The kid’s actions weren’t one of defiance, but momentarily confused.
* * *
The kid wasn’t an angel (the autopsy revealed he had THC in his system) but he didn’t seem to be a gangbanger either. The sidewalk where he was shot was right beside an open field where local kids used to play “cops and robbers” and variants on that all the time. The gun was borrowed from a friend. (I don’t know if his parents knew he had it or not.)
I just look at this as, what if this happened to me? I’m a middle aged woman, but what if I was walking along with say, a stick of wood or something that looked like a gun, and Officer Jumpy yelled at me from behind? Especially if I didn’t hear that single chirp of the siren, if all I heard was people yelling in an excited way behind me, I would probably turn around to see what the fuss was about also. And then I guess I’d be dead.
We need to de-militarize our police. In most instances, it’s not necessary. When officers want to be heros all the time — the wrong kind of heroes — it leads to unnecessary and tragic results.
I agree with you. Cops are being trained as if our cities and towns are war zones and civilians are the enemies.