police hysteria?

The New York Times
Wisconsin Reels after Police Shooting and Night of Protest


SLATE Reader Comments

--------------- I'd like to see cops be required to carry liability insurance, paid for out of their own pocket.  That way they can be sued six ways to Sunday when something like this happens, and taxpayers won't be on the hook.  Eventually they won't be able to get insurance anymore, and then bye bye shooty cop.


----------- Cops must be getting trained to shoot first and ask questions later.  It's the simplest explanation that makes sense as to why every one of these cops aren't immediately fired, charged and thrown in jail.


--------------- Are there any good cops?  Rhetorical question - the answer is no.  It's a toxic culture and to oppose it from within is to put your life at risk.  Even the "good cops" tolerate cops that murder citizens.

----------- Folks, you should know, even if you're white, you're still a potential perp, a skell, a bad guy, to the police in this country.

The police are taught to see every civilian as somebody who is only a second away from drawing a gun and shooting them down.

In their eyes, they're justified in shooting each and every one of us down, even if we prove wholly innocent, simply because they feel threatened.


---------- One can only assume that we recruit from a pool of people who make the Cowardly Lion look like John Wayne.  

If I were in body armor and had three different "less lethal" tools AND a gun hanging from my belt, I wouldn't be peeing my pants in terror every few minutes like these fine gentlemen.


------------ My van was hit by a car in a parking lot last year, and one of the responding officers just about had a conniption fit about the middle-aged lady driver walking over to us from behind his back.  

The hypervigilance is real and, while I didn't say anything at the time, he clearly shouldn't have been out interacting with the public until he'd had some therapy.

------------------ The thing that truly smacks my gob about all this is just how often these blatant issues continue to happen right now.  Do they not freaking know what's going on in the country after every one of these incidents?  

Shoot, even the damn criminals know to lay low right after something major has gone down, because everyone is on high alert.

     How do they not go into every situation like this thinking, "I really need to avoid shooting people unnecessarily right now"


-------------- Because it'll take a generation of cops to undo the training these knuckleheads receive.


-------------------- It's all part of that warrior cop training (lucrative work for Dave Grossman).  The fear is pounded into their brains in training.
     Between the War on Drugs, Gulf War, COPS (the TV show), and the constant wars after that... We have a toxic mix in this country.


---------------- Yes.  Let's focus the conversation on what the real problem is here.  It's guns.  It's too many freaking guns.  In the hands of too many stupid people.

------------ Dumb gun laws, dumb drug laws, and pathetic social services.


------------- I think the "real problem" is lack of police accountability.
     They do whatever they feel like doing because they'll never be held responsible for their actions.


------------ Sort-of-on-topic:  when recording, please hold your phone sideways.  It captures much more of the scene.

------------ Everyone needs to know this.  Vertical videos are so annoying.

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