In today’s Daily News, I ran into this ominous story.
New cop guns easier to fire
NYPD says lighter pull on trigger improves accuracy
Well, that seems de trop at the very least, but what makes this plan particularly offensive is in the first sentence of the article by Rocco Parascandola, Daily News Police Bureau Chief.
NYPD recruits will receive guns that are easier to fire under a new initiative to improve accuracy, the Daily News has learned.
The move, which one civil rights lawyer said “doesn’t make sense” and could lead to more police killings, means that new cops will need to apply less pressure to the trigger.
The NYPD insists data is on its side.
Data? Are there data about handing easy-to-fire guns to rookies who, I would think, are a bit antsy about having guns in the first place? You know, itchy trigger fingers now on a loosey goosey trigger? An excerpt:
Lawyer Randolph McLaughlin, who represented the family of Mohamed Bah, a mentally ill Harlem man shot dead in his apartment in 2012, said the NYPD is making a mistake.
“It’s making the weapon more deadly for more people. And I think at a time when we’re questioning the discharging of weapons by police, when we’re providing officers non-lethal force devices, such as Tasers, why would you want to make it easier for cops to shoot people?” he asked. “That just doesn’t make any sense — you’re putting more people at risk.”
Yes, Mr. McLaughlin. You are right. This is so stupid. Even if the plan isn’t stupid, the news about it, as here, is.
There are days when I believe the central purpose of the NYPD is to enrage us citizens. Didn’t you have another purpose at some time? Something about protecting us? Blah blah blah?