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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ggersh who wrote (266862)	12/24/2014 11:10:03 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541583

We've had people who were not minorities killed here- who probably did not need to be killed, but they were mentally ill, or stupid, and they pointed guns at police, or failed to respond to requests to put their hands up, and get on the ground. policestateusa.com "Although there is little doubt that the shooting will be declared to be legally justified, the incident should give citizens pause before calling the police to deal with distressed family members. Government agents enjoy a broad threshold for using deadly force to stop perceived threats — even if they turn out not to be actual threats. As such, it is frequently apparent that a call for “help” can easily turn into a death sentence for a harmless person." Our society is awash in guns- and the police know that. If we didn't have so many guns on the streets, police probably wouldn't be so worried when something is pointed at them- but I don't blame them for being worried. And they aren't social workers, and they shouldn't be. I don't think they can do the job they need to do AND be social workers. It would be nice if our police were more like the police in the UK- but to be like that, we'd have to reduce the number of guns in our society, and that's not going to happen. So this is what we have. I don't see it changing a lot. Don't point things at the police. Don't fight with them. Obey their commands. I don't recall any news story in which someone was shot who was doing those three simple things. If someone points things at the police, fights with them, or does not obey their commands, I'm not going to be very broken up about their death. It's like grieving for people who drink and drive, and who end up dead. Sure, you can make the choice to do dangerous things, but it's not noble, and it's not emblematic of anything- except anti-social behavior. The sad part of the story is the collateral damage done- to communities, to families, and to the officers involved. No doubt they wish they'd been a million miles away after one of these events ruins their life.