Police who shot 19 year old Black will get Paid for shooting

The police officers who fatally shot Kendric McDade  are now in line for compensation as victims who “feared for their lives.”  Pasadena police Officers Jeffrey Newlen and Matthew Griffin  are now eligible for financial compensation to pay bills  while McDade, the suspect (not victim), is dead. As victims of crime, they can apply for aid as any victim of crime is able to do.

If a police officer, who is trained and paid to engage in stressful situations, can fear for his life in a situation where he/she is in a car, in possession of a gun, a back-up gun, taser, baton, bullet proof vest and a radio to call for back-up, then either his/her training is inadequate or they need not be a police officer. If they possess fear, they simply lack faith or confidence that they can control the situation. Furthermore, it not only adds insult to (mortal) injury that the shooters are the victims and the person shot and killed is considered a suspect, it also creates a legal issue. In a perverse way, a conflict of interest is created when a police officer can be compensated as a victim when they shoot someone. There is a financial incentive for an officer to shoot civilians. It doesn’t matter if the compensation is a large or small percentage of their income because the fact remains that the officer can receive a benefit from using deadly force, or, by logical extension, any force at all.

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