BY STEVEN COOK AND AMEERAH CETAWAYO Gazette Reporters
A knife-wielding man was shot and killed by a Schenectady police officer Saturday afternoon on central State Street. Officers responding to requests for police converged on the man and walked with him for several blocks along State Street. The man had accosted several bystanders and drivers with one of two knives, police said. No other injuries were reported. The man started toward a family with children waiting at a bus stop before an officer blocked the suspect’s path with his patrol car police said. .............>>>>...........>>>>........http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....3&Continuation=1
Police face probe by DA Prosecutor to investigate fatal shooting of man by city officer on Saturday
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer First published in print: Monday, August 3, 2009
SCHENECTADY -- The Schenectady County district attorney's office will investigate the circumstances surrounding Saturday's fatal police shooting of a knife-wielding man on State Street.
District Attorney Robert Carney said his office will eventually present the case to a grand jury -- as was done in two previous fatal police shootings, one in Schenectady during a drug raid in 1992 and the other in Glenville during a standoff with State Police involving a homicide suspect in 2002. Grand juries exonerated police in both those cases.
Carney said his investigation likely won't start for a couple of weeks while the Schenectady Police Department conducts its internal probe of the incident, which involved a young man police say walked about 10 blocks holding two knives.
A police officer fatally shot the man on Elbert Street near State Street.
Officer Ed Ritz, who shot the suspect, is taking time off to deal with the shooting, but is not being placed on official administrative leave while the internal investigation is under way.
Investigate what, what part of drop the knives don't you understand. The police officer acted properly and an investigation is just a sham to waste money and appease any critics of the police dept.
Certainly this is only one reason why I am not a police officer.....I think the officer was right....but, I wasn't there for the rest of the conversation......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Shooting debate: Could Tasers have ended incident? Tuesday, August 4, 2009 By Steven Cook (Contact) Gazette Reporter
Saturday’s police killing of a knifewielding suspect has raised questions over whether other methods, such as Tasers, could have been used to less deadly effect. Officers on the scene Saturday couldn’t have used the electronic stun guns because Schenectady police don’t have them. But they could soon. City police have been investigating the devices for several months now, even listening to a demonstration from a Taser International representative in May. One officer, a volunteer, was shocked by the device to show its power, Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said. “It certainly demonstrated that it was in fact very effective,” Bennett said Monday. Asked what kind of situations might be candidates for Taser use, Bennett said Saturday’s incident would be one. ............>>>........>>>........http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/aug/04/0804_taser/
SCHENECTADY Family friend: Suspect was ill Man killed by police suffered from depression BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
The knife-wielding man shot and killed Saturday by a city police officer suffered from a form of depression, a friend of the family said Tuesday. The victim, James C. Tomlin, 25, of Schenectady, had also served time on a weapons possession charge. Tomlin was shot after he took several quick steps toward Offi - cer Edward Ritz. Ritz fired twice, hitting Tomlin once. Vincent Estrada on Tuesday said Tomlin suffered from depression and took medication. The only thing he could think of that could have caused the behavior police described was that Tomlin wasn’t taking his medication. Estrada identified himself as the boyfriend of Tomlin’s mother. He spoke outside the mother’s Amsterdam apartment. Estrada questioned why police had to shoot Tomlin. “The cops didn’t have to do that,” Estrada said. “They could have Maced him or Tased him instead of shooting him.” Schenectady police do not have Tasers, electronic stun guns, but officials said this week that they have been investigating whether to purchase the devices. “Why did it have to be a fatality?” Estrada added later. “It didn’t have to go that far.” Estrada deferred to Tomlin’s mother for more information on Tomlin’s condition. She declined to comment later. An internal investigation is under way into the Saturday shooting; a grand jury investigation is expected to follow. A Police Department in-car video camera captured the shooting. The video and witness testimony are expected to play important roles in the investigations. ..............>>>>...............>>>>............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....1&Continuation=1
Editorial: Tasers worth a try, but caution is called for Friday, August 7, 2009
For all of the Schenectady Police Department’s problems over the years, trigger-happy cops hasn’t been one of them. Letting patrolmen carry electronic stun guns known as Tasers might change that, as it seems to have in at least some of the cities where police forces have acquired them, but it also might save an occasional life — like the one of 25-year-old James Tomlin, who was shot last Saturday afternoon after allegedly running at Patrolman Edward Ritz with a butcher knife. On balance, it seems worth a try — provided the department establishes strict rules governing the guns’ use and makes sure the officers follow them. To increase the likelihood of compliance, the department should absolutely spring for the extra $200 per gun needed for models equipped with a video camera so any time a gun does get used, department administrators can check later to be sure it was justified. Tasers fire steel barbs charged with enough electricity to disable virtually any human target. Torture-like in their intensity, they should be used as a last-resort alternative to lethal force in incidents — such as last Saturday’s — where a cop’s or civilian’s life may be in jeopardy but lethal force isn’t the only remedy............>>>>...........>>>>..........http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/aug/07/807_prints/
Let's spend $500,000 of the taxpayers money so we can protect those that want to hurt the taxpayers.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Schenectady chief wants to buy Tasers Chaires discusses options in wake of last week's fatal shooting of city man by police officer
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer First published in print: Saturday, August 8, 2009
SCHENECTADY-- In the aftermath of last week's fatal police shooting of a knife-wielding man, some people questioned if the outcome might have been different if police had stun guns.
