| Dante9 said: There's definitely something wrong here with the attitude towards law enforcement. Police are seen as the enemy or some kind of faceless threat that is out to get innocent people for no apparent reason. I'm willing to bet that parents are at fault here to some degree. They pass on this attitude to their kids, either on purpose or unintentionally as the kids watch how their parents deal with the world. In a gun-ridden country like the US, police have to take every threat seriously, it's the only way to do their jobs and stay safe. I also have to wonder what goes through the minds of these suspects who decide to neglect any orders from the police and fight back instead. What in the hell do they think is going to happen? The cops will just give up and leave? They seem to have no clue as to the likely outcomes of these situations, are they high or just plain stupid? |
Who thinks that?
What people should expect from the police is proper training and constraint when licensed to carry and use a deadly weapon. The primary purpose of police is to protect and serve, not to stay safe.
These suspects? A 12 year old? Kids do stupid things, doesn't mean you should respond in equally stupid ways.
Maybe it is indeed problem of gun culture. I don't know how many times the police get shot at daily in the US that they feel forced to rush in and shoot first. Perhaps they're really understaffed, feel the need to resolve things quickly and have no money for tasers or other non lethal methods. If the only way to subdue a 12 year old with a gun is to drive in and shoot him then society has failed.
Anyway I grew up in a country where the police are indeed trained to keep their distance or even leave and resolve the problem in a less risky way. Where police chases are illegal, considered too dangerous. Where a whole squad comes out when a gun might be involved. And kids are taught the police is your friend. Don't they have the police visit schools in the US to explain their procedures and what they do for the community?
