The Down Range Forum

Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: tombogan03884 on December 30, 2021, 06:24:39 PM

Title: Kim Potter verdict
Post by: tombogan03884 on December 30, 2021, 06:24:39 PM
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/us/manslaughter-kim-potter-verdict.html

She was dumb.
Twice.
She f'd up with the arrest, then she should have made it about Taser.
Taser is at fault because there is no noticeable difference between the triggers and a thumb trigger would be ridiculously easy to design.
Title: Re: Kim Potter verdict
Post by: Rastus on December 30, 2021, 06:46:22 PM
There was a sheriff's deputy in Tulsa County that did that a few years ago.  He even told the guy he messed up and was sorry before he DRT'd.  This guy was the Sheriff's buddy, old and supposedly had adequate training. 
Title: Re: Kim Potter verdict
Post by: Majer on December 30, 2021, 10:37:40 PM
The departments around here have the Taser on the opposite side from the pistol, They have to draw it with their weak hand.Kind of hard to make a mistake that way.
Title: Re: Kim Potter verdict
Post by: TAB on December 31, 2021, 12:10:26 PM
I am not sure of the sentence  is right,but the verdict was.

She fucked up, fucked up bad.   Now the guy was asking to be shot, but it is pretty hard to not notice the difference  between a taser and a firearm.   The bright yellow should be your 1st clue.
Title: Re: Kim Potter verdict
Post by: tombogan03884 on December 31, 2021, 02:02:06 PM
I am not sure of the sentence  is right,but the verdict was.

She fucked up, fucked up bad.   Now the guy was asking to be shot, but it is pretty hard to not notice the difference  between a taser and a firearm.   The bright yellow should be your 1st clue.

She probably never saw anything but the guy who was pissing her off.
Visual cues are useless.
It has to be something impossible to miss.
You are dealing with people, not intelligent beings.
other side of the belt is good, completely different firing system is better.
Title: Re: Kim Potter verdict
Post by: crusader rabbit on December 31, 2021, 02:04:25 PM
The departments around here have the Taser on the opposite side from the pistol, They have to draw it with their weak hand.Kind of hard to make a mistake that way.

She had that set-up, too.  But she drew the Glock from her strong side instead of drawing the Taser from her weak side.  Really dumb move on her part and hard to understand since she was a training officer with decades on the force.

Crusader Rabbit
Title: Re: Kim Potter verdict
Post by: MikeBjerum on December 31, 2021, 03:23:08 PM
I have tried to explain to many people that this is actually the danger that comes with too many options.  However, before we get to the options, due to the number of laws and their ever changing interpretations, officers spend most of their training time dealing with how to avoid legal missteps that attorneys will use to get the worst of the worst off.  They typically only practice weapon use as it pertains to their qualification requirements.

Back to options hanging on their belts.  Look at what the average officer carries on their duty belt.  A firearm, a Taser, spare magazines, spare Taser cartridges, chemical spray, a baton, handcuffs, radio, PPE, ...

Now think back to our animal response to Fight or Flight:
Color vision goes away - Bright yellow means nothing
Gross motor skills go away - So much for touch and feel
Peripheral vision narrows - Tunnel vision and point and shoot - See target, but hands with weapon is out of view
Survival reflex takes over - What simulated practice does this situation relate to the closest

The events:
Good stop
Found more than expecting
Wright chose poorly to fight and flee
Use of force justified, but ...  Oooooops! Wrong tool pulled.

Officer, daughter, wife, mother ... Life ruined.  Now we wait to see what the judge will plan for her future.