Oakland, CA police chief weighs in on Columbus police-involved shooting
Armstrong says Americans need to 'balance' compassion for victims and the police
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Oakland, California Chief of Police Leronne Armstrong weighed in Thursday on the police shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio.
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LERONNE ARMSTRONG: I think this is a very tragic situation. I think at the end of the day we have to recognize that officers are making split-second decisions that are very difficult, and obviously this a very difficult decision around trying to save someone’s life.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But, also I recognize that a 16-year-old girl lost her life and I think we have to be able to balance both, to say that both that community is suffering, but that’s probably the toughest decision a police officer has to make - and in that moment trying to save someone’s life is paramount.
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But, also recognize that there’s a lot of hurt and pain that we are dealing with in our communities across the country when it comes to officer-involved shootings. And so we have to recognize that this is a time I think for us to begin to examine how we can work better with the community, how we can better understand the job that police officers do in America, but also be compassionate.