Some people are incapable of making critical life and death decisions on the fly. This officer is clearly one of those people. I have pulled people from duties based on how they reacted in high stress training and disqualified others who failed on the job. I have been through training where failure to qualify (shooting the hostage, failure to shoot the threat, failure in firefighting situations, etc) meant you failed to qualify, period. If the Navy can do this, then LEO can too. Shooting at a Pomeranian with people in the line of fire should disqualify a person from carrying a badge and a gun, but proper screening and training would have identified his incompetence from the beginning.
> Some people are incapable of making critical life and death decisions on the fly. <
True that. I also wonder how much of the problem stems from some sick psychological need to use a gun. As in, “I’ve got a gun. I train over and over to use that gun. So by golly, if I can use my gun, I will.”
Don’t get me wrong. America needs their police. But it’s a two-way street. We need to support the police. And the police need to behave in a professional manner, always.
The word “always” is the key there. 95% isn’t good enough. It has to be always. Anything less, and the police will lose the support of the people.
It’s just like with an airlines pilot. A careless crash into a mountain won’t do. Any careless crashes won’t do. Professional behavior, always.