Now that's a good cop.

A dead bad cop.

heartless and sad!!!

You need to think about what would happen if you were on the corner, some savage walked up to you, stabbed you with a machete, stole all your money, grabbed your girlfriend, gang banged her in front of you, then walked away......who would you call? Your Mommy? NO!!!! You would call the police!

I feel so sad for both families. I am sure that little Shaquanda that turned in the video she took from her stolen cell phone would have no clue of drama that would come out of this horrible incident. Nor the mother who called 911 to get help for her son. The EDP who wanted to cause a scene because he clearly was looking to get attention by standing on the fire escape.

I feel sorry for the people that turned this comment into a rant to bash cops. It should be a rant to educate people about EDP's and post traumatic stress disorder. Both need to be handled with "kid gloves."

re soopaman:>>I blame the liberal media

You're commenting in a day and age where Murdoch owns WSJ. Why don't you just say you blame women's lib, or prohibition.

I blame Ford for his damn fancy motor buggies!

the funny thing is that the cops will continue to bust chops and harass bikers during critical mass.

it's ingrained in their culture, you're not "them".

so you don't understand.

so don't think for a second a cop would have feelings like this for any citizen.

even the victim's family felt bad for the situation during today's funeral. did the police union say anything like that?

That is the second time today that preview has lied to me. The blockquote was supposed to go through the line, "YOU: [But it's impossible to tell the difference]".

See: It's a tough call. Do you let him stand there and just walk away? Do you wait hours? Or do you do something? It's not an easy call any way you slice it, so this is why I cannot vilify the cop using a taser in this instance.

This situation was quite simple. They had very little to gain and everything to lose by Tasering Morales. They had no way to grab him and the guy wasn't presenting a clear and present danger even to himself. If they had just backed off a little bit and tried to de-escalate the situation, it probably would have turned out fine. There's no reason the cop on the fire escape couldn't have just gone back inside. That should be basic ESU conflict resolution. Don't push the situation if you don't have to.

For all you lunatics glad that Pigott's gone, try thinking for a minute about his wife and three kids, who probably won't even get his pension. I know it's hard to get that into your tiny brains, but just try.

"Do you let him stand there and just walk away?"

Talk about a strawman... the debate over the use of the taser has been done to death, so I won't bother to continue on that point. Obviously we disagree.

"How do you differentiate between the two? You can't."

This is completely irrelevant. Let's revisit the earlier discussion:

YOU: "Trespass on an awning while naked, holding a light bulb...I think you're there at your own risk and peril."

ME: That assumes the person in question is thinking rationally and can properly assess risk, no?

YOU: What? I could say the same thing while driving drunk.[]

ME: [They're different situations]

YOU: [But it's impossible to tell the difference]Your original argument was that the victim is responsible for his death because he was on the ledge to begin with, and should have known that being on the ledge was dangerous. I believe that you cannot hold someone who is not of sound mind fully responsible for their actions, and you certainly cannot hold them responsible for the actions of others. This is generally how our legal system functions.

I never claimed you said "yay" anything, so I dunno what that last line is about.

All,

I heard about the suicide and came to Gothamist in fear of the cop-bashing I'd read. In all honesty, of the 50-something comments, only a handful are retarded, and most seem to show sympathy for the man.

Even those who seem to be very anti-police had nice things to say here. Thank you.

RIP to him. It is a shame this has turned out the way it has since the beginning.

at the time he was probably thinking he was doing a good thing - diminishing the situation through a safe and non-lethal means.

then all the shit goes south and the guy dies.

...and everyone is calling him a murderer.

Don't get me wrong, I hate the cops. But I feel really bad for this guy. So sad.

The guy is endangering himself on the ledge. You could take an action that might bring him inside, but might very reasonably kill him. Is it worth that risk? I think not.

See: It's a tough call. Do you let him stand there and just walk away? Do you wait hours? Or do you do something? It's not an easy call any way you slice it, so this is why I cannot vilify the cop using a taser in this instance.

Drunkenness is obviously different because it is self-inflicted. Mental issues are not. Which is why drunkenness is not an excuse for criminal actions, and mental issues are. I've read nothing that says the ledge guy was drunk.

How do you differentiate between the two? You can't. Someone who is distraught is distraught. It could be from years of drug use, it could be recent drug use, it could be a drunk, or it could be someone who is having a bad day.

My point---where I never said "yay, I'm glad ___ is dead" nor did I use liberal media, pig of facist---is that the situation was overblown.

actually the standard line/comments found on the interwebs regarding suicides are selfish and coward.

as in a selfish and coward way out.

Another death that can be attributed directly to 0bama. And there will be many, many more.

frankbooth, you obviously got things mixed up.

Cowards are people like you, who sit behind the computer thinking that they make a differece by making ignorant comments on a news blog, while these "typical cowards", who made a career decision to 'make a difference', deal with the worst of new york city on a daily basis.

That alone takes a toll on someone as it obviously did with this guy.

this whole story is tragic.

The fact is the police called for a special mat to catch Morales, but didn't want to wait. So, he was zapped and fell to his death.

But, suicide wasn't the right way. Imagine the pain that Pigott's family will suffer.

These two men had names, lives and people who cared about them. Don't forget this.

what the fuck

Cop or no cop, he's a human being. very sad. rip.

Puss.

hey, that's the story!

they were ESU, too.

how quickly Gothamist forgets...

white woman described as beautiful and a "fallen angel" by cops, gently lowered to the ground by ladder....

http://gothamist.com/2007/07/21/park_slopes_run.php

"The idea is that if you thought someone was going to endanger themselves on the ledge of building---and if you were to tackle the person to bring them inside a window or wherever, is that too much force?"

The guy is endangering himself on the ledge. You could take an action that might bring him inside, but might very reasonably kill him. Is it worth that risk? I think not.

Drunkenness is obviously different because it is self-inflicted. Mental issues are not. Which is why drunkenness is not an excuse for criminal actions, and mental issues are. I've read nothing that says the ledge guy was drunk.

"Hope youre happy now libs. You got what you wanted"

Sounds like this makes YOU happy, you get to make a dumb comment!