01-23-2011, 09:17 PM
Since change isn't possible in that regard, perhaps we could move the discussion on to something related which is possible? You'll stop me I'm sure if it's too far off-topic.
Should police officers be armed?
They are in many countries but not mine, though it is being called for increasingly often following several shootings of officers over the past couple of years. I expect it will happen fairly soon but I think it's a bad move which will actually result in MORE police (and members of the public) being shot and killed. I think criminals are more likely to use weapons (as opposed to merely threatening with them) when they know that the police confronting them are armed.
I also think that arming police will harden police attitudes to the public. In the same way that drivers are more aggressive than pedestrians because they're encased in a steel shell, someone walking around with instant death on their hip cannot help but feel safer in behaving aggressively than someone with a "mere" uniform.
And that such a change in attitude will in turn harden the public's attitude to the police.
It's a vicious spiral and a downward one.
Should police officers be armed?
They are in many countries but not mine, though it is being called for increasingly often following several shootings of officers over the past couple of years. I expect it will happen fairly soon but I think it's a bad move which will actually result in MORE police (and members of the public) being shot and killed. I think criminals are more likely to use weapons (as opposed to merely threatening with them) when they know that the police confronting them are armed.
I also think that arming police will harden police attitudes to the public. In the same way that drivers are more aggressive than pedestrians because they're encased in a steel shell, someone walking around with instant death on their hip cannot help but feel safer in behaving aggressively than someone with a "mere" uniform.
And that such a change in attitude will in turn harden the public's attitude to the police.
It's a vicious spiral and a downward one.
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."