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For world's police, force of the law meets the law of force
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Dennis711
The United States needs to follow some ( or all ) of the good examples given here by other countries.
Thunderbird2
When police officers in the UK use firearms it automatically goes to the Police Complaints Commission to ensure that the use of firearms was justified. Recently police officers in Inverness were issued with side arms as part of their normal patrol equipment. They have since had them withdrawn as it was deemed unnecessary and causing concern to residents.
To be honest I get a little nervous when I see officers at Glasgow Airport carrying MP5s... and still get a slight twinge of anxiety when I see Tokyo police officers with holstered side arms.
lostrune2
There are many impromptu marching protests in big US cities going on right now, and the police are letting them keep it peaceful. Police are even blocking vehicular traffic to let them march through the busy city streets.
The problem in Ferguson last night was that the National Guard there was not deployed, like they are now today keeping peace. There was not enough security - the overwhelmed police pretty much just let the rioters do whatever they wanted mainly on 2 streets. There were much too few arrests for how many crimes committed. But now that the National Guard are there for reinforcement, things have quieted down significantly, conveniently keeping a DMZ buffer zone between them and the protestors marching peacefully.
Saul Schimek
A gun is a tool (for killing). No more. no less.. It is the training and psychology behind using that tool that is problematic at best. U.S. Police really do need to dail it back a bit as they have gotten really gun happy of late.
OTOH, there are elements within society which are not reasonable by any stretch of the imagination and that only a show of force will bring compliance. They are not a large subset, but they are enough to be of concern.
Ideally, Police should be able to use a level of restraint in the use of force. But when the legal system has been twisted into a pretzel so bad by what I like to call Insane Troll Logic Law to the point where shooting the perp is going to cause less problems for a LEO than the other less lethal options, then we do have a severe problem
it's bloody depressing
gokai_wo_maneku
This morning, a Japanese news show showed a video of a police car pulling up at a park and shooting to death a 12 year old black boy who was playing with a gun. Wow. So I'm glad we don't have guns in Japan.
1glenn
IMO, the problem is a largely a result of 1.), the lack of training for law enforcement officers in the US, and 2.) blatant institutional racism in the police forces, and in many of the local political establishments.. To become a police officer, one needs little more than to belt on a holster and put on a uniform. The amount of training required is minimal, compared to many other countries.
I can relate my own experience from back in the 60s, after having been beaten up by sheriffs during a non-violent demonstration. Gradually, demonstrations turned more violent, especially after it became obvious that police and sheriffs were not constrained by common sense or the law. When, at last, the National Guard arrived, they were very welcome. They were our protection from further police riots.
Not all minority communities in the US are habitually mistreated, but many are. In such cases, there is little respect for officers of the law by minority citizens, and for reason. Ferguson, Missouri, is an almost all Black community that is policed by an almost all White police force, controlled by an almost all White political establishment. It is little wonder that Blacks are mistreated under such circumstances.
sangetsu03
Perhaps the author of the article doesn't realise that many police in America are shot by their own weapons each year. According to FBI statistics, of 8 officers killed in ambush attacks in America last year, 7 were shot with their own guns, which were wrestled away from them.
Police officers are well aware of these statistics, their gun holsters are designed so that their guns can be pulled out only one way. When I worked in law enforcement, I carried a P7M13 pistol, which uses a unusual cocking device which most people are unfamiliar with. I chose this gun because I realised there was a chance that someday someone might try use it against me.
When a suspect attempts to grab or steal an officer's gun, deadly force is the standard response. Not only is the officer at risk of being shot, but anyone else who might be around. When the suspect is 6 feet tall, and weighs 300 pounds, and tries to grab my gun, I am not going to think twice about my reaction.
For those who think a taser should have been used in this situation, tasers do not work well at point blank ranges, and a taser can shock the user as well as the suspect if they are touching each other.