Radley Balko Case Study

Criminal Justice Organizational Trends In the “Radley Balko on the 3 Worst Cases of Police Abuse in 2011” video there were three cases of communication and unethical decisions made by police officers. All three cases were different, but two suspects in the video were shot fatally by police. The first video that was shown was a Utah SWAT team. The officers were seeking the roommate who was pulled over by the police earlier in the day. The officers received a tip that there was an extreme large amount of drugs in the home, so a raid was commenced. When the police entered the home, the roommate came out of the back of the home, who thought the home was being burglarized and charged the
The Utah police shot a young man who had a golf club and thought his home was being burglarized. Although, the suspect could have been on drugs during the raid, the officers had the discretion to talk the gentleman down or to use force. In the video, it clearly shows that before the roommate could get out of the hallway, shots were fired. You can clearly see that the roommate did not have a gun, but that he had a golf club in his hand. In this case the police could have shot the man with a taser gun instead of a gun, or if they had fear of weapons used, they could have shot the man in a non fatal area. The second video shows the officer shooting someone who had a knife. The suspect was asked by police to put down his knife and within seconds the man was fatally shot. The officer could have given the man more time to drop his knife, no matter the area of where the man had the knife on him. Although the police camera did not record the visual aspect of the confrontation between the man and the officer, the officer decision cost a man of his life. In the recording the officer was asked by a woman who was near the scene why did he shoot the man. The officer responded and stated that he did not put the knife down as requested. The officer was cleared of any charges in this case. The officer could have given more time for the man to put the knife down or tased the man, or used pepper spray to ensure officer safety. The last video, although had no fatalities, showed that they officers were unethical in their decision making. The last video records officers joking and singing in a suspect’s musical equipment, after they enter the home believing drugs were sold out of the home. The homeowner did have personal use marijuana in the home not and enough to sell as mass distribution. After the officers realized that the musical equipment was expensive and exceptional the officers started