The reality is that in today’s world ANY unarmed person shot for ANY reason is going to be a very bad thing for cop, force and the community.
The world and the rules have changed, those who can’t deal with it should get behind a desk. I sympathize with the men and women who have to make a decision such as that, but this is 2016, and EVERY police shooting is going to be second guessed by any and every citizen who wants to do so, and if the person is found to not have a genuine weapon (and no one not on FR gives a rat’s patootie how much a BB gun or airsoft pistol looks like a real gun) their career is effectively over. An officer who can’t handle that should investigate other careers; I know *I* couldn’t do their job.
I couldn’t either.
I will add this. Having lived through the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, I know what a community looks like when the police are pulled back, and things are allowed to progress.
What could have been stopped before it even started, was allowed to expand out over a wide area.
Shameful.
I don’t want to see this everywhere.