To Protect and Serve

Morning.

Police have a extremely tough job.

They are expected to maintain the safety and security of the populous and do no harm to anyone in the process. Most times, that works. Traffic violations are handled with no issues, arrests are made with minimal distress. But sometimes, situations go haywire and force is required to fix the problem. Sometimes, it's deadly force. And always, there is a great hue and cry from the people that something else should have been done.

The police should have "talked" to the suspect more. "He only had a knife, why did they shoot him/her?" "He was just a kid" ( a 16yr old, 200lb kid).

Use pepper spray. Use your Tazer. No, don't use pepper spray, don't use your Tazer.

Damn, people, what do you want?

An article on delawareonline.com shows how difficult stopping a suspect can be.
A 35yr old man beat his girlfriend, breaking her nose and leaving her with a concussion. At a later traffic stop the suspect, who was naked, attacked the officer who stopped him. In the ensuing struggle, the suspect struck the officer with his fists, took the policeman's radio and beat him with it. In defense the officer used pepper spray to no effect. He drew his weapon and shot the suspect in the shoulder, still no effect. He drew his Tazer, tazed the suspect, STILL no effect. The suspect continued his attack. Another officer arrived, tazed the suspect again. No effect. A third officer arrived, again tazed the suspect, who finally gave in to the effects of three Tazers and was arrested.

Now I know there will be readers who say that this is an anomaly. This isn't the norm. And you're right. Most suspects don't require the amount of force used in this instance to realize it's time to give up.

But my point is each time an officer stops someone, each time they respond to a call, they have no idea what to expect. It could be the cat in the tree or a deranged person who refuses to stop fighting.

Stop second-guessing.

The police put their ass on the line for you.

Get the facts, then decide.