(ThyBlackMan.com) O.K. here we go again. And though my analysis as a former detective is often unpopular, it is fair, balanced and accurate – like it or not. I do not take sides in my writings, I present the facts, the evidence and the law then let you decide. The city is Arlington Texas, the victim is Christian Taylor (19 and a football player at Angelo State University) and the Caucasian officer is Officer Brad Miller (a 49 year old rookie officer who just graduated from the police academy this year). Officer Miller shot and killed Christian Taylor in a Buick GMC auto dealership.
After receiving a call of a possible burglary at the dealership, Officer Miller and his training officer proceeded to the location. Prior to their arrival, video cameras show Christian Taylor in the parking lot and exhibiting very strange behavior. He climbs over the dealership gate, begins jumping up and down on cars, rams his Jeep through the locked gate then drives his vehicle through the window of the dealership. According to Officer Miller, Taylor came towards him and refused to stop. Officer Miller drew his weapon while Miller’s training officer drew his taser. Officer Miller fired 4 possible shots at Christian Taylor, killing Taylor on the scene.
The Chief of Police fired Officer Miller for a number of critical errors made by Miller. Apparently Miller did not inform his training officer of his pursuit of Taylor into the auto showroom. Miller fired on and killed an unarmed man. Miller had other options available to him like the taser pulled by his training officer. I do not believe Miller’s actions were racist, I believe they were the actions of a scared and untrained rookie who acted before he thought about what he was doing – leaving him stuck in a confrontation he was not mentally prepared to handle properly. Officer Miller obviously did not think
before he acted. Taylor could have been armed. There could have been other alleged perpetrators hiding in the auto dealership. He could have ended up in a confrontation with no back up. For these reasons, and others, my training tells me that Officer Miller’s judgment was bad, likely endangering other officers who had to enter the building before it was cleared and before a perimeter was established.
The use of deadly force should never be taken lightly and prosecutors should press charges against former Officer Miller. But why do grand juries repeatedly fail to indict police officers? Could it be that they believe such indictments would cause other officers to be reluctant in doing their jobs? The job of a police officer is not a popular one, especially right about now. They are underpaid, sometimes under-trained, often out-gunned and asked to make split second decisions that could end their careers ort someone’s life. Being a good police officer takes a lot more than training, blue lights, a uniform and a duty belt full of weapons. It takes strong nerves, wise decisions and good judgment that make even go against training, other officers, supervisors or what is popular with the public.
Critical Mistake: Police officers are often taught to shoot for center mass because it is the largest portion of the body and thus the largest and maybe easiest target to hit. Shooting “to kill” is not always necessary. I have always disagreed with the necessity of shots to that area of the body and when I had to draw my weapon, as long as the perpetrator was not armed with a gun, I elected to target other areas that were likely to leave the person disabled but alive. Most officers simply do as they have been taught and told, but I have found that wisdom must always accompany training. And taking a life should bother any sensible and decent person, especially when that victim is unarmed. My training instructors disagreed with me but fortunately I was able to stop several people without ever having to take a life.
Critical Mistake: Police officers apparently are being taught to rely too much on a sidearm and not enough on other their brains, threat assessment, wisdom and discretion. Don’t get me wrong, if I encountered someone with a gun, I had no problem opening fire. But encounters where the perpetrator does not have a gun can often be resolved in ways other than the use of deadly force. Too many police officers are scared, untrained or ambivalent today. And the climate of blue vs. black is not helping things at all.
Recently, along with the support of community leaders, police officers, organizations, private citizens and businesses, I launched a GoFundMe campaign to teach private citizens how to handle an encounter with the police and to produce nationwide literature, videos and seminars teaching you your rights. Unfortunately I do not think this would have helped Christian Taylor. I have received enough training and encountered enough people on drugs and with mental disorders to know that something was wrong with Christian Taylor. But we will have to wait for the toxicology report to know more.
Did Christian Taylor deserve to die or even be shot? No. Yet if Officer Miller’s account is correct and we watch the video, something was definitely wrong with Christian Taylor. Wow. I have seen individuals act that way when they are on Molly (cooked bath salts), PCP and/or and street weed laced with rat poison and embalming fluid, but we cannot be sure of that until we know more.
The best thing all sides can do is to learn from this tragedy so other tragedies can be prevented. We can then pray for the family, learn what happened and face all of the facts, whether they are popular or not. We can call for justice and follow through to make sure it is achieved. We can remember the victim.
Staff Writer; Marque-Anthony
