Why Did You Shoot Me, Sir ???

[Kablooie]

50. Thanks for your comments.

The impression I get from the news is that there are more cases than in the past where an innocent black person is killed because of police error.

I wonder if the frequency is the same as in the past but we just hear more about them because of the internet and the prevalence of cameras or if there has been a change in police training and mental attitude in certain areas of the country that encourages more use of lethal force towards the African American public.

There have always been mistakes where deaf or mentally challenged people don't respond properly and were shot as a result and use of excessive force has long been and issue, as the Rodney King situation illustrated. But the recent wave of shootings of innocent black citizens seems to be something new, at least to me.

You mentioned that in many of your conflicts you felt that it could be handled without using your gun. I wonder if your choices stemmed from your training but training today encourages more reliance on firearms than in the past?

In the attack you mentioned it is a shame that the political atmosphere led you to restrict your defensive methods. I'm glad it worked out alright but it sounds scary. These current shootings could cause the same kind of thing. If too many police shoot innocent people there could be a backlash which could once again restrict police excessively.

I know policing is a very inexact science and when ambiguous situations have to be judged quickly mistakes will occasionally occur. It just seems that a quick decision to shoot, particularly if the suspect is black, seems more common than it did in the past.

Non lethal techniques such as TASERS are definitely a positive move. Incapacitating a suspect without killing him is clearly the preferable method if it is available.

BTW: The new guns that have sensors that only allow a specific person to shoot them sounds like a great idea for police. That should help a lot in the situations where the gun is grabbed away because they won't shoot when they aren't in the original cop's hand.