The woman, Talisa Coombs, told Delaney she’d just gotten into what she alleged was a physical altercation with her granddaughter’s mother, Maria Pike, and called 911. Independence police’s response to that 911 call ended with the shooting death of Pike, 34, and her two month old daughter, Destinii Hope — who were identified Tuesday by authorities from the Police Involved Investigative Team, or PIIT, a team of eastern Jackson County detectives called in to investigate police shootings and use-of-force incidents.

The officer who fired his weapon was “a long-tenured veteran of law enforcement,” Dustman said. That officer and another two who were at the scene are on administrative leave.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article295483354.html

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    “On administrative leave”, Jesus fucking christ, fire and prosecute those fuck heads. This is well beyond gross negligence.

    • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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      Sentencing guidelines should automatically double sentences for law enforcement and government officials, regardless of the crime.

    • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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      Ok, I think this needs to be explained because people don’t understand the whole “on administrative leave” thing. It’s not a slap on the wrist, it’s the first step they have to take to fire him.

      Cops have unions. One of the things those unions have put in place is that most cops can not immediately just be fired except in extremely narrow and specific circumstances. Beyond those circumstances, there has to be an investigation. During the investigation, the cop is placed on administrative leave. Even if it’s super cut and dry, statements still need to be taken, a report still has to be written, and it’s gotta go through the whole process.

      Now, do these investigations often get intentionally delayed? Yes. Do they often come out weeks or months later saying “cop did nothing wrong, everyone move along.” Also yes. But the point is administrative leave is not the punishment and does not mean that consequences aren’t going to be coming. Saying “Why put them on administrative leave? Just fire them!” is kind of like saying “Why fill out the forms HR needs to fire them? Just fire them!” It’s a process, and administrative leave is the first step.

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Im fairly certain shooting a 2 month old in the head qualifies for immediate prosecution. What’s the report going to say, he felt threatened by the 2 month old rattling their toys at him?

        • Kalysta@lemm.ee
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          It’s likely worse. He was trying to shoot the mother and missed.

          He’s a shit shot.

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    Greenfield believes police could have used different methods to de-escalate the situation.

    No effing shit Sherlock

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        I’m confident that Russia has even worse police. The morality police in some countries have killed women for not wearing headscarves.

        Yes, US police culture is fucking awful and being armed makes it worse. They are not even close to unique though.

      • Kichae@lemmy.ca
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        Cops aren’t bastards because they randomly kill small children and pets. Cops are bastards because they enforce the social hierarchies and protect the rich from the masses.

        They just also kill small children and pets sometimes. As a treat. And, as with most other forms of treats, Americans indulge more than those in many other places in the world.

      • bl_r@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        No, ACAB includes all cops, including ones from other countries.

        The US might have particularly bad cops, but cops from other countries are still pretty bad.

        • brbposting
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          “All” is quite definitive. I prefer a shorter slogan:

          PEB

          Policing Enables Bastards

          Seems much harder to get hung up in semantic arguments and it gives activists permission to join their ranks and attempt to disrupt a broken system from the inside. Also shows solidarity with cops who are on leave right now for reporting misconduct or disobeying unethical orders, instead of labeling them as bastards in the interim from now until they’re fired.

          I hope there aren’t cops who think “well, I’m a bastard no matter what, so why bother?” but if there are, I like the narrative shift of “don’t let yourself fall into the bastard trap; report corruption, speak out, be better”.

          • Klear
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            I just read it as “American Cops Are Bastards”.

  • MeaanBeaan@lemmy.world
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    The officer who fired his weapon was “a long-tenured veteran of law enforcement,” Dustman said.

    So who else has he murdered in cold blood?

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    My dad used to use this technique to settle disputes: “if you are gonna fight over it, neither of you can have it!”

    Though I don’t recall him ever shooting a baby in the face so maybe these cops need more training.

    Or some fucking lead to their own foreheads.

    Is that too far? No. No I don’t think it is.

  • FabledAepitaph@lemmy.world
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    If you explode a baby’s head with a gun, let’s just skip the trial and send 'em straight to prison for the rest of their life because there’s nothing left for you in this world. Your humanity card has been withdrawn.

    • bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      if I had killed a little kid, accidentally or otherwise, I wouldn’t have thought twice. I’d killed myself on the fucking spot. On the fucking spot. I would’ve stuck the gun in me mouth. On the fucking spot!

    • patacon_pisao@lemmy.world
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      People like this deserve to be put in front of a firing squad with a target on their head to see if it explodes too, but I doubt it will because they probably have a thick skull.

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    The passive voice writing in this article is as usual playing defense for the police.

    Independence police’s response to that 911 call ended with the shooting death of Pike, 34, and her two month old daughter, Destinii Hope. Let me rephrase this in a less passive way. The response to that 911 call from the independence police officer ended with him shooting Pike, 34 and her two month old daughter, Destinii Hope, to death.

