Archive: Opinions

Tompkins County Legislator Mike Sigler reported to the Lansing Town Board Wednesday on the Danby incident in which a man shot himself to death after a standoff with law enforcement officers.  Sigler said that about 50 people attended a meeting of the Tompkins County Public Safety Committee at which Sheriff Ken Lansing and other officers who responded to the scene provided details on the incident.  Sigler said that the man's wife questions police leadership, and Danby Supervisor Ric Dietrich asked for an independent review of the incident.

"The aim throughout, Sheriff Lansing stressed, was to get the man out of the house safely, and to not use any deadly physical force against him, even though that would have been justified by law," Sigler reported.

The event was a tragedy, especially for the man's wife and children.  At Wednesday's Lansing Town Board meeting board members discussed the damage to the house, which is not covered by insurance.  While that means the family must find somewhere else to live, it also means that the landlord is stuck for the cost of repairs.  Sheriff Lansing told Sheriff's Department Facebook followers where they could send donations to a Danby church to benefit the family.  He said he thinks they have raised about $10,000 so far.

"The guy wasn't coming out," Sigler said.  "Some people said the police should have gone in and got him.  He was shooting at people so they weren't going to send any police into the building to get him."

Sigler said the Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident and the department's handling of it, and a report is expected in about six weeks.

A tragedy like this is bound to raise questions, and it should.  But while the best outcome would have been to extract the man alive with no injuries to his family or law enforcement, the worst outcome is a lot bleaker.  Law enforcement officiers could have been put at risk, but it seems prudent that they were not.  Sigler noted that the man was suicidal, and adamant that he did not want to go back to jail, so it may turn out that no better outcome was possible.

Certainly law enforcement officers are as human and fallible as the rest of us, but in this case experienced officers appear to have taken a very conservative approach, putting safety first and trying for that best case outcome.

It is easy to second guess their decisions, but a lot harder to put yourself into their shoes.  A man was shooting at them.  They could reasonably and legally have blasted him to smithereens.  Instead they brought in professional resources in the form of equipment and officers, employed a negotiator, and did what they could, despite being fired upon, to get that best outcome.  That they didn't entirely succeed is unfortunate, but it doesn't look like it was for want of trying.

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