It was a single, pivotal event in our national psyche. It’s like the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand: the violence you see in the Balkans is a continuation of that event, from a broad historical perspective.

I think you’re right, sadly. I said it in another comment, and it’s a reference to something I learned through my ever-so-useful history degree, but it will take at least three to four generations worth of people to move past a historical situation to the point they can look at it with something close to objective…

That’s an absurd attitude to take. Essentially, you are saying that I, personally, am responsible for failing to go and dime out bad police officers everywhere. Was I supposed to drive to Louisiana and let them know an officer I had never heard of until a few days ago was going to threaten a Representative?

A privileged white man, who used language described by the EEOC as ‘discriminatory,’ has called a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural group of women ‘racist.’

It’s funny that you mention the ‘thin blue line,’ because I just had a conversation with an older (and conservative) co-worker who was talking about how destructive that was. He was referencing the fact that police agencies are deliberately obstructive and obtuse in allowing people to see what’s happening, or how they…

Thank you for that. There are officers out there who believe in what they do, and it’s unfortunate that this is where we are now.

I actually like this one, and I’ve brought it up before in water cooler discussions. It’s also something, I think, that a lot more tactics instructors are interested in (ironically). I remember at one firearms training event, I had desecalated a scenario consistently, except for one slip where I allowed the instructor…

I’ll reply to this comment, since it’s essentially the same as the first one.

One of those things has happened (frankly, he should be charged: utterance of threats is classified as assault). It’s unlikely the PBA will be eliminated, but I don’t know if that is the right answer, either. I am strongly in favor of labor unions, and our own union has protected our rights in situations where we were…

That’s a rather awkward comparison, as you are talking about riot response in an authoritarian country versus policing in a federal democratic republic. I don’t know what you mean by ‘a lot more people want me dead than the bad cops,’ but I’m not going to spend a lot of time trying to suss it out.

I was referencing German agencies specifically in seeing their training techniques, as a lot of modern firearms training comes this day comes out of a select few places (like Israel). Germany is one of those places.

Starring for the first part of your statement, which I actually agree with. I still have issues with the second part, but that’s because I work in an area where I’m a lot more concerned about the propertied whites than anyone else. They are the heavily armed ones who are always angry that I should DARE question them…

The NRA is no longer a representative body for gun owners and safe, responsible firearm ownership: it is a lobby for manufacturers, and a shill for extremist right-wing rhetoric.

Exactly. And so many of our tools these days are straight out of the military’s arsenal, the solutions are becoming limited.

We utilize something similar called the Use of Force continuum. Being both a Soldier in the Guard and a LEO, I’m able to compare the two. The one thing the Use of Force continuum has over ROE is that it’s very flexible, and that’s a benefit for both officers and civilians. It allows an officer a wide range of…

I appreciate that! Ironically, that’s what I was once training to be!

I don’t even carry a Taser anymore. My biggest fear is I will tase someone, and they’ll fall and crack their skull on a rock. The idea behind me using a Taser is to decrease the chances of someone being injured. If I’m using it, I clearly don’t want to hurt who I’m engaging with.

I probably phrased it wrong, and for that I apologize: enforcing the law and protecting the public is the primary reason a police officer does (or should) go to work in the morning. It does have that massive qualifier under it of ‘get home at the end of the shift.’ It’s meant to be an adage that encourages police…

You have my sympathy. Between run-of-the-mill healthcare workers, teachers, and a slew of other public service positions, you all are getting the runaround that you do not deserve at all. You guys keep society running.

That’s a nonsensical argument, though: you are saying that the police are terrible people, and we shouldn’t deal with them until they clean themselves up. How are terrible people supposed to clean themselves up?