User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: The Curious Grammar of Police Shootings

  1. #1
    Points: 21,919, Level: 35
    Level completed: 98%, Points required for next Level: 31
    Overall activity: 0.1%
    Achievements:
    SocialTagger Second Class10000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Helena's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    2323
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    3,128
    Points
    21,919
    Level
    35
    Thanks Given
    3,286
    Thanked 2,314x in 1,399 Posts
    Mentioned
    39 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    The Curious Grammar of Police Shootings

    Article from Summer 2014

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.dce11727236b

    It’s a way of describing a shooting without assigning responsibility. Most police departments do this. But we can take a few recent examples from the Los Angeles Police Department. Here, for example, is how the LAPD describes a typical shooting that does not involve a police officer:
    On February 10, 2014, around 6:10 p.m., the victim was in the parking lot in the 13640 block of Burbank Boulevard, to the rear, when he was confronted by the suspect. The suspect produced a semi-automatic handgun and fired numerous times striking the victim in the torso.
    Note the active voice. We have a clear subject, verb, and direct object. Contrast that with how the LAPD has described a few recent shootings by LAPD officers:
    When the officers arrived they were confronted by a Hispanic male armed with a sword. The officers attempted to take the suspect into custody by using a taser but it was ineffective. The suspect then ran towards the officers still armed with the sword and an officer-involved-shooting occurred.
    May 2, 2014
    The officer exited his police vehicle and began to give commands to the suspect at which time he observed Gomez was armed with a box cutter. Gomez refused to comply with the officers’ commands and began to approach him, still armed with the box cutter. The officer deployed his OC spray which did not appear to affect Gomez. When the suspect continued to advance on the officer while refusing to comply with his repeated commands, an officer-involved shooting (OIS) occurred.
    April 28, 2014
    While still in a position of cover, the officers encountered a male suspect who was armed with a weapon at which time an officer involved shooting occurred.
    May 12, 2014
    I’m not questioning whether any of these shootings were justified. I’m just drawing your attention to the language. ...


    One of my favorite examples came in 2011, after the DEA and local police burst into the home of an innocent family during a botched raid. During the raid, a 13-year-old girl was pulled from her bed at gunpoint. She vomited, had an asthma attack, and passed out. The family told a local newspaper that the agents then threatened to kill their dogs unless they stopped them from barking. The DEA later put out a press release apology with this quote from John P. Gilbride, the special agent in charge :
    “We sincerely regret that while attempting to execute an arrest warrant for a member of this drug trafficking organization, the innocent McKay family was inadvertently affected by this enforcement operation.”
    Inadvertently affected! ...


    Here’s how a report from Albany, Georgia TV station WALB described the incident:
    The situation of how the child was shot remains unclear. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Eastman was called to investigate the shooting. Sheriff Wooten said a deputy, who was not named, was approaching the property when a dog ran up to him. The deputy’s gun fired one shot, missing the dog and hitting the child. It was not clear if the gun was accidentally fired by the deputy.

    ...

    All of this wouldn’t be much more troubling than your typical grammatical ass-covering by other public officials if it weren’t for the fact that (a) we’re talking about people getting shot and killed, and (b) in most cases, the same police agencies engaging in linguistic gymnastics to publicly deflect responsibility for police shootings will inevitably be in charge of investigating the same officers for the same shootings.




  2. The Following User Says Thank You to Helena For This Useful Post:

    donttread (11-17-2018)

  3. #2
    Points: 84,367, Level: 70
    Level completed: 80%, Points required for next Level: 483
    Overall activity: 3.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialVeteranTagger First Class50000 Experience Points
    roadmaster's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    10157
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    18,760
    Points
    84,367
    Level
    70
    Thanks Given
    3,287
    Thanked 6,300x in 4,607 Posts
    Mentioned
    143 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I don't always side with cops. showed a video years ago of a cop that went down a long, long private dirt road because he was lost. Got out his car, owner wasn't there and a dog ran up towards him, he had plenty of time to get back into his car but he waited beside his car and shot the dog. He left and didn't tell the owner what happened until she watched her camera. This was not some vicious dog, mixed breed and most dogs bark at cars coming in. So yea there are times when they claim fear for their life and it's not.

