FWIW, The New York Post reports that Marrero has 30 arrests in the past 12 years. I don't know if that is average, above or below, whatever ......?
Hard to believe that figure. 30 arrests would be considered an
OK month in most large west coast cities. On a busy beat, you could double that.
As far as the running officer, I too, won't judge him, not knowing every detail. But similar stories, although still rare, are not unheard of.
But I do think there's something else going on here. Law enforcement has been breeding out aggressiveness for many years. Officer's who react quickly in stressful situations are judged harshly by the departments, the legal system, and especially the media. Even occasionally on boards like this one....
All the downsides of their possible actions are constantly in the back of their minds. I truly think that fear of the ramifications of using force, may be greater than the fear of the
real danger, in many cases. A split second decision that turns out to be wrong, can ruin your life. This scenario seems so cut and dry, and all the armchair "combat masters" are sure of how they would have reacted. We don't know what was in Marrero's mind, or if his brain was even processing it. I've been shot at from a few feet away, and never heard the gunshot, although I saw the gun and the flash.
Lots of good cops, who reacted differently in similar situations, were hung out to dry. The cities are far more worried about litigation from "bad" shootings, then they are about protecting the public or the officers. The psychological tests, and background investigations have been designed to weed out aggressiveness and individual thinking for many years.
We get
exactly the law enforcement we ask for and deserve.