Riot prep in Oakland...

[maillotpois]

Yeah, I'm on the road tomorrow.

[andtckrtoo]

Good to hear that you got home safely and will be no where near your office tomorrow, MP. I've been following the story and I can certainly understand why people are upset. There appears to be no reason this kid was shot. I say appears, as the office who shot the boy has not spoken to anyone, and in fact resigned before he could be called in front of his superiors. There is speculation that he thought he pulled out his Taser and not his shot gun. I don't know.

[Bike Goddess]

There was a letter to the editor in the SF Chronicle today that talks about guns and tasers. Evidently, in this case, it might very well be he thought he had the taser.

Sarah- Glad you are home safely.

When we were out riding (about 50 miles from Oakland) there was a lady standing on a corner with a sign that read: "We are all Oscar Grant" (name of guy that was killed). It has affected many people, not just the folks in Oakland. I'm sorry it happened as well. BART could be adversely impacted by this incident for a long while by angry people.

[Tokie]

This is so sad. And Oakland has such terrible problems with crime as it is...so disheartening. I can't bring myself to look at the video of the incident. I'm glad you are safe Maillotpois. I would never want to go to work every day with the responsibilty of deadly force at my side. Too hard. Tokie

[Trek420]

There was a letter to the editor in the SF Chronicle today that talks about guns and tasers. Evidently, in this case, it might very well be he thought he had the taser.

I've read that cops keep their taser on the opposite side of the belt from the gun. The weight and heft are very different. Certainly the way they are fired is totally different; you pull the trigger on a gun, I don't know what you do on a taser. You'd think he'd know the difference. Even under duress he should know the difference.

It was a senseless killing, avoidable, and very tragic loss of a young man. But we don't stop the violence with more violence.

I take BART everyday, work near 19th st station. I can't work from home. If it seems dangerous in the morning I suppose I just won't go in and "so fire me. There was a riot going on. I stayed home" . We were told at one point to stay in the building and not go out unless we absolutely had to, then soon after told it was ok.

Many here think of the BART cops as "the good cops"; handling people jumping the fare gate, angry passengers or drunks, helping people who fall ill, that mysterious package left on a seat .... I support all our cops.

You could not pay me to do a job where people might shoot at me. The police and first responders in all our towns are overworked, under staffed, out gunned, people are more stressed because of the economy .... but draw from the wrong side?

There's no excuse I think.

As I went home today the gym was empty, a helicopter hovered over head, the streets quieter than normal. Yet there were lots and lots of bikes zipping to and fro

[Flur]

If the guy was already on the ground, there was no reason to taser him either...