I'm writing this while the Mayor's press conference about the shooting is being broadcast:
Mayor Bloomberg admits that "it looks like excessive force was used." But reiterates we don't know til further investigation. He also says he believes there wasn't anything racially motivated.
He says clearly there were victims.
Ray Kelly the Police Commissioner says this year the number of shots fired per officer was 3.28 down from 5.00 last year. According to the New York Times the figures are:
Last year [2005], that number was 3.7 shots fired per officer in 109 incidents. They are down from 4.6 in 2000 and 5.0 in 1995.What hasn't been mentioned is something the New York Times talked about today: “contagious shooting” — gunfire that spreads among officers who believe that they, or their colleagues, are facing a threat. It spreads like germs, like laughter, or fear. An officer fires, so his colleagues do, too.
Just now Ray Kelly alluded to the concept of "contagious shooting."
After reading the New York Times article it seems that the officers certainly felt threatened by the car containing the bridegroom, Sean Bell, and his friends. The car rammed the undercover police van twice and didn't stop when told to by an officer who identified himself.
What is terrible is that Sean Bell who was to get married later that day was unarmed and was shot as driver of the car.
The press conference ended at 1:12 PM Monday.
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