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Ofc. Birk resigns.

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Trigger Dr

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Oct 3, 2007
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Wa, ,
The FRB reort is sent to the state Criminal justice head, Joe Hawe, and Birk will be decertified for the entire state of Wa. Any agency that would consider him would find this out in their background investigation. About the only place he could get a job as LEO would be in Chicago or New York. Both have serious corruption problems in their PD.
 
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irish52084

Regular Member
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Jun 26, 2010
Messages
285
Location
Puyallup< WA
A big part of the current LEO, us vs them, attitude has to do with the hiring and selection process IMO. When you hire every LEO on the same standard test and look only for a narrow range of personality traits, you get a very homogeneous group. There needs to be a better diversified selection process to help keep things fresh and the problem solving fresh and innovative. This is, of course, secondary to the public collectively telling them to shove it and re-establishing the correct hierarchy. They work for you and they need to be reminded of that and what their actual job description is, not what they think or have be led to believe it is.

Do not read this to be overly negative to the LEO community, as I'm sure it is full of fantastic people and officers. I know several LEO who are excellent people and am glad to say I know them.
 
amlevin

amlevin

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Joined
Feb 16, 2007
Messages
5,937
Location
North of Seattle, Washington, USA
Trigger Dr said:
The FRB reort is sent to the state Criminal justice head, Joe Hawe, and Birk will be decertified for the entire state of Wa. Any agency that would consider him would find this out in their background investigation. About the only place he could get a job as LEO would be in Chicago or New York. Both have serious corruption problems in their PD.
Click to expand...

Could you imagine how big a gold mine this info would be to an Attorney if Birk was to "harm" anyone in his new PD?

The fact that any agency would hire him with this record would almost guarantee a huge settlement or judgement against them should they be sued for his actions.

I don't think even Chicago would take him unless he has an "Uncle" on the force. Ditto New York or LA with all the scrutiny they've been getting in recent years.

I think his best chance is to find a convenience store or two and apply for work there. Or maybe an auto parts store in "Armpit Alabama". Someplace where they don't read the news much, assuming they can read.
 
Beretta92FSLady

Beretta92FSLady

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I don't want people to misunderstand me, I believe that most officers are good people and are doing a difficult job, and should be treated with respect. I think that it is still scary that an officer can just walk up to me, put a bullet in my head, and claim that they felt threatened.

Nice Times article this morning:

"Samuel Walker, a University of Nebraska criminal justice emeritus professor, said prosecutions of police nationwide are so rare that many advocates have given up on that strategy and now focus on the police disciplinary process."


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014248676_shootinglaw17m.html
 
amlevin

amlevin

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Beretta92FSLady said:
"Samuel Walker, a University of Nebraska criminal justice emeritus professor, said prosecutions of police nationwide are so rare that many advocates have given up on that strategy and now focus on the police disciplinary process."
Click to expand...

I wonder if prosecutions are so difficult because of special protections written into the laws that basically give Police Officers a "get out of jail free card" when they shoot someone. I believe they should be judged according to the same standards anyone else is subject to when they shoot in self defense (or the defense of others).

Maybe it's time to revisit some of these laws and remove this special treatment so a police officer could be prosecuted for an unwarranted killing, just like any ordinary citizen.
 
sudden valley gunner

sudden valley gunner

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Dec 13, 2008
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16,674
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Whatcom County
gogodawgs said:
In tribute to all the native woodcarvers....

woodcarverseattlewaterfront-1.jpg
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I wanna wear a native carved trinket with a black band across it.
 
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sudden valley gunner

sudden valley gunner

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Orphan said:
I agree with your assesmemt except for how dangerous a LEO job is they dont even make it into the top 20 for dangerous jobs. Roofers, truckdrivers, Ironworkers all have much more dangerous jobs.
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I know drives me nuts too, yet they keep using this propaganda to increase their "troops" and take more and more of our tax money. I think I did the math one time and I am 8 times more likely to die framing a house than if I were a cop.

