urged the police to treat the case as a priority. "The sexual and physical abuse of young people, and in particular children, should not be tolerated in our society, let alone in our schools," Mr Chabane said in a statement. Police said two boys aged 14 and 16 were arrested on Monday in connection with the incident.

Source

I truly have no words. This is beyond sickening.