A reader writes:
FYI, yesterday’s blog post about the compensation offered to the victims of a mistaken identity LA PD shooting (“Keep your truck and FOAD“) was based on an NBC-Los Angeles article from Mar. 13. It wasn’t particularly up-to-date. nbclosangeles.com has a more recent report: “A $40,000 check was delivered to the office of an attorney for two newspaper delivery women whose pickup was shot up by Los Angeles police.” So the victims took the cash to buy themselves a new truck, finally. Without sacrificing their right to sue for millions, presumably. Also, note this interesting little tidbit, from the same article . . .
Officers providing protection because of the Dorner threat opened fire after mistaking the truck — which police confirmed Tuesday had its headlights on and hazards lights flashing — for Dorner’s Nissan Titan, found later that day on fire in the mountains east of Los Angeles.
Remember all the initial reports which said that the truck was running without lights? According to the report, the incident happened at 5:20am. It was completely dark out. So my question is: just how did the cops get that detail wrong? They didn’t notice its headlights and flashers were on, even though it was dark?
I’ll answer my own question: they fabricated the no-lights detail to justify their moronic trigger-happy response.
Wouldn’t surprise me. That whole Dorner situation stinks of corruption. Whatever happened to the self investigation the police chief promised? crickets chirping
The police need gun control training and eye test and or glasses.
I dont know what is more astonishing, that they opened fire on a target they were obviously not 100% sure of or that they fired so many rounds and did not kill who they were shooting at (thankfully this time).
+1
Both facts are pretty astonishing!
So they cut them a check? sounds great. Wait until these ladies get the 1099 in the mail. Think it wont happen? bet it does.
Probably shouldn’t. It’s not income. It is compensation.
But I’m not a tax lawyer.
Since this money is only to replace the truck it would have made the most sense from a tax side (I think) to have the LAPD buy the truck they want and then sell it to them for $1 which they would then pay the sales tax on.
I am not an accountant this is not tax advise.
Or, they pretty much bought the old truck.
Compensation (whole or partial) for a personal injury claim is not taxable, even if no lawsuit has been filed yet. This also includes injury to property.
This. Final answer.
But I don’t think the $40k is for personal injury. It’s only for the truck (I hope).
This should make it clear to every one we need to get these guns off the streets.
The officers who did this should be the ones to pay first. If we took every penny they have as the first dollars o fthe millions to be awarded, cops would stop doing this shit and go back to being public servants.
No, they would not.
If police officers knew that a mistake would come out of their pockets, then the first thing out of an officer’s pocket would be the drop gun that they saw before they turned on their lights which began the dash cam recording. You see what had happened was, these two ladies were throwing out newspapers but a confidential informant told them that at some addresses the newspaper was full of marijuana and when the ladies drove by they flashed a gun at the police who then tried to make stop and fired 102 + 2 rounds at the armed suspects. Each suspect recieved one fatal wound.
Or something equally bogus.
Amazed?…………..Civilians change story, slap on the cuffs……………..Cops change story…………Can you hear the crickets?…………..
Cops are civilians. Non government employees are CITIZENS.
Interesting. Even Merriam Webster (they do have a certain track record of tracking definitions) can’t get citizen straight.
Civilian: one not on active duty in the armed services or not on a police or firefighting force.
Citizen: 1 : an inhabitant of a city or town; especially : one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman
2 a : a member of a state
b : a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it
3 : a civilian as distinguished from a specialized servant of the state
So no, cops are not civilians under the def. But I disagree about the 3rd definition of citizen. Putting “specialized servant of the state” in its own category outside of citizen is wrong path to go down. Perhaps it’s because I had to work for my citizenship that it rubs me the wrong way.
Says a specialized servant of the state and citizen.
They will be able to deduct the fair market value of the old truck as a catostrophic loss.
The 40k will need to be declared as income. The diiference will be taxed as ordinary income.
That’s my first take,… IANAL!!!
The cop shooting on the left should be removed from the force. At that range, and with no return fire, he wasn’t even minute of man. With a rifle! He should be issued BB gun and sent to the range indefinitely, assuming he keeps his job.
I’ll Give Up My Guns
When The Police Give Up Theirs
Maybe that’s what they government wants. Think about it. The cop from the article yesterday with his EOTech backwards, the lady cop with her AR15 mag in backwards…
I mean if the cops, who are trained professionals, are made to look like they have no business with these rifles then they can say that us commoners don’t either.
Maybe they should dispatch the Boy Scouts ahead of the LAPD, or instead of.
I won’t.
But, of course, this won’t be labelled as a failure of the gun control culture in the media at large or by the Brady Bunch. The police are the only ones professional enough to have and carry guns–except on the many occasions when they aren’t.
Please understand, I’m not against law enforcement, and I recognize that most officers serve honorably. What I’m saying here is that a story like this shows the poor thinking that holds only agents of the government up as people who are acceptable with guns.
