This while they go house-to-house searching childrens' bedrooms!
They didn't even taser the guy?
They never heard of shooting someone in the leg anymore?
What has happened to ameriKa's police, America?
"Officials vow investigation of fatal shooting by police" by David Abel/Boston Globe November 24, 2007
Boston's police commissioner and the Suffolk district attorney yesterday promised a thorough investigation into whether officers acted properly this week when they fatally shot a jail officer who stole one of their cruisers and led them on a chase from his home in Dorchester to Mattapan.
Their pledge to review the killing of Marquis Barker, 38, an 18-year veteran of the Suffolk County sheriff's department, was made as relatives continued to question why officers did not use nonlethal force after surrounding him in a Walgreens parking lot on Wednesday night.
In a statement, Commissioner Edward F. Davis gave his condolences to Barker's family and said the department is "actively conducting a very thorough and detailed investigation . . . There will be a full departmental analysis to ensure that officers followed protocol."
He added: "This is clearly a tragedy for all involved."
District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, in a separate statement, said state law allows officers to use deadly force "if they reasonably believe a suspect's actions or behavior presents a threat of death or great bodily harm to themselves or others."
He said a prosecutor from his office is reviewing the facts.
"While it is too early to characterize Wednesday evening's incident in legal terms, every resident of Boston should know that my office has already begun a thorough and meticulous inquiry into the facts," Conley said.
Officers responded to a 911 call from Barker's wife, who said he was acting irrationally. They allege that the father of five pointed what appeared to be a semiautomatic handgun at them and ignored orders to drop the weapon, which turned out to be a pellet gun.
Police yesterday released a photo of the pellet gun, which they described as a "replica of a semiautomatic handgun."
In a telephone interview yesterday, Ron Taylor, Barker's older brother, said he can't understand why officers shot him in the head.
"They had him surrounded and then they just started shooting," Taylor said. "This was a family man who coached football and went to work every day for 18 years. What was the purpose of shooting him up? Wasn't there another way?"
Not in fascista AmeriKa!! Not anymore!
Taylor declined to answer questions about what might have triggered such behavior from his brother.
Kim Sanders Barker, Barker's wife, declined to comment yesterday when a reporter visited the family's home on Fuller Street. On Thursday, she speculated that her husband might have had an adverse reaction to medication he took for type 2 diabetes, but she didn't name the drugs.
She said her husband had "looked like a stranger" and was "rambling on about a bunch of things. None of it made sense."
Steven Tompkins, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said he would wait for results from the investigation before further comment.
The Police Department's policy on when officers can fire their weapons states: "The law permits police officers to use reasonable force in the performance of their duties, but only to the degree required to overcome unlawful resistance."
The policy outlines two scenarios when officers can fire justifiably on another person:
"There is no less drastic means available to defend oneself or another from unlawful attack, which an officer has reasonable cause to believe could result in death or great bodily injury."
"There is no less drastic means available to apprehend a fleeing felon when the officer has probable cause to believe that: (1) the subject has committed a felony during the commission of which they inflicted or threatened to inflict deadly force upon the victim or (2) that there is substantial risk that the felon in question will cause death or great bodily injury if their apprehension is delayed."
Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said the shooting was a "very sad situation."
"The officers were put in a difficult position," she said. "It's very tragic for the family and the police officers involved."
"The officers had no choice at the time," Menino told Fox 25 news last night. "They had no choice at all. They did their job."
That's their job, huh? Blowing away people left and right?
Whatever happened "to serve and protect?"
They just KILLED a MAN!!
And he was a SECURITY GUARD!
One of their own!
