Police opened fire on a subway platform in Brooklyn during a confrontation with an alleged fare-beater, striking the man cops said was armed with a knife, two straphangers caught in the fray, and one of the firing officers, NYPD officials said Sunday.

One of those two passengers hit by the cops’ bullets, a 49-year-old man, was hospitalized in critical condition after he was hit struck in the head, according to the NYPD.

The two officers who opened fire were assigned to patrol the Sutter Avenue subway stop in the 73rd precinct when they spotted a man skip the station turnstile and walk through an open gate toward the train platform, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey explained at an evening press conference from Brookdale Hospital.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    This obviously has in part to do with the toxic American gun culture and it’s corrupt and untrained police, but alsonwoth it’s misguided need for what it thinks is justice, and revenge for real or imagined crimes.

    Shoplift something small? In you go with hardened criminals to punish punish punish, fuck you for daring to do that! No rehabilitation, just punish

    A lot of Americans complain about low prison sentences in Europe, not understanding that the focus there is on actually solving the problem of crime, instead of revenge, revenge, revenge.

    • frezik@midwest.social
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      2 months ago

      It makes more sense if you start from the premise that there are “good people” and “bad people”, and bad people need to be punished to protect good people. The people who do the protections–like Joe Arpaio–can do no wrong. Even if they seem to do bad things, that’s just in the service of protecting good people.

      This premise is bullshit, but everything follows from there.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 months ago

      The problem is rooted in prison spending moving from a social cost to a private revenue stream.

      It’s the classic Cobra Effect of economics. Monetizing the solution to a problem creates an incentive to increase the instances of said problem.

      In this case, we have criminalized the free use of public transportation in order to justify more spending on policing.

      • RumorsOfLove@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        it seems like you are assuming it wasnt always this way. but perhaps this has always been the function of prison. CIP: Australia

    • Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      The same thing in Canada. Despite the reputation of Canadians being polite wusses by Americans the Canadian legal system is much harsher than the American system.

    • BluesF@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yes! I can’t tell you how many arguments I’ve had with people who genuinely think that burglars deserve to be shot and killed.