Should police expect a certain level of threat to their own life?

[Sacred Jellybean]

These are thoughts I've been having. I don't really doubt myself too much, but I always have to consider that I might be dead wrong, especially when I am saying something like "you have to be willing to take direct and immediate risk to your own life in a job like your's". I better be damned sure I've got a solid moral argument before I say something like that.

Fair point, but anyone we grant to use deadly force must be scrutinized. I don't think cops should not carry guns, but body cameras seem like a good idea. What if we exact a harsh punishment for not wearing one, especially if the cop has used deadly force? There are reforms we could put in place, and hopefully we'll begin seeing them.

Your suggestion of having police do a few more "on foot" beats to get better acquainted with the neighborhoods they are sworn to protect? A good one, but times have changes quite a bit, and it's a bit harder, logistically, to do such a thing. Downtown areas and big cities? This is probably easier, actually. An area like Tulsa? People are so far apart here now, over such a large area, that neighbors who've lived by each other for years don't even know each other.

True, I'm mostly imagining big cities in this case. Don't most of these shootings seem to occur in urban areas? You've got your suburban school shootings of course, but I'm more concerned with high crime areas where the officer may be tense and have an itchy finger. I wish I knew a cop personally to get that perspective. I have a friend who has a brother. I'd love to pick his brain, though these are politically loaded times, it's difficult for any of us to keep a cool head, least of all someone directly impacted.

I can't imagine small, homogenized towns having the same sorts of problems. My suggestion may sound prescriptive, but I just meant it as a spring board, certainly not a solution for every district across the country. There's also no telling how to monitor or enforce a cop getting "better acquainted" with high crime areas. A door-to-door introduction? Lawhovas witnesses? Like I said, the idea is vague, but there might be more to unpack there.

Better training is the key, the specifics are difficult.