0707_hn

I've made these statements elsewhere; I simply want to be thorough in responding to your comments.

In Minnesota, there is an obligation to aid individuals who have been harmed and MN officers are trained to do this. Indeed, reports exist of MN officers responding to gun shot wounds (GSWs).

Referenced posts:

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=12047969

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12048024

I can't fully address your comment as I don't have access to the relevant data (regarding black community violence and its correlation with "heavy handed" police).

What I will suggest is that overall violence does not seem to be correlated with the rate of police killings - see the third image in ref. 1.

[1] http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/2015

EDIT:

I can't reply to you due to the HN rate limit. Please see my response below:

I appreciate your response but I take issue with the data source behind that post (ref 1). I don't intend to take it apart fully, but it appeared to included factors (e.g., average commute time) that:

1. Systematically disfavor urban areas

2. Have little bearing to the question at hand, whether violence is correlated with police killings

Additionally, my claim above (2) is that violence and police killings, across the municipalities with the highest rates of police killings, are not correlated (ref. 3).

[1] http://places.findthehome.com/#guide

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12048043

[3] http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54ecf211e4b0ed744420c5...

I am only adding these posts for posterity's sake - in MN, there is an obligation to aid individuals who have been harmed and MN officers are trained to do this. Indeed, reports exist of MN officers responding to gun shot wounds (GSWs).

See my earlier posts:

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=12047969

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12048024

I made a response to a similar comment in another location (see ref 1).

I only want to respond to the following claims:

> he is not a trained EMT with access to a trauma kit that would stop 4 GSWs [gunshot wound, clarification added]

There are other cases where Minnesota police officers are documented to have responded to gunshot wounds (ref. 2) Indeed, certain MN police departments provide additional training, beyond basic first aid, for trauma situations - see the edit to ref. 1.

Further, you're implying that highly-specialized training ('EMT'), specific medical supplies ('trauma kit'), and injury severity ('4 GSWs') are important in considering rendering aid. My contention would be that, those factors absent, having a gun drawn and yelling at a victim are not appropriate responses to an event of this type.

> he is also alone and has to secure the scene until backup arrives

Backup is clearly present by the time the video is rolling and multiple officers appear on the video when Mr. Castile's girlfriend is removed from the car.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=12047969

[2] http://www.startribune.com/documents-detail-accidental-eden-...

I think you've made this post in multiple places but it's not applicable in this situation - see a reported image of police officers performing chest compressions on Mr. Castile in the article below [1].

More broadly, EMTs are not the only individuals capable of providing support after a shooting. Indeed, some state governments (e.g., VT and MN) have a statutory "duty to rescue" those exposed to grave physical harm for all individuals.

One would hope that police officers would be the most likely to do this, especially after a grievous injury - even if the wounds proved not to be survivable, this is hard to assess from feet away, with a gun drawn.

As an aside to counter a point you make elsewhere, there are multiple other police on the scene in the video, though it's not clear at what point they arrive.

1. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-shot-dead-minn-...

EDIT:

For posterity's sake, here's a press-release description of medical training that many Minneapolis/St. Paul are police officers receive:

https://hcmcnews.org/2013/01/09/hcmc-network-feature-real-li...