Authorities in New Mexico will not seek charges against three police officers involved in a fatal shooting after arriving at the wrong house last year.

Officers in the town of Farmington fired dozens of shots and killed Robert Dotson, 52, because he appeared at the door of his home holding a gun.

At the time, the officers were responding to a domestic violence call from a house across the street.

The Dotson family filed a lawsuit against the department last year.

According to a complaint filed by the family in court, police arrived at the Dotson residence late on 5 April, 2023 and “parked down the street and did not have their lights on”.

When Mr Dotson opened his front door holding a weapon, police immediately opened fire, striking him 12 times. Another 19 shots were fired at his wife Kimberly, who was unharmed during the incident. Police later said she opened fire on officers with a pistol.

  • DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Well, I am not from the US, so maybe my perception is wrong. Or maybe you have a selection bias for some reason, e.g. living in a safe are.

    Either way, if enough cops are ok with it then go ahead, and have them not carry firearms. No issue then.

    • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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      5 months ago

      youre not wrong in that there are parts of the united states that are mini war zones, and disarming the police wouldnt make sense. but those are outliers. its a huuge country and youre talkin <1% of officers. lets make exemptions where needed.

      there is no “united states police”, and so we have 50 tiny countries each with their own versions (city,county,state) of different kinds of police forces, and barely any of it is coordinated or standardized.