Austin Police

1. Link: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/justice-department-will-not-review-austin-police/nZpkc/

2. Category: Crime & Law

3. Local Issue

4. A Problem that individuals and families face

5. This affects individuals and families because they rely on the police to not be involved in unlawful activity. If they cannot rely on their police force then who can they rely on?

I feel that we should have trust in our Austin Police Department and know that they are doing all that they can to keep our streets safe. It is unfortunate that people had to lose their lives but we have police for a reason and that kind of thing happens. People lose lives everyday for committing crimes that should not have happened. People cause crimes every day and must face the consequences of their actions. Hopefully there was not any mistakes made by the APD and they did all in their power to stop these people before using necessary force. It seems like they looked into the police department without having to go to extremes and get the feds involved. I agree that they should review how much force should be used in these types of situations so that we can prevent the loss of lives. It would be a tragedy to know that someone was unjustly killed and their families were left with that grief. Instead of going to the feds I believe there are other ways that the city can investigate these allegations. Although I believe that the APD is doing their jobs to keep our city safe I do think that using deadly force should be a very last resort. Where are their taser guns and mace when a situation like this arises? Unless this person is armed or threatening the lives of individuals I do not believe they should lose their lives. This is why we have prisons and jails, so that these people can learn from their mistakes hopefully and become responsible citizens. It would look a lot better on the police force if they accomplished obtaining these individuals and actually changing their lives around. The feds do not need to get involved in this matter unless it truly looks like their is sketchy activity going on. I do not believe that this extreme of an action is justified just because deadly force had to be used against criminals. The fact that the bank had been robbed earlier that day was a good indication that these police officers were looking out for the city of Austin. Although this is a tragedy that people lose their lives I think it would be better to say that we need to clean up the city of Austin and stop blaming the ones who are trying to keep it safe. I do believe we should have the right to contact the feds if their is illegal activity from the police force but in this situation I do not think it is necessary.