Try this experiment:
At a normal pace, say, “Sir, I’m officer Mosher, and I’d like to speak to you for a minute or two? Is that OK?”
That takes me about 4.5-5 seconds. It took the LVPD 6 seconds to go from not seeing Scott (which also means he wasn’t acting in a threatening manner) to opening fire. 7 seconds from not knowing which person was the accused wacko, to the last shot impacting Scott’s body.
“Sir, I’m officer Mosher, and I’d like to speak to you for a minute or two? Is that OK?” - 5 seconds.
What would have happened if the LVPD had spent 5 seconds being polite? If they had spent 5 seconds acting as though Scott MIGHT be an innocent man?
Add “Can we talk?” to the above phrase, and you have the time it took the LVPD to go from not knowing which person leaving Costco was their suspect, to pulling the trigger 7 times.
If you want to do an experiment then join Las Vegas Metro. Every time you get a call that someone is armed, threatening, under the influence of drugs, and reaches for his gun when you first approach him, do your politeness routine. Let us know how it goes.