Are cops being too paranoid?
One issue that comes up in discussion of police reform is the way in which police approach anyone they deal with on a daily basis as potentially a dangerous armed criminal. This leads to the fatal shooting of individuals where the police have assumed a person has a weapon when it’s really a cell phone, they assume they’re reaching for a weapon when they’re not, etc. The police seem to have a fundamental distrust of the public they deal with and assume the worst about anyone, even in something as seemingly harmless as a traffic stop.
Can the police behave any differently, though, given how armed Americans are overall? Maybe this is not how police proceed in countries with far fewer firearms in circulation, but maybe that’s how they have to proceed in the U.S.
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11 Answers
They have egos. Some of them have HUGE egos! Talk about a chip on your shoulder and a urge to show your prowess with a gun.
I saw a short fat cop years ago with a big ol’ Colt 1911 (.45 cal. automatic) on his hip! His tall skinny buddy had regular police issued S&W .38 revolver.
When everybody carries a gun, generally speaking, everybody knows how to use them. The cops aren’t paranoid, except in dealing with possibly violent, undisciplined crowds, they just aren’t sure how to deal with them in a safe, sane, SURE method. If the cops carried shotguns loaded with rock salt, and used them, the crowds could be easily controlled. Granted, the shit would hit the fan but the problem would be under control.
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In most of the cases I have seen where police have shot at (and/or used other excessive force on) people who were not actually dangerous, I would say that very much yes, they are behaving inappropriately, based on fear.
I do not think this is necessary, even in the USA, where yes, being a police officer tends to be a dangerous job. That doesn’t mean the police should be brutalizing and killing people, especially not at the rate they have been. The doctrine and training needs major adjustment, and the dangerous officers need to be retrained and/or removed.
Caution does not need to take the form of prematurely shooting and brutalizing people.
How does this relate to the killings of George Floyd and Daniel Prude? The problem goes beyond guns and self-defense.
I think it’s hard to judge how a cop thinks without actually being a cop, without actually having been trained as a cop, without actually being in the multiple situations that a cop is in, daily. I’m not defending cops. I know good cops, friends who are cops who I believe are rational and friendly and sensitive, and I have had interactions with cops on the road or other public places, both positive interactions and negative interactions. However, not being a cop, and not being in the cop’s brain, I can’t really judge them on their different scenarios.
I can judge the ones I have seen where they shoot people for no reason, or kill them in other ways, but all the rest of the thousands of police dealing with thousands of civilians day in, day out, who knows.
That is EXACTLY the problem. How many of the country’s 400 million guns do you suppose are under the front seat or in the glove box of this country’s automobiles?
With all the threats and terrorist activities taking place in our society, I do not believe cops are being paranoid.
how could you NOT be paranoid?
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