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to roadmaster For This Useful Post:

    Helena (11-13-2018)

  5. #3
    Points: 172,963, Level: 98
    Level completed: 83%, Points required for next Level: 687
    Overall activity: 49.0%
    Achievements:
    50000 Experience PointsSocialVeteran
    donttread's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    88554
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    51,915
    Points
    172,963
    Level
    98
    Thanks Given
    18,303
    Thanked 20,522x in 14,781 Posts
    Mentioned
    318 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Helena View Post
    Article from Summer 2014

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.dce11727236b

    It’s a way of describing a shooting without assigning responsibility. Most police departments do this. But we can take a few recent examples from the Los Angeles Police Department. Here, for example, is how the LAPD describes a typical shooting that does not involve a police officer:
    On February 10, 2014, around 6:10 p.m., the victim was in the parking lot in the 13640 block of Burbank Boulevard, to the rear, when he was confronted by the suspect. The suspect produced a semi-automatic handgun and fired numerous times striking the victim in the torso.
    Note the active voice. We have a clear subject, verb, and direct object. Contrast that with how the LAPD has described a few recent shootings by LAPD officers:
    When the officers arrived they were confronted by a Hispanic male armed with a sword. The officers attempted to take the suspect into custody by using a taser but it was ineffective. The suspect then ran towards the officers still armed with the sword and an officer-involved-shooting occurred.
    May 2, 2014
    The officer exited his police vehicle and began to give commands to the suspect at which time he observed Gomez was armed with a box cutter. Gomez refused to comply with the officers’ commands and began to approach him, still armed with the box cutter. The officer deployed his OC spray which did not appear to affect Gomez. When the suspect continued to advance on the officer while refusing to comply with his repeated commands, an officer-involved shooting (OIS) occurred.
    April 28, 2014
    While still in a position of cover, the officers encountered a male suspect who was armed with a weapon at which time an officer involved shooting occurred.
    May 12, 2014
    I’m not questioning whether any of these shootings were justified. I’m just drawing your attention to the language. ...


    One of my favorite examples came in 2011, after the DEA and local police burst into the home of an innocent family during a botched raid. During the raid, a 13-year-old girl was pulled from her bed at gunpoint. She vomited, had an asthma attack, and passed out. The family told a local newspaper that the agents then threatened to kill their dogs unless they stopped them from barking. The DEA later put out a press release apology with this quote from John P. Gilbride, the special agent in charge :
    “We sincerely regret that while attempting to execute an arrest warrant for a member of this drug trafficking organization, the innocent McKay family was inadvertently affected by this enforcement operation.”
    Inadvertently affected! ...


    Here’s how a report from Albany, Georgia TV station WALB described the incident:
    The situation of how the child was shot remains unclear. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Eastman was called to investigate the shooting. Sheriff Wooten said a deputy, who was not named, was approaching the property when a dog ran up to him. The deputy’s gun fired one shot, missing the dog and hitting the child. It was not clear if the gun was accidentally fired by the deputy.

    ...

    All of this wouldn’t be much more troubling than your typical grammatical ass-covering by other public officials if it weren’t for the fact that (a) we’re talking about people getting shot and killed, and (b) in most cases, the same police agencies engaging in linguistic gymnastics to publicly deflect responsibility for police shootings will inevitably be in charge of investigating the same officers for the same shootings.



    Everybody does spin. Some have more to cover than others. But even if a cop commits murder should they be compared to politicians? It seems a little too harsh. Decades in jail maybe but not that.

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to donttread For This Useful Post:

    Helena (11-17-2018)

  7. #4
    Points: 21,919, Level: 35
    Level completed: 98%, Points required for next Level: 31
    Overall activity: 0.1%
    Achievements:
    SocialTagger Second Class10000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Helena's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    2323
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    3,128
    Points
    21,919
    Level
    35
    Thanks Given
    3,286
    Thanked 2,314x in 1,399 Posts
    Mentioned
    39 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

  8. The Following User Says Thank You to Helena For This Useful Post:

    donttread (11-17-2018)

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts