Posted: 5/11/2011 9:00:52 PM EDT
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http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/how-do-apd-shootings-compare-to-others%3F
Police Shootings: APD vs other Departments APD shot people 14 in 2010, killing 9 Updated: Wednesday, 11 May 2011, 10:16 PM MDT Published : Wednesday, 11 May 2011, 10:16 PM MDT Reporter: Alex Tomlin ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Are Albuquerque cops too quick to shoot? Or do people here do more things to get shot, compared to people in other cities? In the wake of recent police shootings here, News 13 looked at other cities. APD officers shot 14 people last year, killing nine, and they're on a pace to match that this year after Tuesday's shooting. Is that unusually high for a city like ours? We took a look at the number of police shootings in similar-sized cities. Sacramento has 490,000 residents; last year Sacramento police shot five people, killing two. Long Beach has 460,000 residents; officers there shot 10 people and killed 2 last year. Tucson has 520,000 people; cops there only had one police shooting last year –– it was fatal. Denver has more than 600,000 people living there; police had just six shootings last year, three of them fatal. New York, which has 8,000,000 people (14 times bigger than Albuquerque) and 34,000 officers, had only 24 police shootings last year, 8 of them fatal. News 13 took the numbers to Police Chief Ray Schultz. “Sometimes when you look at just raw data and numbers looking at cities, it's not always comparing apples to apples,” Schultz said. He said his officers are put in more situations where they have to use deadly force than officers in other cities. But, he can't pinpoint why. “There is nothing that these shootings really have in common with each other,” said Schultz. “I have heard people say well it's because of the quality of medical care. Well that has nothing to do with it, it's the individual circumstances.” But there is one common factor he said, “The propensity for the person involved to have some type of mental health history or issue.” He couldn't say if that's a bigger issue here in Albuquerque than it is in other cities. Some cities have differing policies about how and when an officer can shoot. Sometimes they shoot to wound if possible, or only pull the trigger when the suspect is pointing the gun at someone. APD officers can shoot if they feel the suspect is putting lives in danger, but Schultz doesn't think the broad policy has anything to do with the high number of shootings. “I don't think the policies are having any impact at this point in time,” he said. The chief said the Phoenix area is also seeing an increase in cop shootings, with 5 this year. The phoenix metro area has almost 4,000,000 people. Albuquerque police have opened fire on three suspects this year, all were killed CRIME DON'T PAY IN THIS TOWN. |
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I worked in Albuquerque for almost 2 years a while ago as a paramedic. In those almost 2 years I ran 3 police shootings, with 2 of them being fatalities. All 3 deserved to get shot. I flat out loved the cops down there. Great bunch of guys/gals. The did not take any shit whatsoever. It was fun as hell working there. I can't say I'm surprised with the numbers. The amount of stupid, drunk/drugged up people there is amazing.
