THE ISSUE: The fatal shooting of 18-year-old, unarmed Khiel Coppin by Brooklyn cops.
There is no doubt that excessive force was used. How about using Tasers, beanbags, mace or pepper spray (“Ma’s Frantic Call,” Nov. 14)?
Our police are trained and equipped, at the taxpayers’ expense, to use non-lethal force in these situations.
How is 20 shots not excessive?
How about better pay for officers who can handle these situations? You get what you pay for.
The problem starts and ends at the mayor’s desk.
Kevom Santich
Hampton Bays
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Some are calling for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to look at the facts before coming to the defense of the cops who shot Khiel Coppin in Brooklyn.
Turn on the news, and all over the United States there are instances of kids with guns shooting up their neighborhoods and killing one another in drug-related turf wars.
How can we forget Columbine and all of the other school killings involving young people with guns?
Maybe the time used for fact-finding missions would be better spent finding out why our kids are killing each other, shooting up our schools and killing cops in a society that’s falling apart at the seams.
Dan Galvin
Congers
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I am not sure if I should be more frightened by the police or the crazies.
It seems that officers fear more for their own lives than they do for the citizens they swear to serve and protect.
A thorough review of police situations, such as this most recent one, needs to be conducted. It is likely that it is the process followed that leads to death rather than an actual officer’s ineptitude.
With so many officers present at the time of the shooting, no one in command had the foresight to train scopes on the boy to see what he was holding.
Considering the ridiculous amount of time we spend reviewing a play during a football game, can we not pay half as much attention to actual lives of people in distress?
What about non-lethal measures to subdue? Where is the money for that? All anybody wants is a raise.
Lawrence Mayer
Staten Island
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Shoot or be shot.
What is most interesting is that if the police had done nothing and the kid shot his mom or someone else, those same people would say that the police did not do enough.
Control your kids, and get them the help that they need. But don’t blame others if your kid is being a threat.
Bob Allan
Staten Island
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If the NYPD tells you to freeze, you stop moving and put your hands up. Anything else is up to fate.
From the cop shows on TV since the 1960s, to the stop-frisk reports, to the Rev. Al Sharpton and Eric Adams: The citizens of NYC should know how to handle an encounter with a cop.
I blame the kid. If you live here, you better know what to do when a policeman says, “Stop.”
John Ruiz
Howard Beach
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The NYPD was too quick to shoot this teenager. Just like many other big city forces, NYC cops are gun-happy and paranoid.
Officers need to go over training and other policies regarding use of firearms, and cases like this one need to be investigated in more detail.
There also needs to be more oversight by citizens and the city’s high-ranking officials.
The mentality, “shoot first, ask questions later,” doesn’t help anybody.
Bill Miller
Las Vegas