OK, here are my thoughts.
First off, LAPD is the most professional police organization i have ever encountered. Most officers are ex-military and have extreme discipline. They are "paramilitary" but they have to patrol some of the worst neighborhoods in the world.
Rampart: True, a few CRASH officers were overzealous. However, these guys were framing hardcore gangsters. Sometimes you have to get a little dirty when dealing with scumbags. Kinda like how our CIA was not able to deal with "unsavory" characters until 9/11. We're they wrong? Yes. However the LAPD already had the two worst officers locked up - Mack and Perez. Then they cut a plea deal with Perez, a guy who they should have thrown the key away. Besides, very few other officers have been implicated in related misdeeds. I could go on and on about Rampart, but thats not what this post is all about.
Haloweiner shooting: Officers are called to a large party. For a little background, this house (mansion) had been raided about a year earlier for cultivation of MJ. This property is continuously rented out by the owners. So this was a "problem" location before. Anyways, the officers get there and there is a large party. The neighbors want it shut down because their peace is constantly being disturbed. There is no owner of the house and it takes the hosts awhile to get to the front. So this officer decides to investigate. Maybe he was looking for drugs, maybe he was looking for the hosts. Whatever, he goes around the side down a narrow pathway with a little stream running next to it.
He comes to a french door / window. Shines his light and a guy raises a Desert Eagle 44 at him. They are only a couple feet apart through the door. Retreat options are limited due to the small pathway. The officer shoots, the guy spins around or ducks and is hit in the back.
It is tragic. But if someone points a Desert Eagle at me, he is getting popped. The guy did not immediately go down. If you've ever done any tactical shooting, you know what a failure to stop drill is. Maybe the guy has on body armor? So the officer keeps on shooting. I do think that the officer did panic and did probably overshoot, but whatever. Dead is dead. Besides i'm sure the officer was scared S-less.
And if the Desert Eagle had been real, one hit with that will ruin your day real quick. Even if it stops in his vest it would probabaly knock him on his ass, then you are in real trouble.
Again, I agree that it was tragic for this to happen, but justified.
I also think its hard to compare this with a CHL-holder situation since this officer was investigating a crime.
Finally, Chief Parks is not officer friendly. He is hated by the beat cops for his disciplinarian attitude and the fact he does not stand behind them. If there was anything even remotely bad about this shoot, the chief would have fired his ass in a second.
Sorry for the long post, but this shooting really interests me.