They couldn't shoot out the tires? Did this have to end with a woman's death infront of a child.

[Savannahmann]

143. I'm going to answer your querstion honestly.

I'm going to tell you the truth, and many here will like my answer less than your question. The truth is that the focus of the police has changed, from protecting the public to protecting themselves and other cops first.

The focus of the police used to be to protect and serve the public, this was a long time ago. Thirty years ago, the police had to see a reason to shoot, in other words. They had to see a gun, and most departments had rules about shooting back, instead of shooting first. That led to the prevalence of bad cops, of which all are, dropping guns on suspects. Many of us are old enough to remember the cops who shot children holding toy guns. They saw a gun in that instance, they saw a gun and even I who am no fan of law enforcement would agree in that instance, the shooting was justified. Because in that officers place, I would believe that my life was in danger and I had to shoot.

Then the paradigm shifted. It went from protecting the public, to the first rule of law enforcement being going home at the end of the shift. So we started to see shootings where people holding wallets were shot down, because the cop saw something in his hand, and assumed it was a gun. We accepted that, because we had accepted the shootings of children with toy guns. Then it was a motion, they were reaching inside their jacket, purse, bag, car, pocket. They might have a gun, and we couldn't risk it.

Now, it's shoot first, and then swear up and down that the individual was crazy. Think about it, the shooting happened at what, three or so? Before an hour had gone by, the first results of the investigation were that the suspect was a lunatic. She was just crazy.

That goes back to the Old Yeller school of thought. We might not like it, but we do have to put down a mad dog mentality. So the police are like that boy, bravely doing something they don't want to, doing the manly/adult/responsible thing and putting the mad dog down.

The truth is that the Police have long abused our support. Even when we catch them in egregious wrongdoing, we are told to try and understand that they have a difficult dangerous job. The truth is that we the citizens are in far more danger from the police, than they are from us. Reckless and irresponsible is what I would categorize most police activity as. Yes, I put my money where my mouth is by donating to the ACLU.

Statistically speaking Police are more likely to die from auto related incidents than they are any other cause. But we still see them driving about without a seatbelt, on the remote chance they might have to get out of the car quickly. So we taxpayers are stuck paying for their survivor benefits, or huge medical costs, because they won't wear a seatbelt. Then they point out that so many cops died last year, we have to understand that they must take action. So we don't look at the numbers, we nod our heads and agree. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt even while they aren't giving anyone else the same consideration.

So it's shoot first and swear they were crazy later. They could have taken her into custody. They had her surrounded. They had her contained. There was no threat to the populace, but the adrenaline junkies that wear badges now have to unleash that fury onto whomever has so disrespected them by failing to bow and scrape.