The problem of police easily resorting to deadly force should be approached systemically. [View all]

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

There are no doubt multiple factors, but some of the key ones are probably:

1. All the police are carrying firearms when the majority of law enforcement activities may not require this
2. Training and doctrine leading too readily to the use of the power of arrest and physical restraining and subduing citizens when less "escalatory" means might well suffice and not incur the risk of a physical confrontation
3. In many instances the police shooter may not have much or any empathy with the citizen, particularly if they view the population being policed as a hostile occupied territory or if racism is at play, i.e. they simply don't care about or value the citizen's life and are therefore more cavalier about snuffing it out
4. The police may, in general, feel that they are almost certain to get away with a "bad shoot" because they and their partners will be the only surviving witness and their account will have the benefit of the doubt over any other civilian witness in the absence of other objective evidence. This makes them less reluctant to use deadly force.

Some of these factors, like racism, are deeply endemic in our society and very difficult to eradicate. However causes like 1, 2 and 4 can be readily addressed either by policy or technology, e.g. only a subset of police units are equipped with firearms and called upon in specific circumstances, change policy to severely narrow the circumstances in which physical restraint and arrest are used (eliminating Eric Garner type confrontations), and equip all police with bodycams recording every interaction with civilians with severe penalties for the equipment being nonoperational or disabled.

It may take a generation or more to successfully address issues like racism or the class and warfare of populations like Ferguson's being treated like an occupied territory (and being fleeced for revenue to boot). But by tackling some of the systemic issues that can be directly and immediately addressed we should hopefully significantly reduce the incidence of this type of killing in a relatively short time.