Apathetic Australians?

[Aliantha]

Recently, a 15 year old boy was shot dead by police in Athens leading to massive riots which have been going on for a week now.

Recently, a 15 year old boy was shot dead by police in Australia leading to a discussion about tazers...and no riots.

Does that mean Australians care less about their children than Greeks do?

Personally I was shocked to learn that police have no mandate to shoot to disable, only to shoot for the body/torso. I assume this is because they're not given enough training on how to aim their weapons well.

Perhaps more training with a lethal weapon might be in order...along with tazers.

btw, the boy in Australia did not have a gun, only a couple of knives.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Personally I was shocked to learn that police have no mandate to shoot to disable, only to shoot for the body/torso. I assume this is because they're not given enough training on how to aim their weapons well.

I think cops should leave their guns holstered until they are forced to kill someone. And then they should shoot to kill.

[Aliantha]

Well that's exactly what they are supposed to do here apparently.

I happen to disagree with that philosophy.

[Trilby]

I have heard it's very difficult to shoot someone in the knee or elbow or similar bits. If you're going to shoot...

[Aliantha]

Well the Terminator could do it...

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Personally I was shocked to learn that police have no mandate to shoot to disable, only to shoot for the body/torso. I assume this is because they're not given enough training on how to aim their weapons well.

Despite what the Cisco Kid may have shown us, pistols even in the most competent hands are not accurate enough to target extremities. You'd have a lot of cop killings if they tried.

From a distance, Greek society looks a lot less stable than Australian. Lots of hard core communists, a future that looks less appealing than the past, and nearby countries with limitless cheap labor are quite a cocktail for despair.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Griff

...Greek society looks a lot less stable than Australian. Lots of hard core communists, a future that looks less appealing than the past, and nearby countries with limitless cheap labor ...

...and lots a hot bodies covered in oil baby!

[Aliantha]

hey...we have lots of hot bodies here too.

Don't forget we lay claim to 'the sexiest man alive'.

[Griff]

You're no Sweden but we should give you credit down there.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

hey...we have lots of hot bodies here too.

Don't forget we lay claim to 'the sexiest man alive'.

Hey! I didn't know Daniel Craig was an Aussie!

No, you're right. There are plenty of hot Aussies---Kagen and Zen come immediately to mind...

[Aliantha]

I was talking about Hugh Jackman as voted by the readers of 'People'.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Recently, a 15 year old boy was shot dead by police in Athens leading to massive riots which have been going on for a week now.

Recently, a 15 year old boy was shot dead by police in Australia leading to a discussion about tazers...and no riots.

Does that mean Australians care less about their children than Greeks do?

Personally I was shocked to learn that police have no mandate to shoot to disable, only to shoot for the body/torso. I assume this is because they're not given enough training on how to aim their weapons well.

Perhaps more training with a lethal weapon might be in order...along with tazers.

btw, the boy in Australia did not have a gun, only a couple of knives.

It was a different scenario. I haven't really looked into it but it seems that it is ILLEGAL for a cop in Greece to go on a college campus and the 15 year old boy was shot on a college campus. The Australian scenario was a lot different.

It would be like saying that since the shooting of Bobby Kennedy in the United States didn't start another WWI, that Franz Ferdinand was more important.


Plus, Greek is known for its anarchist riots. I haven't heard any in Australia.

[ZenGum]

The Greek riots were an expression of deep political anger; the police shooting was just the spark that ignitied it. Australia lacks that anger, so the spark did not ignite.

The Victorian Police (whose badge consists of an inverted pentacle and the motto "uphold the right", btw) have different gun-handling rules to most Australian states. 10 or 15 years ago two officers were shot and killed in a deliberate trap, and the police got the FBI to assess their procedures, and the Victorian police adopted the shoot-to-kill procedure, i.e. if you need to start shooting, continue shooting until the situation has been resolved.
In South Australia they use minimal shots. Recently a chap aimed a (replica) gun at police and one of the four officers present fired one shot (which was fatal). There was a case a few years ago when the specialist snipers did actually shoot the gun out of someone's hand with a single shot.
That kid was a perfect case for a taser.

[lookout123]

If it's a situation that justifies firing a shot, multiple body shots are the only way to go. assuming living cops and dead/incapacitated bad guys is the desired outcome.

[Hagar]

This whole tragedy puts a great case for the use of tasers, but it's not a case of insensitivity or "not caring". Like Zengum says, the death is the spark to the powderkeg.

We've had our fair share of recent riots, and generally they've happened in areas where the general population WASN'T warm, well fed, well housed, well protected and well represented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Redfern_riots

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Ma...e_Fields_riots

The Palm Island and Cronulla riots also spring to mind...