FWIW, charging at the cops with a big ass knife is not a good idea. Getting up after being shot with a less than lethal bean bag and continuing your charge is an even worse idea. And bringing a knife to a gun fight will get you shot in the shoulder, chest, and hip with a .40, and a 5.56 to the throat just to make sure you are really DRT. |
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Backhanded statement saything that the cops shouldnt shoot criminal scum when threatened Where do you get that? The writer asking if that is unusually high for a city that size. Granted, I might be wrong, but this place has made me paranoid I will have to embed the video. She asked the C.O.P why shootings were so high. He basically answered that he wasn't so sure. The last shooting here in town was just a couple of days ago. SWAT shot a man in the BACK, armed with a SPOON. http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/man-killed-by-police-had-kitchen-spoon Man killed by police had kitchen spoon Officer has shot 3, killed 2 in four years Updated: Wednesday, 11 May 2011, 4:30 PM MDT Published : Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 10:19 PM MDT Reporter: Alex Tomlin ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerque police have shot and killed another man who they thought may have had a gun. Turns out he had a plastic cooking spoon. Alan Gomez was holding his brother and the brother's girlfriend hostage inside her home. “Someone is acting real crazy, my boyfriend's brother. He's in our house and he's acting real crazy. He's outside and he has a gun,” a woman told 911 dispatchers. Police got the call that Gomez was outside a home near San Mateo and Candelaria NE and shooting. One of those shots landing just feet from John Tollardo's bedroom window. “Apparently they (police) found a bullet hole in my mailbox, and the bullet was still in there so they dug it out.” Tollardo said. He said he had never seen Gomez at the home but that Gomez's brother and girlfriend were friendly. “They are very nice and I have never seen any problems over here," he said. But the couple sounded afraid for their lives when they called 911 around three Tuesday morning. “He's in and out, in and out, he won’t let us move,” the 911 caller said. Police set up around the neighborhood. Officer Sean Wallace was across the street from the home. Gomez stood outside the front door to talk with officers with something in his hand. “An item described as a dark item in one of his hands,” Police Chief Ray Schultz said. When Gomez turned to go back inside, Wallace fired his rifle. “Officer Wallace did also have a bean bag shotgun with him, but the functionally at that distance, that's right about the maximum distance,” Schultz said. Schultz said Wallace was worried that Gomez was heading back in to harm his hostages. When officers checked Gomez, he was holding a, “Black plastic kitchen utensil spoon in his hand,” said Schultz. Officers did find a sawed off .22-caliber rifle in a closet that they believe belonged to Gomez. The 22-year-old was wanted on a probation violation stemming from a domestic violence conviction. Sean Wallace, the officer who pulled the trigger, has been in the news before, a lot. This is officer Wallace's third shooting; two have ended with a suspect in a body bag. In 2004 Wallace shot and killed an unarmed 44-year-old man in Chimayó in his pickup truck during an investigation into heroin deal. Wallace said he was afraid the suspect was going to run over his fellow officers. The family sued and the state settled for more than $200,000. Four years ago when Wallace was a state police officer, he was accused of bilking the state out of thousands of dollars. Investigators said he put in for pay while he was taking law enforcement classes, classes that a private security firm was also paying him to teach. Wallace quit the state police force before he could be fired and joined APD. Last year with APD he shot a thief who tried to break into a car at Sandia High School. The thief had climbed onto a roof of a nearby home. Officer Wallace shot and wounded the suspect as he pointed a gun at his own head. ____________________________________ Paranoid? Only the paranoid survive. - Andy Grove, founder of Intel. |
| The numbers at face value seem high compared to the cities quoted which can warrant a closer look. Without going much deeper into the numbers though one can't really draw any meaningful results. Maybe other cities have better backup which allows the police to control the suspects better, maybe Albuquerque cops are keeping up with suspects better leading to the conformations? Until someone really looks hard into it one can't say if this is an issue or not. |
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FWIW, charging at the cops with a big ass knife is not a good idea. Getting up after being shot with a less than lethal bean bag and continuing your charge is an even worse idea. And bringing a knife to a gun fight will get you shot in the shoulder, chest, and hip with a .40, and a 5.56 to the throat just to make sure you are really DRT. 
