Why Police Are Correct To Use Deadly Force

On Tuesday, Mar. 7, Newark, CA police fatally shot 33-year-old Victor Macias when he was wielding what looked like a real gun and refused to follow instructions by police to put the gun down.

An account of the the story can be found at KTVU's web site: http://www.ktvu.com/news/7826686/detail.html

In the story, it says, "The family of 33-year-old Victor Macias of Fremont is upset the day after Macias was shot and killed by a Newark police officer during a confrontation at a strip mall." Well, I can understand that they are upset that a family member died; but, despite the fact that he was diagnosed as a schizophrenic, he should have known better than to pull out and point a realistic-looking gun at a police officer. Add to that, he failed to follow police instructions to put it down.

The police statement said that Macias was at the Newark Square Shopping Center, asking people for drugs. Then, it appeared that he planned to rob one of the stores and he pulled out what appeared to be a gun. According to eyewitness accounts, Macias wasn't following officer's commands at the time he was shot. Later, when they retrieved the gun, they discovered that it was a toy replica.

By law, toy replica guns are supposed to have a bright fluorescent cap on the end of the barrel to distinguish it from a real gun, which was brought on by previous incidents where youths who flashed a realistic gun were fatally shot by police in what turned out to be cases where the replica was mistaken for the real thing.

The police department contends that the officer who shot Macias was well within his rights to do so. The family, obviously, disagrees.

Taken directly from the KTVU story, ""These officers are trained. They know what a toy gun looks like, and they know what a real gun looks like. They don't care," said Macia's cousin Jose Villanueva.

What a load of crap!

The photo of the gun Macias had in his possession was photographed alongside the real thing and it IS difficult to distinguish it from the actual firearm, especially when the bright cap is removed. So, for them to assert that the police police "don't care" is nothing short of shifting blame from themselves to somebody else.

If they knew that Victor Macias was a danger to himself and to others with his irrational behavior, they should have taken the toy away when they had the chance to. And, if they were a police officer and somebody pointed what looked like a real gun to them, would they have acted any different? I don't think so! Ask any rational police officer and they would tell you that their training would take over in such situations. So, for the family to make such a baseless claim, they can go screw themselves!

Victor Macias brought this onto himself. The family let him down by not being more watchful over him. And, what was he thinking when he removed the bright plastic endcap? Did he really think that he would be able to get away with committing a crime and then claiming that he was irrational at the time due to his schizophrenia?

As always, liberals will always shunt the blame from themselves onto others for their misfortunes. While it is sad that a life was lost, I do not feel that the police were at fault for using deadly force. What would the family say if Victor had a real gun and killed one officer before he was gunned down by other police officers? "Well, there's more of them and only one of him. He was outgunned." I'm willing to bet that would be their response, and they would still try to sue over the police department's use of deadly force.

Face it: You, the Macias family, let Victor down.

So, the next time that anybody thinks about trying to pass a toy replica gun for the real thing, expect to die if it is pointed at police who ARE packing REAL guns!

My hope is that this event will not curtail the way police handle suspects with guns. A knee-jerk reaction can always be expected from liberals who cry "POLICE BRUTALITY!!!" when the police are doing their level best to protect the local citizenry. In that note, I am pro-police. They have a tough enough job as it is, being embroiled in a spiteful lawsuit because somebody's family member was fatally shot when they failed to follow direct orders and pointed a weapon at them is something the police don't need. We need them out on the streets, not behind a desk on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.