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Sammy Yatim Shooting

I view this event as the result of the actions of one person (or two people if you count the dead boy), and not the force in general. From the video it appears the bulk of the 23 officers weren't arriving until about the time the shooting started. And it looks like the one officer with the gun failed to wait until someone with higher authority could enact proper procedure. But let's say this officer has a history, known in the locker and break rooms back at the station, of being a bit of a hothead, of bad judgement, or of substance abuse or 'roid rage, or of bias towards other classes or races. Then the best that could come of this would be that other officers would step forward to expose this. I wouldn't consider it throwing this particular officer under the bus. He's the one person here that made the judgment to shoot the kid dead. Then maybe that could lead to some procedure to purge bad officers, some self-policing from the police, a lessening of the union solidarity and "brotherhood". These guys get rewarded well, and they have important responsibilities, making the union shouldn't mean a job for life if someone later proves themselves somehow unfit. But I'm not real hopeful of any of that.
 
What I find to be most disturbing here, beyond the execution, is the reaction of the other officers.

1) Bang-bang-bang (Sammy goes down), police stand around and move closer to the front streetcar door, somewhat indifferent
2) Six seconds later another six rounds are emptied out, into a man lying on the floor of the streetcar. Other police move around, most looking cool as ice.
3) 37 seconds after the final shot Sammy is tasered. Cops remain cool.

More than the executioner, it is my opinion that there is a culture within the group of police here that truly disturbs me. I know that police are trained to remain calm under extreme circumstances, but freshly viewing this video today gave me a sense that despite what is happening in front of them, there seems to be no sign of protest that what is happening is wrong nor any attempt by any other officer to try and stop the executioner from shooting more rounds, or tasering him.

I'll be very curious to see what the autopsy report states, namely the number and location of bullets in Sammy Yatim's body.
 
A co-worker mentioned to me that in her martial arts classes she learned ways to deal with someone waving a knife around. So shouldn't COPS know that stuff, at a fairly high level? I don't see why it was necessary to use a gun AT ALL in the situation.
 
I predict no serious jail time for this cop. Let's wait and see if I'm right.
It's one thing not to get punished at all (the usual pattern) and an entirely different thing to get jail time. There are possibilities in between.

My hunch is that the latter is likely in this case, but at minimum he is off the force and faces a civil suit with the family, along with the entire TPS. They'll want to appear as punitive with him as possible.
 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Ed0hUzrPs

What is so disturbing about this angle is that you can see Yatim drop to the ground following the first two shots. Yet Forcillo continues to shoot.

Hence, my post above. I've seen this and the other two recordings (though this is the first time I've seen it with the audio synched up), this one is very revealing. The cameras within the streetcar must be horrific, like an execution out of a third world country run by the military - not Canada.
 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Ed0hUzrPs

What is so disturbing about this angle is that you can see Yatim drop to the ground following the first two shots. Yet Forcillo continues to shoot.
Yeah someone is one the floor and yet you still pump 6 more shots into him. This guy wanted to finish off the kid and kill him. He should be in jail. Watch the SIU do their investigation and clear him of all wrongdoing.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Ed0hUzrPs

What is so disturbing about this angle is that you can see Yatim drop to the ground following the first two shots. Yet Forcillo continues to shoot.

This is the first time I am seeing this video synced-up with the sound from the other video and it is clear from this that the movement that we saw in the legs was from the subsequent six rounds of gun fire that the killer - James Forcillo - pumped into him. Sickening :mad:
 
We pay these guys so handsomely for them to use people as target practice.

I myself don't have an issue with paying police, EMS, fire fighters etc. a good living wage, that's not the issue for me. It's the culture that's changing here in Canada with law enforcement that troubles me. Releasing this man's name and salary is just to fire people up even further, IMO.
 
Six figures for someone with six years experience who isn't a specialist seems to me beyond a good living wage, but yeah, cops should probably be decently compensated. However, they're the most expensive line on the city budget, and are they delivering? I always like to point to the bike debates where drivers say all the cyclists are running red lights and cyclists say drivers are parking in bike lanes. Always seems like a problem of enforcement, that everyone pushes rules because the referees are disengaged. When an incident happens and they need to support the team there's a mob of cops coming from all directions, but how often do you see them in your daily travels through the city? I watch the video, and while we can't really know what everyone is charged with doing, there is a Keystone aspect to it. After the shooting, half the cops seem to just be wandering aimlessly - okay, look busy, look busy.

Anyway, in the Star there's a photo of the officer. Standard cop sunglasses, dealer-inspired facial hair, and hand signs. Compare and contrast to the kid's poseur Facebook pictures linked earlier.
 
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Here is a picture of the killer - James Forcillo

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Source: Movember.com
 

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