There were two policemen. Had he been able to disable one of the officers with the taser, the other one could have prevented him from gaining possession of a weapon. Shooting Brooks seems disproportionate.

Of course I have the benefit of passing judgement from the comfort of my home after viewing video of the incident. But it also brings up a question which is now being asked more often. How much training are officers receiving to deal with high stress, fast-moving scenarios such as this? Would more training have enabled the policemen to make a better assessment about the lethality of Brooks with the taser and the appropriate response? It certainly wouldn't hurt.

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