Quote:On an isolated incident you can make a case for anything. If you take a step back however and examine the cause and effect the shifting of police from protect and serve to stop and frisk has lead to animosity against authority and the people themselves.


You can speak better than I about the situation as you where once an officer. And yes today the uniform makes you a target but it also makes you an authority figure with tremendous power.


The 4th amendment is clear the military and police serve different functions in society. The more militarized a police force becomes the focus moves away from interaction and becomes about reaction. When you have a reactionary police force violent aprenhension is unavoidable.

 

In this situation, if police weren't allowed to equip riot gear and long arms, the only difference would be that the military would be called in instead of the police department.  It's not right to ask a police officer to unduly put his life at risk for the sake of public appearance.

 

There are things in regards to police that I agree with you on, but in the case of giving them weapons that better allow them to go home to their families at the end of the night, I'll never agree to disarm the police.  An armed police officer has no greater risk than an armed civilian in criminal homicide.  They are actually less likely to shoot someone than your average citizen with a gun and that's with being in far more tense and dangerous situations.

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