Protests erupt in Charlotte after police kill man; 12 officers hurt

[Belsnickel]

(09-21-2016, 12:01 PM)CageTheBengal Wrote: How come police can't stop people who aren't an immediate threat without killing them? They should be trained and willing to do everything possible to avoid death. Tasers, beanbags and shooting someone in the leg ass opposed to killing them all seem like realistic options. Also they should actually be physically fit so there not intimidated by a big  man which results in fearful decision making. If they could defend themselves without weapons they wouldn't have to hide behind one at the first instance of fear. Killing someone for simply not following precise orders is more like living in an country ruled by order not freedom. Whether the person is messed up on drugs, (Most people are these days when opoids are handed out like candy. It's not just "low lives") or just simply deaf or hearing impaired more than likely you're gonna get shot (more then once.) or the tar knocked out of you. Everyone has a right to a trial but it never gets to that point when you're 20 feet underground.

Officers take these jobs knowing there is danger involved but want to cry foul if they sense they might ever get a scratch on them. Am I going to take a job a roofer and then complain when I have to stand on a hot roof and my back aches? These people chose this profession if they can't handle it because they are physically unfit or mentally unstable they need to get out of this line of work. Nobody said it was an easy job.

For the record I don't believe it's just a race issue that's just a piece of the puzzle. I think low income families in general get judged and treated unfairly as well.

Any cop will tell you, at least based on the ones I know, that the first "weapon" they have is their voice. Whether it be a conversation to deescalate a situation or to keep it from escalating or an authoritative yell of command for someone to listen to their directions. Most of the time, the vast majority of situations, that is what works.

Less than lethal solutions aren't a guarantee. Someone coming at you can still come at you with a taser or mace applied, a number of things can reduce the efficacy. It's all rainbows and unicorns to think that these options are something that can replace a firearm, but that's just not the case. This isn't even getting into the high number of firearms in the hands of the general public, concealable ones at that, that increase the potential threat to civil servants tremendously.

I am exceptionally critical of our police in a bad shoot situation, I just want to know it is a bad shoot before I get there. I would also like to decrease police involved shootings altogether, but that will take not just a change in culture in our law enforcement community, but a change of culture across this country that is, unfortunately, improbable at this point in time.