Robert Bates of age 73, a great contributor to Tulsa’s Police department, is now facing a 2nd-degree manslaughter charge.
The incident happened when Eric Harris tried running away from police officers after selling a gun to an undercover investigator. Harris attempted to run and that’s when Bates took action. In the video (link below) Bates is heard he is reaching for his stun gun but “accidentally” grabs his handgun instead; his personal handgun that is. Bates is then heard announcing “I shot him, I’m sorry”. As the video continues, you later hear Harris yelling “he shot me, he shot me, I didn’t do ****”, not long after he claims he can’t breath and you hear the other officer say “**** your breathe”. Harris passed away.
“No matter how you cut it up, Deputy Bates met all the criteria on the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training to be in the role that he was in,” Tulsa County Sheriff’s Maj. Shannon Clark said
Then Daniel Bongino, a former secret service agent said:
“You go through a police academy, and you’re primarily used in traffic situations, busy shopping areas. They’re not armed, they’re usually with an armed regular police officer. I think it’s a far better model,” he told CNN’s “AC360.” “I think you were almost setting yourself up for failure in this situation in Tulsa, having a 73-year-old man, however good or bad intentioned, in that kind of situation, with a potential gun crime. That was a recipe for disaster.”
I think this was a complete irresponsibility from the Tulsa Police Department. Why would you ever put a 73 year old to deal with a situation such as this one. It doesn’t matter how much he contributed to the police department or how much money he has voluntarily donated; that still doesn’t give him the right to “play cop” for a day in any given situation. Call it what you want, but personally I feel like his influence on the department was a big factor in allowing him to be in the role he was. Bates claims it was an honest mistake but someone who has received “training” should never be making mistakes like that. A life was lost due to his “mistake”.
The democratic values here are life and loyalty. Putting a retired police volunteer on the streets, armed which such little experience can endanger the life of many; something the Tulsa Police Department should have thought about before letting Bates “play cop for a day”. There’s a controversy whether or not this man was allowed to be a police officer for the day due to the amount of money he gives to the police department. Another factor, Bates friendship with Sheriff Stanley Glanz. I’m sure his contribution is highly appreciated and of great help but that still doesn’t mean you should let an untrained citizen walk the streets with other authorized figures just to feel superior for a day. I believe Bates was aware that he was handling his handgun rather than his stun gun, which brings me back to loyalty. Bates could be lying but he is willing to say anything that will save him in the slightest bit.
Andrew Powers • Apr 20, 2015 at 12:11 pm
whoa. are you saying whites are the only racist ones in America? When California separated their black and Hispanic inmates they didn’t do that because the two groups were getting along well, they did is because they were killing each other. There’s racism from and against whites, blacks, Asians, Indians, blacks, natives, Arabs, and Hispanics, that we see all the time on TV, the internet, in song lyrics, and in real life. White racism is most easily noticed because they hold the highest number of positions of authority (its tragic yet true) But Id say America is definitely above average in the world (especially if you don’t count the countries with 95%+ of one race) look at Israel, South Africa, Afghanistan, China, Greece, and Southern Italy.
YoungWolf • Apr 16, 2015 at 12:35 pm
it is really messed up how the police are doing basically whatever they want because of their authority. racism is a big part of the U.S. and it has not really stopped. Too many whites hate minorities, and discriminate on them. Even blacks, who basically came at the time they did. its really stupid because even the whites are immigrants as well, this land did not belong to anybody but the natives, which they abused, murdered, etc.
Andrew Powers • Apr 15, 2015 at 12:59 pm
Is loyalty really a democratic value? seems like more of a totalitarian value to me. in a true democracy your only obligated to be loyal to your state (not the way Americans misuse the term mean province)as long as you believe it is just. We tend to assume that any political values we find appealing to be democratic, where this isn’t always true. I’m not bashing democracy and am of the opinion that we could use a lot more in our government. I’m simply saying political and economic systems arnt that black and white.