Originally Posted by
CB4
The other thing I hear a lot is something like, "it's a dangerous job with dangerous and potentially dangerous people so if I am in severe physical danger I am justified using lethal defense as an officer."
Ok. Let's break down the Atlanta shooting.
Option One: commence pursuit of man with taser, lethally shoot him, commit a homicide, get charged with a crime, lose job, be cast as a racist, jeopardize financial livlihood for wife and family.
Option 2: Call for backup. Pursue criminal at safe distance to monitor location. Write report. Go to work the next day. Keep pension. Wife won't divorce me.
This is where people will say "well under option 2 the DUI suspect could have taken hostages, threatened other lives." Setting aside that this was a drunk person who by all accounts was in good spirits (watch the video) and assuming those risks are real as presented, we have 2 more outcomes, which do y'all prefer:
A: Shoot the DUI suspect who is running away
B: Call for backup and risk that suspect takes hostages or commits other crimes.
A is the preferred choice. The cop would still have his job and his pension he would have been safer and more likely to return home to his family given that he is not pursuing a criminal at close distance. The suspect would be alive, this wouldn't be another issue for police. The Atlanta police chief wouldn't have resigned.
So if this is such a bad outcome for everyone, why does it occur in the USA when it doesn't in other countries at the same egregious rate. That's the question that needs to be answered. People have given the answers to this question but are responded to with generalized disagreement.