I haven't posted here in a long time...usually don't get sucked into the darkside. These types of threads do it though, if for no other reason that sometimes I can offer a cop perspective. Keeping in mind it is only mine and I don't necessarily represent....

I appreciate all of your thoughts on the subject. It is a very emotional topic and it should be.

There are cops that I have run into over the years in other jurisdictions and in my own agency that I could easily see would act with poor judgment. Like has been said before, they hopefully won't last in the career before that catches up to them. The best screening process in the world cannot eliminate all of that. Most cops I work with are very brave, honorable people and try to do the best job they can at all times.

Anyone who becomes a cop for the glory or attention is a fool. Most of the time it's the wrong kind and the best things you do for people are not noticed. You can only try to be fair and remember that you are just as special as everyone else in the world. If you are going to last in the job, you better get a thick skin.

I hate bullies with a badge. It's weak to use your position just to excersise power over people. Pretty soon those same azzholes start thinking they are better than everyone else.

Sometimes it's hard not to judge when you see the f'd up things people do to each other and to themselves. You have to careful not to paint everyone with that giant brush. Most people are OK or even better. Sometimes they may want to kill you. Sometimes you might have to kill to protect yourself or others.

That video of the cop getting killed only serves to point out that we are prone to use deadly force as a last resort to our detriment at times. We know that it is such a nightmare to go through a shooting review if it is questionable, you can hesitate at the wrong times. I never want to kill anyone and have managed to avoid it for 29 years. Sometimes just barely. If I have to for the right reasons, I don't plan on losing sleep over it. That's just emotional survival.

Honestly, some agencies don't support their people in those cases and ANY use of force is subject to an internal. That by itself can create a fatal hesitation. If you have selected and trained the right people and have properly supervised them, you should be able to trust them. People are people and they are not robots. You have a huge agency like Seattle PD and you can have a control issue. That's why there is supposed to be checks and balances.

I wasn't there and I don't know what the mind set of that officer was. I am glad he resigned. My personal opinion is that he was too eager to use force without looking at any other alternative. I hope he questions that decision for the rest of his life. He has to live with it now. I hope it makes him a better person for it, but if it turns him into a drunken "wood carver" , he will understand that people sometimes don't choose to be what they become.