Taking a stance on a topic like this with less than all of the information is unwise. Relying on anything reported by a news agency is similarly ignorant. Lets see, decorated veteran Officer, decorated veteran with the military with multiple combat deployments, assigned to a select unit due to merit of his career performance. Lets take into account who gets briefed and how the investigation ensues. Supervisor on scene (Sgt), watch commander on scene (LT), District commanders on scene (CPT / Major), Professional Standards Office (formerly IA) on scene, takes over investigation, Detectives on scene, Prosecutors Office on scene, which included #1 himself Keith Kaneshiro who was on scene, briefed and provided oversight into the investigation. Scene processed, witness, video, etc, etc.... 100% concurrence by all involved / briefed that the incident was justified use of Force. That is also not just HPD. One might conclude that it is all City related, but the FBI takes very close oversight on local Law Enforcement and they are also indirectly involved at this point. If the Feds feel there is any wrong doing they will step in and take over the investigation. Your not going to hear a peep out of the FBI and they are anxious to get involved cases involving wrong doing. That is how many agents make their name.
So I guess if all of those really smart people with combined decades of experience in these matters, with ALL of the first hand information / witness accounts / evidence come to the same conclusion, I guess we should go with the Monday morning quarterbacking that happens on a web forum. Uhh, not.
There is A LOT of information that those commenting here do not have access to. Keep in mind there is much more to this incident than the news story relay. I would bet a paycheck that if every individual here had all of the information, there would likely not be a single person commenting here NOT in agreement with the decision made by that Officer.
Hey surf, I wasn't trying to put down cops in general. They have a difficult job and for the most part do it quite well. I just feel that in this particular instance the officer made some questionable choices.
You share an obviously intimate knowledge of how the investigation should progress, but a picture is worth a thousand words. The chain of command and most especially the city have a vested interest in finding the shoot justified. If it's not, in an election year no less, the proverbial fecal matter will hit the fan. Not good news for the department or the city.
Also, the fact the officer is "highly decorated" is really irrelevant. Just today I read about one of the officers from the shootout in Kahala that had been awarded the highest honor the department has to give being arrested for kidnapping and sexual assault. Even officers that have done great service in the past aren't immune to making mistakes.
That was really my point. From what I saw in the video it seemed to me that the officer made some poor choices.
Sticking his arm into the vehicle. He's lucky the guy didn't grab his arm, roll up the window and drag his ass down the street.
Hanging on to the vehicle after it started moving. He endangered himself there, he's lucky he was able to stay on his feet and not get run over. This wasn't the drivers fault.
Pursuing the vehicle on foot. No idea what he was trying to accomplish there. Maybe he thought he could tase and disable the car?
Failure to use his radio to call in backup. As I said in my original post, many of us have seen traffic stops in Waikiki where 3 to 5 cars show up almost instantly. Or is this just reserved for hot chicks? Had he done this, they could've allowed the guy to move on to an area less congested with pedestrians and stopped him using their cars. A little body damage to a couple of cruisers, nobody dead.
I won't even go into the possibility of innocent bystanders being hurt by ricochets or over penetration when he discharged his weapon on a crowded street.
As far as I can see, with the information available, unless the driver was threatening the officer with a gun or a bomb, he didn't need to be shot 5 times and killed. If this was the case, I think it would've been all over the news by now.