You can pretend, you can play what if all you want. The problem is and still remains the crimminal. Period.
If you are able to tell some toy guns from a real one in a split second you are more perfect then 99.99% of every other human. Most training is done in real life simulators. The problem with simulators are no matter how long you wait, hesitate you are never dead. You can train people you can preach, you can legislate, no matter what you do it is still a matter of someone with adrenaline and the fight or flight basic instinct, the self prservation that is built into everyone human that takes over.
There are problems, there are mistakes. No one will deny that. But to single out one out of a hundred and claim it should not happen in s ludicrous. If you want perfection then take humans out of the role altogether. Because as long as humans are involved you will never have that perfect world. Those unicorns and rainbows that you want.
Is there a policeman that shoots someone because they can? Yes. How do you tell? Is it in the eyes? In the length of a finger? Is there someone that will shoot before their training tells them to? Yes. But again how do you tell? How many people living near people like Dommer, Bundy and the rest said they were nice people? How do you know the fellow you are chasing does not plan to shoot or stab you? He is obviously intent on not going to jail, what guarantee is there that he will not stop and try to kill you?
You want perfection take the humans out of police work. Better yet stop all crime so there is no need of police. If you do that you can have your utopia.
I have asked this question a thousand times. Perhaps you will finally answer it for me. Why is it our only choice is anarchy, or corrupt police? We either have to accept police misconduct, and abuses, or anarchy.
You have not read all my replies in sequence. I can tell, because every point that I make counter to your claims, it taken without any consideration to the previous posts. In other words, you are skimming the replies, and ignoring what I am saying. Looking for key words and phrases. While focused on the individual shootings in the videos, the one in a while, you ignored the fact that half of the Police shootings in Georgia, were of unarmed people, or people who were shot in the back. Half. If there are a thousand shootings, that means five hundred people were shot in at least questionable circumstances.
But like most cop defenders, you figure it is better to lose a thousand, including any innocents, than it is to lose one cop. I think it can be better. I think we can be better. Safer for the police, and the public.
AIDS was a hugely threatening thing for Medical People. Yet, they discussed it, and they determined precautions to minimize the risk. Never eliminating it, but if you take proper precautions, you will be fine in better than 99% of the cases. Cars, Airplanes, houses, workplaces. In each of those, we looked at the situations, and decided it could be better, and we strove to make it better, and continue to strive for that today. We never stop trying to improve so many things, except LEO’s. There apparently is no room for improvement except in new toys to make their tactics more effective. New expensive toys.
In order for LEO’s to be better, we have to apply the same honesty to Law Enforcement as we have to all the other things that have improved. Medical Procedures that have been improved, because we wanted them to be better. We did not accept that hey, there is nothing that can be done.
Why can’t LEO’s be served by the same improvements? Why can’t we look at things and try and figure out what could be done better? You mention those split second issues. Believe it or not I agree.
Let me give you one example.
I do not find fault with the cops who shot this man. Not at all. The shooting was unfortunate, but honestly, I can’t imagine them doing anything different. Once the BB gun was in the open, the officers had to consider it a real threat. I presume that no argument is coming from you on that one.
Yet, that is not the entirety of the event is it? It doesn’t begin in the parking lot outside the Restaurant. It began inside. The officers made the decision to arrest the man long before they took him outside. Why didn’t they search him at that time? Why didn’t they place the handcuffs on him then? Was that not policy? Why not?
We can learn from every incident, by taking a long hard look at every incident, and learning all that we can. What were they thinking, what were they trained to do? What can we do differently to avoid this next time?
Perhaps the next cops who face a similar situation will think to search the man before it goes outside, giving the suspect a minute to come up with an insane desperate plan. Perhaps the next cops will secure the suspect, and take him outside for the final act. Not disturbing the diners may be a goal, but it is not worth anyone’s life. Not the cops, and not the idiot who is thinking a mile a minute trying to come up with a way to avoid jail.
You mention cops getting shot at traffic stops. Aren’t they taught to turn their cars to put the motor between themselves and the stopped vehicle? This places metal between them buying them a few precious moments if they are attacked before they’re out of the vehicle. How they approach the vehicle is also important. Taking a look inside, shining lights to try and obscure the vision of the driver at night. As well as any passengers.
When I was in the Army, and learning how to do the dangerous things one of my instructors told me a truth. You have the rest of your life to get it right. Take your time, and get it right. This lesson did not keep all my friends safe, but it kept a lot of us safe. It improved our odds. Then again, in my field, the lessons were written in the blood of those who came before us.
There are more lessons than just when to shoot. There are a lot more things to learn. Taking one more look around before you approach the car, or walk up on a reported burglary in progress. Taking your time, when you have it, to go slow. Rushing in when you must. We can’t train for all of these scenarios, which is where general policies, and general training comes in. Then it takes time for the officer to adjust to the training and truly incorporate it. Just as it takes time for a Soldier out of basic, to learn how to be a Soldier for real. Churchill said it took two years to make a soldier.
But before any of those changes can come along. Before they can even be contemplated, we have to break up the good old boys network in the departments. The fastest way to do that is Polygraph tests for the cops. Flunk the test, half a dozen simple questions, and you’re not under arrest. Take a week or two and get your personal problem worked out, if that is what threw you off, and come back. But you’re not going out there onto the streets with a badge and gun while you’re flunking the test.
Sound extreme? We do it for people in the CIA and NSA all the time. They don’t go to jail for flunking, but they also do not go back into the Top Secret areas to return to work. And they don’t get do overs.
