Misfire

But we don't think rationally in hundredths of a second. The goal of tactics must be to buy time and the chance for communication, O'Keefe said. "Technology could help in this area, if it can be developed in an affordable way." He advocated the use of portable thermal imaging scanners, which can see body heat through barriers, to let cops glimpse what's behind doors before they open them.

It's tempting to daydream of how that night might have been different had Neri and Hallik been equipped with such a camera, watching the heat outline of Stansbury's lanky frame heading up to the winter night, ablaze with life. They wait and watch to see what kind of young man emerges from the stairwell, the element of fearful surprise all but extinguished. One can imagine words—there would be time for words.

image by Sarah A. McAndrews

Related Content

• Ray Kelly's Gulag
  November 16, 2011
• NPR's Vivian Schiller Resigns After James O'Keefe Sting; New York Times Blames Rape Victim?
  March 9, 2011
• Republican Secret Camera Scam Artist Fools NPR, But Also Muslim-Hating Bloggers
  March 8, 2011
• James O'Keefe: His Lubed-Up Present, His Hanky-Pranky Past
  October 1, 2010
• White America Has Lost Its Mind
  September 29, 2010

More About

• Timothy Stansbury
• Richard Neri
• James O'Keefe
• Sciences
• Science and Technology

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: (Sent out every Thursday) Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

"Hey, kid! Go back downstairs," they might have said. "Don't you know the roof can be dangerous?" It was dangerous, for Stansbury. He died, and now it's up to the courts, not scientists, to determine whether Neri should be held responsible.