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Some cities have differing policies about how and when an officer can shoot. Sometimes they shoot to wound if possible, or only pull the trigger when the suspect is pointing the gun at someone. . I would be interested to know if they could cite one town/city that has a deadly force policy that specifically says they shoot to wound if possible |
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http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/how-do-apd-shootings-compare-to-others%3F Police Shootings: APD vs other Departments APD shot people 14 in 2010, killing 9 Updated: Wednesday, 11 May 2011, 10:16 PM MDT Published : Wednesday, 11 May 2011, 10:16 PM MDT Reporter: Alex Tomlin ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Are Albuquerque cops too quick to shoot? Or do people here do more things to get shot, compared to people in other cities? In the wake of recent police shootings here, News 13 looked at other cities. APD officers shot 14 people last year, killing nine, and they're on a pace to match that this year after Tuesday's shooting. Is that unusually high for a city like ours? We took a look at the number of police shootings in similar-sized cities. Sacramento has 490,000 residents; last year Sacramento police shot five people, killing two. Long Beach has 460,000 residents; officers there shot 10 people and killed 2 last year. Tucson has 520,000 people; cops there only had one police shooting last year –– it was fatal. Denver has more than 600,000 people living there; police had just six shootings last year, three of them fatal. New York, which has 8,000,000 people (14 times bigger than Albuquerque) and 34,000 officers, had only 24 police shootings last year, 8 of them fatal. News 13 took the numbers to Police Chief Ray Schultz. “Sometimes when you look at just raw data and numbers looking at cities, it's not always comparing apples to apples,” Schultz said. He said his officers are put in more situations where they have to use deadly force than officers in other cities. But, he can't pinpoint why. “There is nothing that these shootings really have in common with each other,” said Schultz. “I have heard people say well it's because of the quality of medical care. Well that has nothing to do with it, it's the individual circumstances.” But there is one common factor he said, “The propensity for the person involved to have some type of mental health history or issue.” He couldn't say if that's a bigger issue here in Albuquerque than it is in other cities. Some cities have differing policies about how and when an officer can shoot. Sometimes they shoot to wound if possible, or only pull the trigger when the suspect is pointing the gun at someone. APD officers can shoot if they feel the suspect is putting lives in danger, but Schultz doesn't think the broad policy has anything to do with the high number of shootings. “I don't think the policies are having any impact at this point in time,” he said. The chief said the Phoenix area is also seeing an increase in cop shootings, with 5 this year. The phoenix metro area has almost 4,000,000 people. Albuquerque police have opened fire on three suspects this year, all were killed CRIME DON'T PAY IN THIS TOWN. That's a funny story! Having spent a good part of my life in Albuquerque, I wouldn't second guess a police shooting there at all. There are some ulta-violent mofo's hangin' loose on those streets. Statistically, ABQ has some very bad crime. The hispanic community has changed radically with the huge influx of 'undocumented' aliens that have taken residence in specific areas. You just know not to go there... and it's the ABQ LE that's tasked with sorting out the shit when it all goes wrong and it goes wrong all the time! The news story is so vague and unspecific that in begs for a knee-jerk liberal interpretation––- trigger happy cops shooting 'innocent' suspects without cause. I've been there and know better. ABQ cops are no different that cops in any other city. They want to go home to their families and they want everyone else to do the same and work diligently to achieve that goal. But... that's now how it works and there are some serious criminals afoot and some seriously demented souls looking for a fight. I'd be surprised if ABQ, compared to a similar urban city, has more police shooting. And if they do? There's a story untold and it's not about trigger-happy cops or mental health issues unless the ones with mental health issues are working hard to 'alter' their mental condition with all the available ingredients on city streets. |
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Quoted: I don't buy that eitherQuoted: Some cities have differing policies about how and when an officer can shoot. Sometimes they shoot to wound if possible, or only pull the trigger when the suspect is pointing the gun at someone. . I would be interested to know if they could cite one town/city that has a deadly force policy that specifically says they shoot to wound if possible I think there are agencies that more strongly discourage shooting than others, well actually I know that.
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Quoted: Quoted: I don't buy that eitherQuoted: Some cities have differing policies about how and when an officer can shoot. Sometimes they shoot to wound if possible, or only pull the trigger when the suspect is pointing the gun at someone. . I would be interested to know if they could cite one town/city that has a deadly force policy that specifically says they shoot to wound if possible I think there are agencies that more strongly discourage shooting than others, well actually I know that. All New Mexico LE I know of are pretty quick on the trigger. |
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As long as they were all clean shoots, I don't see the problem. I think the last one was a little shady. (Look three posts up) "Shot in the back while armed with a spoon and holding two hostages, one of whom told the police that the suspect had a gun" FIFY |