Too many officers are putting on a badge and strapping on a gun...

[ScreamingMeemie]

while only thinking of saving their own hides instead of remembering they are there to "serve and protect." Not "serve and protect" my own butt, but the "butts of the people I serve."

I don't care about any extenuating circumstances, hands to waistbands, thought he had a gun, had a gun...

You knew you were putting your life on the line (or you should have) when you took the job that let you carry the stupid gun in the first place.

End of story. Have a nice whatever, everyone.

[upaloopa]

1. I don't think dying is part of the job

description.
I don't like what a lot of police have become but like anyone else they have a right to life. I don't think their jobs have gotten more dangerous and I think they need to end the military style policing.
The citizens are not enemy combatants. Cops need a whole new type of training.

[uponit7771]

3. Niether is killing somene for the least bit of reason, not being held accountable or at least...

... trying to have a more than "take something' mentality when it comes to relationships with the community

[unblock]

6. the job's not nearly that dangerous and honorable if you shoot to kill anything that twitches.

i fully support making the job of police officers (as well as firefighters and emts) as safe as possible.

but not to the point where they become a threat to the safety of the people they're there to protect.

at a minimum, if a police officer shoots, i think they have to be damn sure the situation calls for shooting.
no "reaching for the waistband" or "i thought his candy was a gun" crap. police are supposed to be paid, professional *experts* at assessing such dangers.

if they shoot, they need to have accurately assessed the situation and they need to have exhausted any reasonable less-lethal resolutions, not the least of which in many instances is just walking away and dealing with the situation later, with backup, more appropriate gear, etc.

[HereSince1628]

9. Police are provided with means to reduce the risk and it works, taxi drivers face greater

risks of dying of a homicide on the job with a lot less protection.

The bureau of labor statistics keeps records of on the job fatalities and although a couple years behind, the records are available for free on line for taxi drivers you need to look under job category of ground passenger transportation.

No one thinks of taxi drivers as volunteering for a life-threatening job, no one thinks dying should be part of a taxi drivers job, but I don't recall ever witnessing national news storms about taxi driver homicides.

I think the message from that is generally speaking the media and the public does have greater concern for police safety than they do for persons working in occupations where the job description does not include requirements to confront criminals.

The public also rightly has concern about racial and religious bias and various abuses under the color of policing. The two concerns aren't mutually exclusive.

[uponit7771]

4. Who is "us"? Regards

[unblock]

7. actually, yeah, they are there to serve and protect *all* of us, criminals included.

the police are not an army, and there isn't a war between criminals and non-criminals.

the accused have rights. hell, even felons have rights. the police have a duty to serve and protect all of us.


aside from which, the police don't get execute people simply for appearing to commit a crime. there's a system for assessing guilt and carrying out sentences, and the police aren't there to do that. they're there to keep the peace, to monitor for suspected crimes, to gather evidence, to peaceably apprehend suspects and process them into that system.

in rare cases, shooting may be justified. this may be one of those rare cases. but the duty of the police is not to protect us by "eliminating" "thugs". if there was a way to diffuse the situation, then the shooting was not justified. if there was a way to apprehend martin without a shot being fired, then the shooting was not justified. if there was a way to get to safety and call for backup, then the shooting was not justified.

[951-Riverside]

8. "...but they put their lives on the line", "don't call 911 next time you need help", "BROAD BRUSH!!"

This is becoming the new "We were attacked on 9/11".

[bigwillq]

10. Have a nice whatever to you too.