fncceo
Diamond Member
- Nov 29, 2016
- 42,726
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A lot of people are making comparisons between cops and soldiers when it comes to life-threatening situations and while there are some similarities, in a deadly force scenario, they are totally different things.
1. Soldiers fight to destroy an enemy ... cops enforce laws in a civilian population.
2. Soldiers protect themselves by using overwhelming firepower ... cops must use the minimum amount of force proportionate to the objective. (If anything, cops are frequently at a firepower disadvantage in deadly force situations). Cops protect themselves with superior numbers and tactics.
3. If a soldier kills an enemy soldier, he's doing his job ... if a cop kills an offender, even an armed offender, he's subjected to a homicide investigation and a stigma that follows him for his entire career.
4. The Army cannot be sued or prosecuted for civilian casualties in the legitimate exercise of warfare ... police departments are open to civil litigation every time they do their job. This leads to very conflicting priorities for officers who are told to both protect themselves at all costs but also to prevent civilian casualties.
You don't want cops to be like soldiers. You don't want them rolling into neighborhoods with overwhelming firepower and inflicting acceptable rates of civilian casualties to suppress crime. You don't want cops calling in airstrikes or arty rounds to suppress a crack house.
Cops and soldiers are trained to deal with deadly force situations in very different ways and that's the way it should be.
1. Soldiers fight to destroy an enemy ... cops enforce laws in a civilian population.
2. Soldiers protect themselves by using overwhelming firepower ... cops must use the minimum amount of force proportionate to the objective. (If anything, cops are frequently at a firepower disadvantage in deadly force situations). Cops protect themselves with superior numbers and tactics.
3. If a soldier kills an enemy soldier, he's doing his job ... if a cop kills an offender, even an armed offender, he's subjected to a homicide investigation and a stigma that follows him for his entire career.
4. The Army cannot be sued or prosecuted for civilian casualties in the legitimate exercise of warfare ... police departments are open to civil litigation every time they do their job. This leads to very conflicting priorities for officers who are told to both protect themselves at all costs but also to prevent civilian casualties.
You don't want cops to be like soldiers. You don't want them rolling into neighborhoods with overwhelming firepower and inflicting acceptable rates of civilian casualties to suppress crime. You don't want cops calling in airstrikes or arty rounds to suppress a crack house.
Cops and soldiers are trained to deal with deadly force situations in very different ways and that's the way it should be.
