Shoot to kill policy

D

Drake

Guest
Though not official the chief of Dominican police has unofficially given the order to "shoot to kill" to any gang or individual found in an armed criminal act. Many criminals have recently been executed. This is in responce to the rise in violent crimes in the DR due to, according to popular belief, the ex-patriation of Dominicans who have completed sentences in the US prisons. Personally having experienced an armed assault I think this has been a very effective policy as armed assaults have fallen considerably and should be used in other countries....Opinions?
 
J

JCesar

Guest
This is the ultimate deterrent to crime (and save the judge, jury, prosecutor and attorney's time).

The only concern is the potential for abuse from ill-intentioned people. Sometimes, personal enemies, ex-lovers, adversaries or business competitors can "take care" of somebody under the allegation that the victim was "found in an armed criminal act".

As with all issues concerning human nature and the exercise of judgement, it isn't a black and white situation. Gray areas abound.
 
D

deborah K

Guest
The decision to choose whether to shoot is now placed in the hands of men and women that are trained to react. I can sympathize that your experience Drake, would have had grave effects upon your outlook, and I would not choose for anyone to be a victim of such events. But to place that power of judge, jury and executioner in the hands of person that can be driven by emotions, bad days, difficult family situations, not to mention being underpaid in a high risk job....... anyways, I guess that I tend to get very nervous about such shifts and changes in control of power. Is this the only answer?
 
M

marion harshman

Guest
Having lived both full as well as part time in the Domincan Republic fo 14 years and having seen the changes in the crime rate over the last 6 years shoot to kill is an excellent way of comtrol.
 
A

angela

Guest
is this thread some proposal that a sort of police/military state where constitutional and human rights are meaningless is an acceptable price to pay for crime control? i hope not.
 
S

scaramooch

Guest
I think the crimminal elements known to the police should be round up once in a while and done away with, kind of a cleansing type of thing , then once in a while there should be a public display of an execution where a criminal is executed for all to see and the horror of the whole thing like back in the old days ,am in favor of hangings, gilliotine, drawn and quartered, disenbowled, burned at the stakes, you have a few of those and I will guarantee a crimminal will think twice before he commits a crime. These human rights activist and their bleeding hearts will quickly change their minds if they ever had a knife stuck in their ribs or a gun stuck in their face while being robbed.
 
J

John

Guest
i am in law enforcement in the united states and i feel on the surface it sounds good but i have been to the dr several times and i would be scared to think of some of these policemen down there with this power of shoot first..
 
G

gilgamesh

Guest
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin
 
D

deborah K

Guest
I have to tell you that I am shocked by the responses to this message on the board. Perhaps I am one of those "bleeding heart activists" that do not want to have all the power placed into the hands of single persons and not in the community. As for not experiencing the fear that comes with violence, I am human and therefore that which separates me from beast is my ability to empathize, and in partnership with this I have also put faith into my community to take care of those that will bring harm to people in it. I can not nor will I ever feel that using people as an example, no matter the crime rate, no matter what the crime deters persons from committing crime. The rate of occurrence may drop off you a while but it will eventually rise again. Public executions are from the middle ages and that is where they need to stay. I would not want the power to shoot to kill, nor to put the noose over someones head, draw, disembowel or quarter them. If you feel that this is a task that you could achieve then perhaps you are a stronger person than me, but I am not certain of that either.
 
R

Ron

Guest
I think the "SHOOT TO KILL POLICY" is a good one. I live in a country where the criminals and bleeding hearts run the government. Deborah K is the type of person along with the criminals we should all fear.
 
T

Tom

Guest
Contrary to "movies," police in the United States intend to stop a person using whatever means possible when a firearm is discharged. NO ONE is a good enough shot in a life or deathe stituation to "shoot to wound." Police officers aer taught to discharge their weapon at the 'triangle of the human torso' (Killing zone) until they are on the ground.

I only work in the private sector now, but If I am threatened by a person with a firearm, I amgoing to shoot attheir chest as many.10mm cartridges until thye drop or 13 are spent. most likley the latter as it only takes about 2 seconds to fire all 13. I'm not waiting to see If I hit them. When you discharge a firearm at another human being, it is not to scare, wouldn or intimidate, it is to stop theri threat by whatever mean possible, usually death.

