At least 2 people would still be alive.

I’m one of the few who defends the police here, but this seems to be a massive, inexcusable, and tragic fuck-up. Wild West indeed.

Of course, it would be too late then...

They did

And the bystander.

It seems a miracle, truly, that many more weren’t killed. What utter insanity.

Where was SWAT?
Where were the hostage experts?
What exactly was the plan - early in the coverage the reporter said police were told to stand down.
I will never understand why they opted for a shoot out in the heaviest traffic. It was utter madness.
The bystander was in his car a man in his sixties - an activist union man.
What were they thinking?

Completely irresponsible.

They say they “don’t know yet” if the two innocents were killed by cops or the crooks.

Oh, I bet they know. I really hope other people caught in that melee demand answers too. I’ve been trying to read the articles in the Miami Herald about it, but finally got shut out by the paywall.

cops were playing Grand Theft Auto, it was insane. Very irresponsible, and juxtaposed with Barr's statement from Monday it is beyond chilling.

This was a horrible situation that I don't see ending well no matter what. The robbers presumably were going to do all they could to not end up back in prison from which they were released several years ago. They are suspected in couple of other recent robberies. UPS driver was likely doomed when they kidnapped him. So I don't see this ending well no matter what.

obviously GPS, I don't know maybe got a hostage negotiator involved, they had a few options, before they treated a busy hwy at rush hour, like the wild west.

Or cause traffic accidents. This was a bad situation that the robbers created that probably wasn't going to have a good ending no matter what. They are also obviously not supposed to have guns due to criminal histories yet did.

are blaming the perps for starting this whole chain of events in the first place, yes, the police could maybe have done something different, I don't know, I wasn't there, but this whole incident wouldn't have happened if the POS's hadn't committed the crime.

We had a thread with the chase - we saw and we heard - it was irresponsible policing plain and simple.

this whole chain of events wouldn't have happened it these 2 POS's hadn't robbed the jewelry store, hadn't hijacked the UPS truck with the driver inside.

Just about everyone here are blaming the police, and maybe rightly so for their response, but the main blame lies with the 2 that started the whole incident.

Disgusting scumbags for sure

Suspected in couple of recent robberies with similar MO.

They fucked this up.

Anyone here can see I frequently defend the police, but not in this case.

which can be utilized in fighting useless wars etc - yet when it comes to local policing it often looks like Barney Fife on the job.

They could've brought in trained SWAT teams to ambush the truck, positioned sharpshooters on buildings to take clean shots, etc.

Instead they send in a bunch of John McClane wannabes who can't shoot straight and put everyone in danger.

or created some condition where the truck would've been forced to stop - with hostage negotiators ready and sharpshooters in position.

I think the first question we need to ask is what exactly were the cops trying to do?
Forget not that we heard someone telling the cops who were following him to stand down.
These were irresponsible hothead cops aka the notorious 'Florida man's brother endangering crowds caught in traffic.

Link to tweet

There were a bunch of blue gang members who were desperate to get in on the action, converged on the truck, and blasted away without any thought of protecting anyone.

they all wanted their bloody little piece.

LEOs are not your friends.

“Military cosplaying” says it all. Smh.

I think were foolish and they should be fired, but seriously doubt that will ever happen.

is not healthy, nor are the RW types that tend to cheer them on.

Look at how Trump pardoned that war criminal, same mindset.

White America tends to have this idealistic view of police/authority figures, thinking they only harm 'bad' people - when often the cops are the bad people themselves, and are merely looking for an excuse to beat/kill/harm someone, and feel like they're above the law.

There's also this idea that cops/military are doing this big 'service' and 'sacrifice', when it is a job they get paid for and chose to do - and were not drafted into. If they can't handle being a cop/soldier/etc - which is a difficult job for sure - then choose another profession.

Their job should be to serve us, with integrity, with minimal loss of life/harm to anyone(including suspects) - they work for us, not the other way around.

Aren't there people in those cars and using civilian occupied vehicles as human shields?!
Noticed the compliant Corporati$t media saying no LEO injured, not a word about the civilians.
A direct result of the militarized mentality law enforcement. Which is worse: that nothing will
be done about it or the excuse makers on DU.

... at a busy red light intersection during rush hour traffic.

Fuck the citizenry,
Fuck the UPS driver,
Fuck his family,
Fuck ancillary and collateral damages, injury, and deaths.

Bang bang shoot em up - like it was a fucking war zone with zero rules of engagement.

add steroids, booze, and siege mentality and PRESTO: your results at 11.

People need to understand that LEOs look at non LEOs as the ENEMY regardless of anything.

esp any buff guys. so damaging to the mind.

A friend of mine loves that show Live PD. I’ve seen a few, and some of those guys are obviously jacked up on steroids.

It should be illegal, as are other drugs for cops.

Link to tweet

Last edited Sat Dec 7, 2019, 08:35 AM - Edit history (2)

no thought for life.

Before the police stepped in. The hijackers would have likely let him go and took off with a truckload of insured packages. No dead civilians or UPS driver. Maybe the police would have captured the hijackers after doing, you know, police work/investigations. This story is infuriating. No, we are not safer when assclowns like this are given guns and use them before using their brains. I hope the PD gets their asses sued. This is shameful and embarrassing. You expect this kind of bullshit from a banana republic. Not a law abiding nation. We're better off without heavily armed, fascist dipshits in our police forces, thank you.

UPS track hijacking were their means of escaping from a jewelry store robbery. They both had long criminal histories and presumably had no desire to return to prison. I really doubt that the hostage had a good chance of surviving either way. I don't think they would have let him go.

Is really the iconic image of the Blue Lives Matter movement. It should be taped to every one of their disgusting "thin blue line" flags. They used random civilians as human shields. Appalling.

We live in a militarized police state where the poorly trained police have impunity from any sensible regulation.

USA! USA! USA! <snark

And I’m sure it’s still a headline in south Florida.

ludicrous at worst.

and it was the #1 story on ABC's Thursday prime time news

They had a long time to set up the shot. The guy wasn't going anywhere.
Reminds me a little of the shooting of Deandre Brunston in LA. 81 rounds fired, 26 hits... and they killed their own police dog. DB threatened them with a shower shoe.
That many cops wired to the eyebrows on adrenalin does not make for a good outcome.

I saw police cars still moving, they could have run one over in front of the van and blocked it off

Then it's a hostage situation and may come out well

Just shooting the shit out of everything and using civilian cars as shield?

There was nobody in charge there, just a bunch of Cowboys

Fuck shit piss