Cops are human,too

I applaud the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Hunter Field and Amanda Curcio for their Sunday article “Deadly-force data lacking” and would like to add a few quick observations regarding police shootings.

One, the certainty of the use of deadly force when required by police must remain uppermost in the minds of every citizen, criminal or not. If the public starts seeing namby-pamby police response to crime, crime will only increase. Two, we shouldn’t even consider hiring police personnel who don’t have, or can’t be trained in, the mindset to use deadly force when they believe their lives or the lives of innocent people are threatened. Three, the reaction time an officer needs to protect life often isn’t long enough to make a perfect decision, and never will be. Officers are human, every situation is different, and we shouldn’t ask them to do a job that can’t ever be done perfectly every time then hold them accountable for honest mistakes.

I think the percentage of police officers who are actually looking to shoot someone for no good or not good enough reason is pretty small. Surely the aggravation of all the paperwork, public scrutiny, court appearances, potential job loss and the slight chance of indictment has a calming affect on at least some of those few who really do like mayhem and cordite. But I know that the chances of there not being any cops who are looking for an excuse to shoot someone are also pretty small. And I know the recent heightened reporting of policemen being murdered has increased that number. That being the case, my best response is to assume I’ve got an officer who has had a friend killed and who’s decided he’s not going to let that happen to him. Therefore, I’m going to be respectful with no attitude, hidden hands or sudden moves. Cops are human and there is no law or study that will change that. DAVID PACE Searcy