“What should be happening, instead of using cops, is that every police department should have, depending on the size of their territory and the people that station deals with, social workers whose sole job is to do welfare checks. I’d rather pay a person whose sole job is to do welfare checks at night then send a cop.”
That’s all true.
However, all these cops had to do was knock or announce themselves at the door and everyone would still be alive.
I’m not saying police work is easy, it is a damn hard and stressful job, but damn, they can’t go blasting the heads off of innocent citizens who are minding their own business in the security of their own home.
Not only does it lead to someone being dead, but it breaks down the trust we have with the police.
Unfortunately a cop’s training does not allow him to deal with people humanely. The training we give them that gives the confidence to deal with a 300lb mook that he has to handle alone does not give him the tools to handle an otherwise harmless person who is mentally not all there.
If we try to change that, we will end up with ineffective cops when we need them to be the most confident and willing to take the most damage to protect society.
When we try to make somebody everything, we end up making them nothing.