http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ind..._police_du.html

I was initially defensive of the cops in this situation... but ... um.... gonna be interesting to see how this ends up. For all parties.

I'm interested in the officers explanation for the shooting. Shooting someone unarmed is going to be sticky to explain unless the kid somehow represented that he was armed and prepared to use the weapon when they executed the warrant.

The unconfirmed story that I've heard (obviously a rumor, but could have some merit) is that when the cops entered (through the back, without announcing their presence) and burst through his door, the student, Dereke Copp, put up his hands to cover his eyes. Apparently, the next thing he knew he was in the hospital.

This is a ridiculously low crime area, except for MIPS, DUIs and things like that. I think our worst instance of crime last year was a butter knife stabbing.

I can't find a politically correct way to express my laughter at this.

So was it dark inside and the sun flooded the room when they burst in, causing him to cover his eyes? I think that may be the only un-stupid explanation for what he did.

If the kid lives it'll probably blow over somewhat. If he dies I could see it becoming a major story (assuming the kid is white).

The part of your story that doesn't make sense to me beaver is that the cops didn't announce their presence. Also the bit about the kid blocking his eyes is fine, but it does almost nothing to help explain why he got shot .


EDIT: The more I think about it, the more confused I am by beaver's story. I know you said it's just a rumor, but why would the cops burst in unannounced with weapons drawn?? The article simply says that they were executing a search warrant. Ok fine I can see entering unannounced so the suspects don't have time to flush the drugs, but why are your guns drawn? These were students, no? Did they think it was gonna be like Scarface?



I've been assuming this wasn't about weed. Please tell me it wasn't about weed, that would be retarded. That reminds me of the time the cops in my town ran a ridiculous sting operation against some kids a grade below me in high school, netting a major bust of one ounce of pot. They had literally a dozen cops hiding behind bushes and in a van and stopped a group of about 5 kids right outside the school and arrested about 3 of them. They didn't have guns out, but it was still hugely retarded. I got there about a second after the cops burst out, and ended up giving a ride home to one kid who I was friendly with and who wasn't carrying anything. One kid had one ounce, and that was like a whole lot for him. They were probably just going to smoke it. It was a reeeeeeetarded bust, probably because the cops were bored. The really funny part is that Taxachusetts just decriminalized weed in amount of an ounce or less.

Sorry, I should have specified. I guess it was at night (had to be?) and he must have been in his room, with no lights on.... (beating off? you be the judge) and he covered his eyes when the cop flashed his FLASHLIGHT on him. He was shot once in the chest.

It was, apparently, a weed-related search warrant.

BTW, it's so shocking because it's truly unbelievable to think that at this college, any drug dealer would have a gun. I've bought from many people here and none of them ever worried about such things. It's not a crime-inducing practice here, (except for the act itself, obviously). For the cop's first instinct to be that he would have a gun and fire at him, only to find out he was unarmed... It sounds like a ridiculous mistake in a situation that probably shouldn't have gotten that far.

ALSO, it hasn't been confirmed that he is a dealer, either. I've heard from people who know him that he isn't. Obviously they're rumors, and could be biased against the cops, but this whole thing definitely isn't good for the cop who shot him.

I told you to tell me it wasn't about weed! God that's horrifying.






This makes me think that this cop and/or his superiors could be getting in a huge amount of trouble.

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73548

The beauty of the existance of cop forums is that the grotesque mentalities that are invariably present in the sort of dysfunctional personality type that is drawn to becoming a cop are put on full display, for everyone to see. Even when they try to restrict the forums to cops only, it still creates a record and a mole always gets in to expose them.

Prior to these type forums, their discussions were always behind closed doors, so they had deniability as to the nature and sort of people they really were. Now, everyone can see that most cops are almost always as undesirable as the people they arrest.

Like this guy?

That was pretty creepy.

About the OP, don't white people handle this shit by knocking on the door and when the kid opens it, the cops say, "Um, we're here with this drug sniffing dog. You got any weed here?"

And the kid says, "No way." Or, "Yeah, you got me."

A seriously-wounded unarmed college student is a small price to pay so that middle-aged suburbanites can pretend their own kids aren't smoking pot.

"STEP AWAY FROM THE BUTTER KNIFE"

Amen, brother.

do cops take a special classes on how to pick out shitty ties?