Disconcerting

This story doesn't sit too well with me, even if an internal police investigation exonerated her actions.

City police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said an internal investigation showed that Officer Alexandra Cameron was well within department policy when she shot at the woman, who was throwing knives and a meat cleaver at city officers who’d come to calm her down.

Throwing meat clevers at the poe-leeeeeece is grounds for getting shot in my book. No question. But like most things in life, there's conditions:

The shot was not a particularly accurate one. In fact, Bledsoe said police don’t know if the bullet struck the woman or not. The woman had an abrasion that could have come from being grazed by a bullet or it could have been caused by something else.

That is part of what is unsettling. I can't tell you for a fact that I would be an accurate shot under the same circumstances, but it seems the cop had no idea about the general direction that she fired her issued weapon. It "went off" so to speak. If you have the soundness of mind to draw your weapon in response to a threat, than you should have the soundness of mind to know if your weapon was pointed at the threat's face or the townhouse two blocks down. Then there's this:

Police initially fired “less-lethal” pellets that release pepper spray in an attempt to subdue the woman. The spray appeared to have no effect, and the shot was fired as she kept coming at the officers while throwing the weapons.

You know, all this "less lethal" crap that you see on Spike TV and S.W.A.T. Magazine seems to me to be. . . . .well. . . .crap. Yes, there's the sanctity of human life and all that jazz, but something tells me that when you shoot a woman who's off her meds with shit designed to burn her eyes and skin, you're not helping the situation any, but in fact making an otherwise crazy person turn into a violent, deadly threat. This video clip comes to mind when I think about those retarded pepper balls ***Warning, language***:

Policing used to be considered serious business, so why is it these days that departments are buying junk like paintball guns filled with pepper? Tasers are close to lethal, and from what I've seen have been pretty effective. Same with shotgun shells loaded with bean bags. But pepper balls? Come on! Might as well be loaded with Nipple Twisters and Indian Rashes.