When it comes to cops killing innocent civilians, most people seem to be in favor of better cop training so this sort of thing doesn't continue to happen. The problem with this plan is implementation of such training could take a couple decades before it actually has a concrete effect. Even then, these events are still likely to happen, just at a lesser rate.
In my opinion, there is only 1 solution that will help reduce the rate of these events immediately; taking real guns away from lesser trained cops.
I would say in at least 95% of cases (in reality its probably more like 99%) a cop does not actually need a deadly firearm to take care of a random situation. In such cases, having access to a Taser, Bear Mace and plastic bullets would be plenty of weaponry to keep the cop safe. All we have to do is take the real bullets away from the cop and replace them with plastic rounds.
Now what about the other 5%? What if the cop is faced with a truly lethal situation that requires he kill an offender? That is where we set a requirement on training and experience before issuing real firearms. You can pair a 15 year veteran cop with a 1 year recruit. The recruit has plastic bullets and the 15 year vet is issued a real gun, but only if he proves himself as trustworthy enough.
How will cops react to such a change? Probably aggressively. They will no doubt feel demeaned or emasculated if such a change were implemented, but you'd have to get over it. Saving lives is far more important than any person's ego.
In my opinion, there is only 1 solution that will help reduce the rate of these events immediately; taking real guns away from lesser trained cops.
I would say in at least 95% of cases (in reality its probably more like 99%) a cop does not actually need a deadly firearm to take care of a random situation. In such cases, having access to a Taser, Bear Mace and plastic bullets would be plenty of weaponry to keep the cop safe. All we have to do is take the real bullets away from the cop and replace them with plastic rounds.
Now what about the other 5%? What if the cop is faced with a truly lethal situation that requires he kill an offender? That is where we set a requirement on training and experience before issuing real firearms. You can pair a 15 year veteran cop with a 1 year recruit. The recruit has plastic bullets and the 15 year vet is issued a real gun, but only if he proves himself as trustworthy enough.
How will cops react to such a change? Probably aggressively. They will no doubt feel demeaned or emasculated if such a change were implemented, but you'd have to get over it. Saving lives is far more important than any person's ego.