For years, the Schenectady Police Department has been looking at obtaining the weapons. Some officers have been trained and are certified trainers. Several Capital Region departments -- including Colonie, Guilderland, Troy, Albany, and Glenville -- arm their officers with Tasers
While it's unclear why that hasn't happened in Schenectady; Police Chief Mark Chaires says he's taking steps to get the devices for his officers.
"I have been moving forward but I have been talking with some important stakeholders," he said. He said he's been fine-tuning a draft policy that was submitted to the U.S. Justice Department. A final draft will be presented to Mayor Brian U. Stratton and the City Council.
Tasers use electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles.
Police said James Tomlin, 25, described by his family members as schizophrenic, threatened a woman with a butcher knife on Aug. 1, demanded a cigarette and then walked 10 blocks on State Street holding two knives. Officers walked with him, trying to convince him to drop the weapons, police said. Eventually, six officers cornered him at Elbert Street. Police say he "made a movement" toward Officer Edward Ritz, who shot him once in the stomach.
Schenectady officer cleared in 2009 fatal shooting By Paul Nelson Staff writer Published 12:53 a.m., Thursday, July 7, 2011
SCHENECTADY -- Two years after a knife-wielding man lunged at a city cop who then fatally shot him, a long-awaited report issued by Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney has absolved the officer of any wrongdoing.
In the aftermath of the Aug. 1, 2009 shooting of James Tomlin by Officer Edward Ritz, Carney had raised the possibility of presenting the case to a grand jury.
"There really aren't any open questions that would make it appropriate for citizens to decide what happened," Carney said Wednesday.
Police said Tomlin, 25, described by his family members as schizophrenic, held a large butcher knife to a woman's throat as he demanded a cigarette, and later attempted to break into two parked cars at the Cumberland Farms on State Street.....................>>>>..................>>>>..................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/news.....28.php#ixzz1RPi5hYZp
At first report I was angry that there wasn't a way to handle this situation differently. After all it was a knife and not a gun. All the PD had to do was stay away a safe distance and wait it out. Maybe they could have called on the fire department to come and spray him with water knock in down. Time and safety didn't allow this.
Bottom line the officer did what he had to do to protect his life and others around him. It is a very sad to have had to have this happen but I don't see any other choice.
Everyone should have a taser.....it would be like living in the matrix.....
Now that's funny!!!
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
At first report I was angry that there wasn't a way to handle this situation differently. After all it was a knife and not a gun. All the PD had to do was stay away a safe distance and wait it out. Maybe they could have called on the fire department to come and spray him with water knock in down. Time and safety didn't allow this.
Bottom line the officer did what he had to do to protect his life and others around him. It is a very sad to have had to have this happen but I don't see any other choice.
Cel, I saw a new product that looks like Great Stuff Foam, for police officers to use in this very situation. The police stay back at a safe distance, and spray the knife wielder with this foam gun. In seconds it coats his body and sticks to itself and everything else, leaving the attacker unharmed and immobile.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
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