After a long legal battle, a West Virginia city has agreed to pay a $175,000 settlement in the aftermath of an unlawful firing of a police officer. Officer Stephen Mader was terminated after he chose to shoot a 23 year man during a disturbance in 2016. The incident which occurred in May of 2016, involved a mentally unstable man who had an unloaded gun. Mader was first at the scene and understood that the man was of no harm. He then proceeded to try to deescalate the situation. However, when other officers arrived they shot the man on sight. The Department then fired him over this incident. Mader worked with the ACLU to receive his settlement.
The fact that the police department fired Officer Mader for this cause is outrageous. He should be used as an example on how to deescalate a situation. No police officer should be fired over choosing to save the life of another when they presented no clear or present danger. It is good that they are paying a settlement but in the end the act was still done. This highlights a larger problem in our country of police officers not getting the correct training on how to deal with suspects.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/12/us/west-virginia-officer-lawsuit-settlement-trnd/index.html
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