laughing dog
Contributor
So, the police officers did not act appropriately if they "probably got too close". And whether there was a delay in following the command and whether the gun was pointed in their direction and whether self-preservation action was necessary is yet to be determined.Of course that question will be asked, and when the answer comes, it will not be good enough for most people one way or the other. The situation as we now know it, is very different from the situation the police were called to...
They had reports of a man with a gun at walmart.
They did not know the calibre of the gun.
They did not know if the gun was loaded.
They did not know if he had more than one gun.
They did not know if there was more than one person with guns.
They did not know if the man was bat-shit crazy, a wanted felon, a robber, or a shopper walking around with a pellet gun.
Their training tells them to safety gain control of the situation. This should be done from a safe distance. Walking up to an unkown and asking to see the gun, might be the last thing they ever would do. But because of the isles and other shoppers they problaly got too close. Things happpen pretty fast, and if there is a delay in following the command to drop the gun, then self-preservation is allowed.
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Certainly, anyone who laughed at you for that comment should become a police officer.If that's your number one rule, you should probably just find a safer job.
What if we talked about other high-risk professions that way. What if a firefighter's number one priority was to make sure he goes home to his family? Look for people in a burning apartment building? Nope.
Except this is worse, because a firefighter who refuses to place himself in danger merely fails to save the lives of people who were already threatened. A cop who refuses to place himself in danger kills people while they're out shopping because they look scary.
A long time ago I posted in a thread my opinion that a police officer should be willing to take the risk of being shot at before taking the life of innocent person. I was laughed out of the thread and told that nobody would become a police officer if that were the case.