In the face of a storm of criticism of law enforcement, I beg to differ. Cops as a rule are conscientious public servants, polite, brave, skilled, good people. There are however a few things we could do to make things better.
1. Forbid no-knock raids. Bust down someone's door at 0'dark thirty, and they will shoot to kill, every time. Most of the time the cops shoot the victim, occasionally the victim manages to shoot a cop and gets himself put on trial for murder. The original excuse for no-knock raids was to prevent drug dealers from flushing the drugs down the toilet to prevent them from being used as evidence against them. That is not a strong enough reason to justify starting a gun fight where someone gets killed just about every time.
2. Look for more non-lethal weapons. Tazers seem to have worked out. Tear gas works. Flash bang grenades are used. There are probably other things out there. We ought to find them and make them available to cops on the street. It's worth spending money on equipment that saves lives.
3. Repeal as many non essential laws as we can. Eric Garner was killed during his arrest for selling single cigarettes on the street. Far as I am concerned American citizens have a right to sell anything they like. Garner died because the police were enforcing a law that should not have been on the books. There has got to be more laws like that which we could repeal.
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