1ºThere are many concerns I have about this case., none of them good.
* the trial put 30 seconds under microscope, there’s no way that’s objective , we can over analyze any minute of our lives and come to different conclusion after it’s over .
* officer yelled taser multiple times , oblivious that she didn’t intend to shot her gun.
* suspect made terrible choice by running in his car .
* prior to shooting the police lost control of situation
* young man is dead , woman’s life in ruins , families are changed forever .
* officer hadn’t been on street very long , she worked a desk , why was she mentoring a new officer .
* manslaughter is appropriate but sentence should be light , she may be alive but her life is ruined . Putting her in jail is not going to prove anything . Want to set an example, not on this one .
2ºI am sickened by the decision in this proceeding. How do we take a police officer who has done great work for 26 years and put her in this place?
If you have not been in the heat of an emergency situation, then you should not be able to place judgement in this officer. You have no clue how the mind works in those moments.
There is no time to think, you go based on training. Potters actions tell me she was not given enough training by her department for the taser. Once or twice a year is not enough to expect automatic reaction when your life or someone else’s depends on it.
Additionally, have you stopped to think of the message this jury just sent to criminals? Now we will see more and more criminals fighting police. This has put police in an increasingly difficult position.
No doubt there are bad cops out there, but. Kim Potter is not one of them. You have made this world a scarier place to be. How did we go from a split jury, get sequestered and all of a sudden a guilty verdict? These jurors have failed out system, our police and each one of us! You should each be ashamed.
Time for citizens to arm themselves as the criminals take over!
3ºStephanie Campbell I think police officers always assume a bit too much based on who the person is. If they don’t see a gun they should not assume there is one. I was once followed by cops in the affluent suburbs of L.A. where I lived coz they saw my cell phone in the passenger’ seat at the time most people did not have one. Based on my looks they assumed it was a gun but drove up next to me realized it was not then made their U turn. It started with the car first nobody in the area had one. If I tell you guys how many times I have been followed because cops n sheriffs expected me to do the wrong things like not stop at a stop sign. I once had to call my precinct in FL to complain about the same sheriff following me each time I was coming home from shopping. Guess what? That one stopped but others continue. You guys should see the look on their faces the minute they spot me. I get a kick out of it n watch the entire drama unfold from my rear view mirror including the metamorphosis they go through shown on their faces. They do not belong in those jobs.
4ºFor all the nasty comments I’m reading on here I find this crazy. I’m not defending the action she took but MISTAKES do happen in the world and sorry the person who passed made a mistake that day as well.
Now no one should have died during the interaction and the police officer will now face her time in jail. This is exactly what the judicial system was designed for. We should not be joyful for this. This now took the life of one person and will take the life of another Mother from her family. Nothing to celebrate or be happy about outside of the system in place doing what it was supposed to do.
Again I’m not condoning what the officer did but actions have consequences right… she is facing the consequences of what she did that day. As did the person who had a felony warrant for his arrest and tried to flee police in a vehicle. If the “victim” did not resist arrest we would not have this situation. So as much as some may dislike and not trust the police. Just listen to their orders, don’t do something crazy like try and flee in a car, and face the consequences of whatever action lead to the police interaction.
5ºI believe she panicked. I do believe she thought that the boy was reaching for a weapon. I think maybe she won't admit it. That she wanted her taser but realized being right handed , it would take her a few more seconds to grab it. Because she was panicking thinking at any second this young person could have killed one of them . So she panicked , knowing pulled the gun because it was quicker. If she had the taser on that side , I can almost guarantee she'd of used that as well. It was more less a panicked reflex. This way no matter what, in her mind , she wasn't going to die. I believe she should serve some jail time . No more than 3 years. This is only my opinion. This doesn't mean I know what I'm talking about. Just my theory.
6ºIf she was not the trainer of cops over years to tell them how to pick the right deterrent she would’ve had a legal argument.
Problem was she was the trainer for years to teach the force how to do not what she did.
It is a very difficult job to do police work now. Typically you come out of the military and are trained to do what you do and you roll into a police force somewhere and get a job. The nuances today with mental illness... and, and, is not something in the military (I mean, it is but they have an identified that as a program yet although they’re working on it), but certainly a thing to be a great cop when you enter civilian life.
Legally she’s completely and absolutely based on the evidence responsible for the verdict
7ºIf you have been a police officer for 26 years I would hope you have the experience and the know-how to handle a situation like that He wasn't even armed. He was a skinny little thing there were three policemen surrounding that car. When she was on the stand and the prosecutor was questioning her she began to become very cocky about her training about what her statements were she answered with if you say so is that what it says. She didn't look like to me what those crocodile tears to me she looked entitled and thought she was going to get away with it. Now I'm saying that it could have been an accident I'm not in her head but if you can't handle a situation like that you should not be a police officer especially she's been on the 26 years just my perspective.
8ºThis was a horrible tragedy. I don’t think Potter meant for this to happen. I don’t know how she could have mistaken her gun for a taser. Doctors make life & death mistakes too & they have malpractice insurance. Do they always go on trial for every death that occurs in their practice or only the ones that are suspicious? She didn’t mean to kill Dante. My heart goes out to Dante’s family & to Potter& her family but I don’t believe she committed manslaughter. There should be a lesser charge. She should lose her job which was her career. Going to prison is not the answer.
9ºI don't feel sorry for her she took a life due to her negligence. Cops are held to higher standard you take the good with the bad. But I don't want to hear anyone talking about cut her slack and it was mistake. A mistake that cost a young brother his life over a traffic stop. Cops are to quick to draw their weapons on people of color for such minor infractions. You know why? Because some views us as animals that we need to be treated like animals. So they have no regard for our lives but u never see them pulling these actions in Beverley Hills or other areas of affluence.
10ºUnlike all who are commenting, all of whom have been in the EXACT situation, and exact split second moment, and have the experience to judge that instant of the act, I have not. I do not see as an act of racism, despite the lack of anything credible beyond the race differences thereof the offender and victim. I support this verdict. She acted wrongly, a jury correctly found her act of stupidity guilty and enacted the proper verdict. She killed a person. I don't care that she is white and he black. She killed another human being wrongly. Stupidity, oh yeah. To vilify the system as a whole for her actions as right, no.