But they will be sure to include cop shootings as statistics against us.
lol…they are morons (LAPD). that truck is a toyota tacoma, a bit smaller and def. deiiferent design that a nissan titan.
this is good news, i think these two ladies have suffered enough.
Just watched Serpico last night. Forgot how good that movie was.
I’d still sue to keep pressure on the LAPD. Who knows, in the face of a
lawsuit they might actually fire someone.
“Yeah, let’s shoot up the sumbitch’s tailgate, that’ll teach him!”
In a LA Times piece written the Saturday following this incident, it was revealed that “at least seven officers” were involved in lighting up these two women in the above-pictured pickup truck.
The LAPD has been obfuscating the truth on this since the very beginning.
Well, at least their accuracy numbers improve, then.
Seriously, this incident shows conclusively that we should prohibit the possession and use of these “high-capacity, assault weapons of war” — by the police. Police should be restricted to revolvers, and only issued one bullet per day. Barney Fife would be a great role model for the LAPD, and the NYPD, and ….
At least the numbers of “accidental” deaths of innocent bystanders from reckless police gunfire would decrease a bit.
Aren’t these the same arguments DiFi is using to disarm American citizens? “It’s for the children.” And the ladies who deliver newspapers.
Time and Date.com says sunrise in L.A. on Feb 7th was 0645. The shooting was an hour before sunrise. Not bright out but not pitch black either. So, not that I’m defending Private Pyle and Barney Fife, depending on where the nearest street light was they very well could have missed the head lights. Of course, I have no idea how they could have missed the emergency flashers. That’s kinda the point of emergency flashers, being hard to miss.
Sorry, I’m bored at work and felt like picking some nits. It’s either this or thechive.com and I don’t think this will get me fired
The ladies must have made a furtive movement or the police never would have unloaded on them. Or not. In any case, it’s nice that they’re getting a new car. Will the police also buy the wounded woman a new neck? ‘Cause her old one has a couple of holes in it.
+1
NEWS UPDATE! Sort of on the subject, because the LAPD is apparently adding to the ammo shortage…
Go to the Drudge Report for 3/22/13, and read the lead story: “Cops Beg and Barter for Ammo”. Classic case of unintended consequences from the Dems’ gun control attempts, combined with DHS buying 1.6 billion rounds of ammo.
“With the delay in ammunition, some departments are limiting the number of rounds they carry in their handgun because of the shortage of ammunition. We get to the point where it is difficult to have enough ammo to train and also equip the officers.”
ROTFLMAO. Hey, tell the LAPD to cut back on the number of rounds they fire at newpaper delivery people – that will help.
I still have no idea why these officers weren’t prosecuted for attempted murder, among other charges.
Law Enforcement officers are invested with powers above your standard citizen. When using these powers (aka, on the job), they are acting in the capacity as a representative of some entity in a certain jurisdiction, they are acting members of that entity. So, the entity is liable for their actions, not directly them.
If it wasn’t this way, nobody would join LE, because each officer would require some massive insurance plan similar to medical doctors. Hiring officers for many places is hard enough as it is. Making the job more odious would drive away more candidates.
This was a tragedy (even though nobody died), and these officers should be fired and tried by the city for the rules they broke as officers, but opening them up to trial from civilians is really bad mojo.
Unfortunately, I bet they will get thrown under the bus. One of the great hypocrisies of the civil disarmament crowd is they want to live in a police state, but they hate the police.
What a police apologist. They have qualified immunity, not absolute immunity like you imply. And LEOs all ready have the option to buy special liability insurance.
Like the Suffolk County NY police mutt, told we we are covered if we shoot you accidentally.
That is why I don’t practice, I would rather be with my Family.
“So what If I Kill yours. added by me.”
So, when can we expect these two bad apples on the LAPD to be brought up on (at least…) attempted murder charges?
…
…
…
Yeah, that was my thought too…
I sure hope that 40k was just a downpayment check…there need to be PLENTY of ZEROS added to that sum.
According to the linked article they did give up their right to ‘sue for millions’, “The agreement released both sides from liability for the property loss, and it allowed the truck to be used by the city as evidence until it’s no longer needed.”
That back window is tinted almost black…..They (LAPD officers) had NO idea who they were shooting at! Even if it were Dorner, how did they know he did not have a passager. They should be charged with attempted murder!
I’m glad that I’m not LAPD. This whole incident stinks. If anything, it lends credibility to Dorner’s story of wrongful termination. The folks supporting civilian disarmament need to take a long hard look the target identification accuracy of LEOs vs. Non-LEOs. The LAPD, and in turn the taxpayer, will pay out huge money for this. I’d like to see a 250-500 K cap unless the poor ladies are permanently injured. I estimate the final payout will be about 3 million, and that another law firm will make out with a big payout as well. Given LA culture and jury construction, this is a slam dunk lawsuit.
If that truck is the women’s then it’s a Toyota. How the hell did the cops misidentify a Toyota from a Nissan? Aren’t they supposed to get visual confirmation?
When I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked the -Notify
me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I recieve four emails with the same comment.
There has to be a means you can remove me from that service?
Kudos!