Should you be able to use self defense against a Cop?

AngryBrute · April 10, 2015, 03:03:56 PM

Cops have fallen onto the controversy stage more so lately than recent memory. With all the shootings and cries of murder, should you be allowed to defend yourself from a Cop? Say the Cop is about to use deadly force on you, and you have done nothing to provoke this action. Should you have the right to fight back to prevent your own death?

I believe that even if this were to happen, the "official" opinion would automatically swing towards the Cops side. Because 1) Cop! 2) You're not a Cop! And then 3) The Cops are the ones on the side of the law. Its slippery slope here, one that begs debate.

What do you think?

Mat Cauthon · April 10, 2015, 03:07:28 PM

If it's "self defence" I don't see what the problem is.
Provided sufficient evidence is there to support it was an act of defence, otherwise the law would side with the cop, in the wrong or not.

Comet · April 10, 2015, 03:11:55 PM

~~but im white...~~
yes, you should (and to my knowledge you do) have the right to fight back. dont you mean, "would you fight back?"

Azumarill · April 10, 2015, 03:14:24 PM

this isnt what we should be focusing on.

we have to attack this from the top down, not the bottom up. we need to conduct extremely thorough corruption investigations in each department around the nation, and weed out the bad ones. the blue code of silence prevents the good cops from speaking out. we need audits for every single use of force by police officers, and we need to stop selling surplus military equipment to departments that really dont need it. we cant just start defending ourselves against bad cops. thats the easiest way to end up 6 feet under the ground.

wheres the money for this gonna come from? the taxpayers. cities already shell out a hell of a lot of money for coverups/settlements, so we'd probably end up spending less money doing things my way.

Super Irish · April 10, 2015, 03:29:03 PM

Problem is, if you are facing a cop who has/is: i) Misunderstood your action and knows from his mind you did a criminal act or ii) Is just a shitty cop, what stops them from then beating the shit out of you, shooting/tasing you and then charging you with assault of a police officer afterwards regardless of your original innocence?

Plus police have training to deal with this sorta thing. If I was being detained and about to face police brutality I'd take my chances running than fighting them.

PSU · April 10, 2015, 03:35:49 PM

Turkey · April 10, 2015, 04:10:03 PM

Yes, absolutely, you have a court-backed Constitutional right to protect yourself from unlawful arrest.

http://www.constitution.org/uslaw/defunlaw.htm

DAS B00T x2 · April 10, 2015, 04:15:24 PM

Only during no-knock raids in which the law enforcement element fails to identify itself.

Azumarill · April 10, 2015, 04:21:00 PM

Quote from: SuperIrish on April 10, 2015, 03:29:03 PM

Problem is, if you are facing a cop who has/is: i) Misunderstood your action and knows from his mind you did a criminal act or ii) Is just a shitty cop, what stops them from then beating the shit out of you, shooting/tasing you and then charging you with assault of a police officer afterwards regardless of your original innocence?

Plus police have training to deal with this sorta thing. If I was being detained and about to face police brutality I'd take my chances running than fighting them.

this. you dont fight a cop unless you want to die.

Word Wizard · April 10, 2015, 04:42:14 PM

Quote from: Azumarill on April 10, 2015, 04:21:00 PM

Quote from: SuperIrish on April 10, 2015, 03:29:03 PM
Problem is, if you are facing a cop who has/is: i) Misunderstood your action and knows from his mind you did a criminal act or ii) Is just a shitty cop, what stops them from then beating the shit out of you, shooting/tasing you and then charging you with assault of a police officer afterwards regardless of your original innocence?

Plus police have training to deal with this sorta thing. If I was being detained and about to face police brutality I'd take my chances running than fighting them.
this. you dont fight a cop unless you want to die.

Cop training really isn't that great, at least universally. One of my relatives went to a firearm course taught by a vietnam special forces guy and he said there were a lot of cops who showed up because they felt there regular training wasn't enough. A quick google search can show you thousands of videos of cops getting knocked out or killed by random people. SWAT teams are another story.

April 10, 2015, 04:51:23 PM

Well, I'd rather go to jail for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest than die, anyway.

Azumarill · April 10, 2015, 04:53:11 PM

Quote from: Sly Instinct on April 10, 2015, 04:42:14 PM

Quote from: Azumarill on April 10, 2015, 04:21:00 PM
Quote from: SuperIrish on April 10, 2015, 03:29:03 PM
Problem is, if you are facing a cop who has/is: i) Misunderstood your action and knows from his mind you did a criminal act or ii) Is just a shitty cop, what stops them from then beating the shit out of you, shooting/tasing you and then charging you with assault of a police officer afterwards regardless of your original innocence?

Plus police have training to deal with this sorta thing. If I was being detained and about to face police brutality I'd take my chances running than fighting them.
this. you dont fight a cop unless you want to die.
Cop training really isn't that great, at least universally. One of my relatives went to a firearm course taught by a vietnam special forces guy and he said there were a lot of cops who showed up because they felt there regular training wasn't enough. A quick google search can show you thousands of videos of cops getting knocked out or killed by random people. SWAT teams are another story.

http://killedbypolice.net/

id rather not take my chances

challengerX · April 10, 2015, 06:32:44 PM

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Mr. Psychologist · April 10, 2015, 07:26:17 PM

Probably, if you don't mind ending up on the news later that night as the latest victim of police brutality etc etc.

If you are being arrested and you didn't do anything wrong then don't go ahead and do something wrong by assaulting an officer. If you have done something wrong then it should be kind of obvious as to why you are being nicked.

That being said, if a cop is about to straight up execute you in the street then of course you can try and save yourself, but good luck doing that against a trigger happy cawp.

ΚΑΤΑΝΑΛΩΤΗΣ · April 10, 2015, 09:53:10 PM

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Azumarill · April 10, 2015, 10:04:16 PM

Quote from: Arm The Mob on April 10, 2015, 09:53:10 PM

Yes.

Far too many people have died in no-knock raids that target the wrong house.

Fuck pigs.

maybe half a year ago in my state, a no-knock raid resulted in a baby being hit with a flashbang grenade.

wanna know who was punished? nobody. gotta love it.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/us/georgia-toddler-stun-grenade-no-indictment/

Genghis Khan · April 11, 2015, 06:36:35 AM

Of course. The cops will think twice before they start a shitstorm.

Magos Domina · April 11, 2015, 02:30:34 PM

Forgewolf · April 12, 2015, 01:12:04 PM

If you fail to self-defense yourself against a Cop, you'll be made out to be the bad guy on the spot. It'd probably be better to be shot, potentially killed, made into a victim and the cop be mortified for life (Unless they are super desensitized) and lose his/her job.

Although in narrow circumstances, I believe you should be allowed to defend yourself against illegal law enforcement actions.