Excessive force

If she had a reputation like fast-on-the-draw SPO2 Adonis Dumpit, then PO2 Lea Juarez would have been hailed to court for shooting down a teenage snatcher who made off with an iPhone and wallet of a female office worker walking to the Ayala commercial district two weeks ago.

As it is, Juarez received a commendation and rightly so, for quickly responding to a robbery in progress and chasing the thief, Liel Alex Cabornay, who fled on a motorbike with a cohort.

Flight turned into a foot chase down Capitol Site. At one point, the thief turned and flashed a .45 pistol.

According to the police officer, she tried to aim for Cabornay’s legs in order to disable him but since he was a moving target, her gunshot found its way to his belly. The man died.

For her action, the Commission on Human Rights said it will look into the complaints of Cabornay’s parents that Juarez used excessive force.

We’re sure the robbery victim sees it differently. She was shouting for help in the middle of Cebu Business Park, but no one, not passersby or security guards within earshot lifted a finger to help her.

A chance encounter with PO2 Juarez, who was passing by on a motorbike with a fellow police officer was the only help she got.

Police superiors supported PO2 Juarez action as a response made in self defense and in the line of duty.

Faced with a robber who is armed and dangerous, a snap decision has to be made to stop him or take a bullet yourself.

Juarez doesn’t have a reputation for being trigger happy. That was her first time to actually shoot a perpetrator.

The real surprise was that she’s been operating as a policewoman for four years without a service firearm. The one she fired was a personal weapon. As her reward, her superiors gave her, ahead of more senior officers, a 9 mm pistol.

The CHR 7 hasn’t released any findings yet and unless there’s damning information that we haven’t heard of yet, it’s not likely they’ll find any evidence of gross abuse.

It’s a different case with PO2 Dumpit, who’s in jail for shooting dead a young theft suspect during another police chase. The slain suspect was unarmed.

The famous body guard of former mayor and now Rep. Tomas Osmeña had a flair for shooting down criminal elements and being proud of it.

The “rules of engagement” issued to the police and military do require steps like identifying yourself as a police officer (which PO2 Juarez did) and taking care not to hazard the lives of other civilians during an operation.

So far her actions have shown up to be justified under the circumstances.