Mistakes Were Made

The LAPD coughs up $4.2 million in a settlement to the two women who were mistaken for Chris Dorner:

Police had been on the lookout for Dorner's gray Nissan Titan truck, and officials have said the officers opened fire after mistaking the blue Toyota Tacoma the women were driving for Dorner's truck.

Cut the cops who did this some slack.  They had probably just seen Cars 2 where Mater the tow-truck goes undercover disguised as a limo.  Mistaking a blue Tacoma for a gray Titan -- hey, they both begin with 'T' -- is one thing, but:

Emma Hernandez, 71, was shot twice in the back and her daughter, Margie Carranza, 47, suffered hand injuries from flying debris when two officers opened fire on them before dawn on February 7.

 Mrs Carranza was hit by debris, but SEVENTY-ONE YEAR-OLD Mrs. Hernandez was visible enough to the officers to take two shots in the back -- probably through the body of the truck, which may be why she is still alive.

Denninger and his commenters loose the dogs of mockery better than I can.

For the thugs running the police union and mau-mauing the city hall suits, the answer to this will be more "training".  Stupidity, arrogance, and a tyrannical disregard for the lives and property of honest citizens -- you know, the people you are supposed to "serve and protect" -- cannot be cured by watching "Adam-12" videos in the training room.  The answer that would do some good is jail time in the general population.  The shooters are incompetent, but they also know that the department, their buddies, and the union will act as a buffer against any actual punishment.  The worst that will happen is that they will be terminated with a reduced pension.  In fact, the worst has already happened to the LA tax-payers.

Dorner was a punk who murdered innocent people.  If he had confined his attacks to armed police officers, he might have had a shot at being viewed as some kind of twisted anti-authority quasi-folk-hero.  But Dorner, apparently not too unlike the officers he maligned and threatened, was a big, mouthy loser who was too dumb and lazy to manage to remain in the ranks of an organization renown for its dumbness and laziness, not to mention its corruption.

Here is government at its finest.  There are a lot of good, decent, intelligent police officers out there.  There are also some corrupt and stupid men and women who think a uniform, a badge and a gun or a government title or position of some sort makes them the masters of the hapless citizens who are unfortunate enough to get in their way.