The fact that many wounded criminals live in the US is due to excellent response by emergency medical crews

Tom
 
C

Chris

Guest
our children are not taught to quote Ben Franklin anymore, nor much aabout the founding fathers' thinking when they wrote the Constitution. They don't understand why a person is supposed to be treated as innocent until proven guilty, and have reverted to barbarous lifestyles. In our area we have had 8 unarmed people killed by the police in the last year, and our state is undergoing investigation to see why they kill so easily. It is easy for a cop to say "I thought he had a gun"
 
T

Tom

Guest
Chris

Even after being "on the other side" I have to agree with you. We need Civilian Review Boards, Cops can't investigate cops

We have a very outspoken Police Chief in Maine, his Officers have already been declared to have made a "justified shoot" before the bodies are examined.

It's a tough call, you are in a heated situation, you perceive a weapon, do I shoot or get shot? Non letal weapons would be nice, but then I tthink of that robbery in LA where the robbers were wearing Ceramic Military armor, bullets just bouncing off unltil the police were able to get high pwoered weapons to the scene. Unfortunately, crimib=nals are carrying assault rifles, street sweepers, even .50 caliber rifles, it's scary

Tom
 
J

jim

Guest
i think in a country like the DR criminals have to be dealt with severely or things could get out of hand in a hurry.
 
G

GabyCruz

Guest
Angela< what would you do if some one enter your house in the middle of the the night and rape your daughter kill you grand mother and robe your jewlery and your mortgage money? would you talk about criminals right then? I am a very fair person andiIam a firm believer of the "GOLDEN RULE", however I believe the Criminal forfit their right as soon as they make the descition to commit a crime/.
 
G

GabyCruz

Guest
I agree with you some what, not to go to extreems. I do not and can not empatize with criminals, however I believe in a civilize form of pusnishment or death penalty.public canning or spanking like they do in Singapur-were the law order for the law enforcer to waack the mideminored with a bambu cane that is very good idea. people would think twice, to vandalize and such...
 
C

Canadian Bob

Guest
There is something all the civilians who shoot to kill had better remember, Dominicans have a long memory, and violence by you will definitely keep you looking over your shoulder as long as you are on the island. The President has arranged for upgrading the National Police Force and training by the Israeli & Miami Police. Unless you plan on starting your own personal war, I suggest you keep your gun in its holster, and let the Police do any necessary shooting. If you don't flash money and jewellery around you won't be bothered. Use Travellers Cheques, they are of no value unless they are signed. Unless you are professionally trained, you may end up at the receiving end of your own gun. When I was mugged several years ago, the thieves got $200US in Travellers Cheques which I replaced a few days later. Canadian Bob.
 
G

gilgamesh

Guest
That's why you have your own gun, and you learn self-defense, lock up your house, etc. Same with hurricanes, be prepared. Giving the polic e the right to kill on sight before a trial is a horrid misappropriation of power. It's difficult enough to avoid being framed for something when the judge will frequently side with the policeman's word because he sees the policeman almost everyday, it's even worse when the policeman is allowed to shoot without any kind of habeas corpus. "Was the suspect in question committing a crime?" 'No, I just shot him because I didn't need to frame him with a crime, you all will just believe me.' I mean, what the hell is this world coming to? I thought the Dominican Republic was a REPUBLIC, not a fascist police state, where the police have the power to take life without any kind of legal review. Sure, it's not as likely that the police will want to frame someone with a crime, but it's a power that can be exercised, don't be a fool. I think the citizen should be able to shoot on sight to defend themselves, and the judge will ascertain later from the evidence whether it was an excessive use of force, or appropriate self-defense.

This is very disturbing, and if the police in the DR decide to put this ruling in place, it will completely reverse my decision to relocate to the DR. What if I'm trying to break into my own house because I forgot my keys, and a policeman thinks, "aha! an evil burglar, I will shoot him!"??? F*** that!
 
T

Tom

Guest
I must have read the original post out of context. Did the post say that the Government was ordering summary execution for someone caught committing a crime, or to use deadly force when threatened with same?

Tom
 
S

scaramooch

Guest
Tom , I was told by a source, that hard core Dominican criminals that are deported to the DR, as soon as they hit the tarmac, are taking into custody and dispose off very quietly, I think its a great idea, but the ones that are let loose are the ones that are causing problems for the DR.Also heinious crime against children the other criminal themselves dispose of them. Matter of facts the government facilitate them for the disposal, they are not put into proctective custody as we do with those type of crimminals here, which also am all for it