And if I make a mistake guess who pays for it? No one else but me!!!
 
S

ShooterMcGavin

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Feb 12, 2008
Messages
208
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Location, Location
Beretta92FSLady said:
...I will give an example of something that disturbed me the other day when reading the Times. A woman in Lakewood walked out of her house with a gun, pointed it at officers, demanded they kill her, and they shoot her to death. Don't get me wrong, that situation is nothing like this one. What I am saying though is that when we go down the road where LEO's don't even consider other alternatives to stopping someone, we are heading into dangerous territory. I understand the safety of the LEO is important, but no more paramount than the safety of the public, or even the person that they are making contact with. Their job is dangerous, I get it, but there is only so much latitude they should be given before the people say STOP. I think we have far passed the point where we should have collectively yelled STOP.
Click to expand...
I agree with everything you have said, except with the above point. I don't know many more details than you have provided (I did read an article about this incident). However, I DO think that the shooting of that woman was justified, from the limited info that I have. She appeared at the door and yelled at the cops to shoot her. They did not shoot her. She returned with a gun and raised it at one/more officer(s). They shot and killed her. She threatened their lives and they responded in the only way to immediately stop the threat. If she had run at the cop(s) with bare hands, then I would think less-than-lethal options would be appropriate. A person's life was on the line (the officer's), so I believe lethal force was necessary.
 
DEROS72

DEROS72

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Jul 18, 2008
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Valhalla
sudden valley gunner said:
I wanna wear a native carved trinket with a blank band across it.
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That looks like the guy Gogo and I ran into during our last downtown excursion.Surprised SPD didn't run up to shoot him...HE does really fine work by the way.

Iv'e never had any issues with SPD and open carry for example.In fact Iv'e had some good conversations with officers there.Coversations that I intiated.For the most part I found some of these guys to be the good guys.What refries my beans though is that these bad cops keep getting free passes and the continued militarization of our police forces.That makes me real nervous and extremely cautious. I am also concerned that there may be a push for a national police force ,something Obama wanted.The SS was a national police force intially.
 
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sudden valley gunner

sudden valley gunner

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Whatcom County
Carving is something northwest natives take very seriously, some do it just for art's sake. But to many it is a cultural heritage and the way they tell their history and story. My great aunt is one of the few surviving Indians who can tell you the whole story by "reading" a totem.
 
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irfner

Campaign Veteran
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Nov 24, 2007
Messages
434
Location
SeaTac, Washington, USA
If they want to start to clean up the police image prosecute Birk and let a jury decide. Personally I think the biggest reason for not prosecuting him is he might be found guilty. That would set a bad precedent. You know police responsible for their actions and all that. As for the RCW in question, that's what the courts are for. Interpret the law. They do it all the time.
irfner
 
Beretta92FSLady

Beretta92FSLady

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In My Coffee
ShooterMcGavin said:
I agree with everything you have said, except with the above point. I don't know many more details than you have provided (I did read an article about this incident). However, I DO think that the shooting of that woman was justified, from the limited info that I have. She appeared at the door and yelled at the cops to shoot her. They did not shoot her. She returned with a gun and raised it at one/more officer(s). They shot and killed her. She threatened their lives and they responded in the only way to immediately stop the threat. If she had run at the cop(s) with bare hands, then I would think less-than-lethal options would be appropriate. A person's life was on the line (the officer's), so I believe lethal force was necessary.
Click to expand...

My point was that there were options prior to her coming out with a handgun. The woman was already outside the home demanding that they shoot her, and she was without a handgun...then they let her go back into the house. I agree, the shoot was justified.
 
sudden valley gunner

sudden valley gunner

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Whatcom County
If I have time I'm going to stop by the shop downtown, the native gut that owns it used to be in construction like me and is pretty cool, they tend to be spendy though even for the small carved peices, I wonder if I could get a deal if he knows what it would be for?
 
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