[tankkiller275]

I believe that your actions were appropriate. You cannot read the mind of the person being assaulted. As is true for many times a "good samaritan" gets involved, the police don't have the good fortune to look into a crystal ball and know what happened. They secure everyone and begin to investigate. In the end, Justice is usually served, as it was in this case.

Too often People, Citizens, Americans are told to just point and yell when person is getting mugged, raped, beat up - Assaulted! The concern is that you might get hurt yourself if you intervene. That may be true some of the time, but the lions share of the time it will/would make a difference. Law enforcement is not soley exclusive to the Police and other such agencies. We have granted them the authority to enforce the law, but the responsibility resides with us as well. Gone is the attitude and selflessness of my Grandfather's generation. The decline started with my Father's generation, and continues to this day. As is true in the states that have a CCW right and responsibility, where violent crime has been shown to have decreased, if we Citizens let criminals know that their actions are not tolerated through a proactive approach, then crime would decrease as a whole. All we need to do is give a damn about our neighbors.

RLTW!
Rob

 

[tankkiller275]

CopperKnight wrote:

Makes you think, though, if you were carrying at the time, would your response have been different?

I wrote this post in another thread, but I think it is relavent to this post as well:

I would find it very hard to justify the use of Lethal Force. With him being unarmed, I don't believe it even justifies me brandishing my weapon. Now, had he produced or aquired a potential deadly weapon, such as a stick or club, I would be justified in brandishing my firearm and alerting him. The moment he didn't comply with my commands and raised the club to strike my wife, I would then be justified to use Lethal Force.

I may be wrong, but I have never heard of a LEO use Lethal Force on a BG that is known to be unarmed, even if he/she is wailing on another person or LEO. Less then Lethal Force/Weapons are usually used. If the BG produces a weapon such as a club, shovel, or knife, or demonstrates actions/intent of the desire to escalate the fight, such as grab for the LEO's firearm, then all bets are off. As Less then Lethal tools are available to the public, the same principle of escalation of force apply. There has got to be some LEO's here that can shed some light. Off the record of course!! Ha, Ha!

I suppose the question is at what point is the thin line between a good ass whooping, and severe bodily harm or death possible that justifies Lethal use of Force/Weapons?

RLTW!
Rob