Quote:It's easy to quarterback in hindsight. How does one err on the side of caution when there are so many encounters that an officer has less than a second to decide whether to pull the trigger or have their families take an American flag home instead of a father?


Nobody disputes that the police need to be well regulated and kept in check by the law, but taking away their weapons is dangerous and counterproductive.


People get all flustered when cops make mistakes, but remember, the law doesn't say a cop must be right, but only reasonable in his application of force. Hence why cops rarely get charged for shooting someone that suddenly flashes a cell phone.

In the example he linked to, that situation was completely avoidable had the police simply done everything necessary to assure they were hitting the right location.  Cops do make mistakes, but not so much when they do their due diligence in making sure they've got all their ducks in a row. 

 

I agree with you that police normally have only a second or two in certain situations to evaluate and react.  They are trained to do so, and to err on the side of caution and public safety in those instances.  Do they make mistakes?  Sure.  They're still human.  But, you're right.  You don't take away their weapons because the citizenry thinks they're being "militarized" for some nefarious intent.  If you look at the hardware they're facing on the street, they're struggling just to keep up in most cases. 

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