    I’m not implying this specific author or newspaper are writing in this style out of malice. I think this is part of a problem with the culture in journalism, because most articles on police violence are written this way.

    • Victor@lemmy.world
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      That’s an interesting observation. But, I can also feel that the point of journalism is to deliver facts about what has transpired, not to place blame, unless it is unequivocally true along with proof. It is however important to expose weaknesses in society, so that people don’t get away with murder, literally or figuratively.

      Still, that’s something very interesting that you brought up. It could be just a style common in journalism, or more deliberate so as not to take responsibility for calling anyone out.

      • CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world
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        The thing is sometimes articles do use aggressive language, if you pay attention you can frequently determine the political affiliations of a news source by the word choice they use when describing the actions of various groups.

        • Victor@lemmy.world
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          Yeah that’s pretty rotten of them.

          I tend to stay away from news sources that are openly politically biased (intentionally or not), or overly sensationalist. I really don’t respect either one of those qualities.

  • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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    No shit she reached for a knife. She had every right to stab that officer to death after he blew her baby’s brains out right in front of her.

    • RidderSport@feddit.org
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      Yeah, if this were a criminal case in my country it would look like this: murder(+?)/manslaughter on the child (+) no justification, not in the line of duty (+), ergo (+); manslaughter mother (+), justification? Self-defense? Mother herself justified? No imminent attack, child OS already dead, but her attack excused. Self defense possible for the officer, but self-defense provocation at least carelessly, most likely on purpose = heavy reduction of self-defense measures to basically just evasion and restraining, using the firearm in excess of that = not justifiable; possible excuse excess of violence for self-defense, caused the situation and escalated it beyond anything reasonable, better trained and armed, not excusable = manslaughter on the mother (+)

      This would likely get you life in prison (so earliest parol after 15 years) here. And I doubt this would be something any officer or DA would dare to burn their hands over to cover up, as they would be held accountable for that coverup or meddling and go to prison themselves

      • freddydunningkruger@lemmy.world
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        Well look at you, licking police boots hoping you get permission to go all the way up the thigh!

        Coombs and other family members say that Destinii was lying on her mother’s chest when a police bullet hit her in the head. Destinii’s mother also died, from a second bullet family members say came from the same officer.

        Meanwhile, in the two weeks since the shooting, Independence police have refused to give any details about the shooting. But hey, you keep licking those boots nice and clean.

        • Katana314@lemmy.world
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          It’s disproportionate response either way, and murky witness accounts, but the best interpretation I can read from the article is in fact that the cops fired when she reached for a weapon. That could get disproven in further investigation or if body cam footage fails to appear (can only imagine that happening if the story is false)

          • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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            can only imagine that happening if the story is false

            Have you just started paying attention to the police? Their story, nearly without fail, is false in circumstances that rise to this level of attention. Everything about this reads bad for the cops, especially their silence since then.

            Bodycam footage comes out in a blink when it exonerates them.

  • radiohead37@lemmynsfw.com
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    I hate how much the police worries more about their egos and asserting authority than de-escalation and service to the community. They seem more emotionally unstable than the people they are supposed to help.

    If that’s the response from an experienced officer, then there are serious issues with the whole system. There’s a baby on the scene and still their first impulse is to pull the trigger. Fuck them!

    • Gort@lemm.ee
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      Maybe dribbled the wrong way. Baby spit can be a projectile…

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    I see some nasty comments on here. So I will add mine adjusted to the popo. The popo are basically criminal goons contracted by the city to ruin brown and black people’s lives. Every single day there’s gotta be some but of news where they end one of our brothers or sisters lives. Why do we let them do that to us?

    Sure there are bad people who need to be in jail. Trump for example. But only the regular folks like you and I get to go to jail. Only our lives can be ruined. Touch the glass ceiling for long enough and you get to be slammed teeth first into the pavement for a supposed traffic violation which ended up with some baggies full of funny powder. Those fucking assholes are everywhere. It’s time to abolish the police and instead enforce some sort of social help.

    • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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      My husband is brown, and had a cop intentionally try to antagonize him into responding emotionally so the cop could violently arrest him.

      Used aggressive language, threats to bring him to the station, veiled threats alluding to a guy who had been paralyzed and left in a coma by police the week before. It was sick and fucked up. It left my husband literally shaking afterwards. I’ve never seen him scared like that. I hate that cop with every fiber of my being. My husband is a gentle, kind, and loving person just trying to get his car fixed.

      His offense that got him pulled over? Going to the mechanic to get his car fixed so it would pass emissions and we could update the registration.

      To folks reading this, cops will absolutely try to antagonize you and escalate the situation. Don’t let them. It gives them every excuse to shoot you and get away with it.

      Cops can go fuck themselves to death.

      • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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        My worst experience was one time driving with my old man. I was a kid at the time in 6th grade. Probably the shortest skinniest and we both are nerd types wearing glasses. He was already in his 50s or 60s, white hair and all. Anyway he was driving his old dodge ram which had a steering problem. Some might know what I’m talking about…you tighten up the steering one week and then next week it’s a little loose, like you pull straight and it either goes left or right. So you constantly had to turn the car left or right the entire time. So the cop naturally pulls us over that night 4 blocks from the house. “Why were you swerving!!”. My dad didn’t speak English so I had to translate to the office that was a mechanical issue. So I was like, I’ll get off so I can explain. I opened the door and this other cop who I hadn’t noticed just rammed the fucking door on my face. And I’m supposed to love and respect these fucks? And I won’t go into detail on what they did to my dad with his heart bypass, glasses and visible frail. Fuck cops. I didn’t turn into Elon musk and have my own musk flying rocket, super underground digging machine, battery making company or car making company. But I am a successful regular person and I don’t need a fucking cop in my daily commute but every day I have to drive exactly 20mph in front of a school or the cop will pull me over. I’ve seen the cop pull over cars going 21mph. It’s like dude, 21mph is still fine! I’m driving 16 to 19, just trying to stay alive. Oh and then there’s these other two sections of the road. One has a tree with dark shadows…and a fucking cop in there hiding. The other is a sharp turn on a freeway ramp…and a fucking cop waiting for you in case you like to joy turn into the freeway. Fucking cops.

  • ansiz@lemmy.world
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    This city sounds like a shitshow, Social Services came the day before to take the baby but no one answered the door so they just left? They didn’t even check with the apartment management office? My mom used to do that for a living and would always have the police come with her for any situation like that.

    It obviously was a bad situation before the cops showed up, but the father was right to not let them in at first. This situation is exactly what the ‘defund the police’ slogan was aiming at, Social Services should have definitely responded with the police, really any time the police believe a child is involved.

    • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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      Idk about social services in other places, but I had a buddy that was a social worker. His caseload was something like eight times higher than it should have been. Trying to get in touch weekly with people who don’t want to see you. You can try to prioritize to the best of your knowledge, but there’s only so much you can do.

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        I get that but the article says they were there to take the child away, that seems serious enough that they wouldn’t have just knocked on the door and then just left.

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    I saw part of one US police training video, and I’m not surprised by this outcome. They are brainwashed to fear for themselves and believe everyone is trying to kill them. Doesn’t justify the crime, but this could have been any other cop, and it isn’t enough to hold that one cop accountable.

    If this was a war, this would have been a warcrime and the guilt falls on not just the soldier who fired the shot.

    • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
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      They’re also armed to the gills and like to pretend they’re soldiers. They behave like an occupying army and treat everyone like a potential threat because that’s what they think war is.

  • baines@lemmy.cafe
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    this ‘news’ site is trash, fucking constant text disruptive ads

    fuck this garbage, 5min and had to re focus text like every 30 seconds

    • LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world
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      I am all about not calling the cops, but is there a good alternative for someone to call for situations that need deescalated before people get hurt or worse? I keep getting awful neighbors. Had to call CPS on the first family for extreme negligence and they had their kids taken away the same day I reported them. The last ones were selling drugs, but were mostly quiet with an occasional super loud dispute that would honestly scare me. Didn’t know they were selling drugs until their house got raided, though. The new ones are VERY quiet and don’t seem interested in even properly introducing themselves, so I’m hoping they’re cool, but with the track record of that place… I expect bad times to come. I would love to know what services I could utilize if things escalate to the point where I become fearful of being outside or whatever

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        I’ve heard that firefighters are people that actually wants to help, but calling them would also steal from firefighting resources.

        • LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world
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          My town has an absurd amount of firefighters and first responders. I broke my leg last year and 30 people, both firefighters and paramedics, showed up and poured into my house. It took 3 of them to get my leg stabilized haul me into the ambulance. The rest ended up just standing around in my yard doing nothing lol. When we passed the fire department/ paramedic place, there were like 10 other people hanging around the ambulances and fire trucks in their uniforms just shooting the shit.

      • Soggy@lemmy.world
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        The service is “talk to your neighbors, find out who has what skills and resources, and share an investment in your community.” If everyone sucks… try to leave. But with the police being what they are it’s not more dangerous to posse up and give the Neighborhood Watch some teeth.

        • LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world
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          My only good neighbor weighs almost 400lbs and has ruined knees and a fucked up spine. Wish there was a neighborhood watch, but most of my town is impoverished, so there’s a lot of shitty people. The town is nice overall imo, but the shitty people definitely bring it down when they start their shenanigans. The small police force is very active and most criminals are taken into custody peacefully, but ACAB and it’s just a matter of time before they start killing folks. I do own a gun and know how to use it, have two very loud dogs, and my house has a good alarm system and the fenced in yard has a gate that confuses a lot of people. I’m not afraid of anyone breaking in to hurt me or whatever, but I don’t want to get dragged into anything if I’m outside at the wrong time, especially if my dogs are out because they are liable to get shot with how much they want to see people and how loud they are.

    • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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      Idk sounds like the mother in law called the cops, and we all know how mother in laws tend to be