Police officers: should we arm them more or arm them less?

Question

• With so many instances of police brutality and terrorism, should we arm our officers more to combat domestic terrorism or maybe even arm them less to reduce the amount of fatal encounters between officers and civilians? Thoughts/suggestions?
••••••
- As of right now there has been 544 terrorist attacks around the world. These attacks have resulted in a total of 3,704 fatalities. Source: Storymaps.esri
On the flip side:
- As of right now 411 civilians have been shot and killed by police officers in the U.S. Mental illness played a role in 1 out of 5 of these shootings. Source: Washington post

Answer

I don't think arming them more or less would change anything. I think they need better racial sensitivity training. I think we need better ways to identify danger than "black = suspicious" "low income = suspicious" etc.

Answer

I'm sorry but there are instances where police NEED their guns...

Police brutality will happen with or without more tools... and more police will die without that.

You have to remember police are HUMAN.

There are good and bad humans.

Meaning there's good and bad police.

You can't blame police officers as a whole. You can only blame them as a human.

Answer

Less and they need body cams. So sick of these officers being put on a pedestal. They are public servants we PAY THEM.

Answer

Don't arm them less, just train them better and actually punish them when they f*ck up as badly as they do in America. Hold them to the same standards as civilians who Murder people.

Answer

They don't need better armor or weapons. They need better training. Extensive training. Too many cops out there who are rookies making mistakes because tensions are high.

Answer

In support of all the good officers out there, which is the majority, I think arming them more would be fine. At the same time I'm not sure how you'd arm an officer further when they carry a gun, tazer, baton, pepper spray, etc. I think better situational training and education would go far, especially when dealing with mentally ill. I also think that all officers should have body cams. It would help keep them safe and us safe, as well as making sure no parts of an incident can be falsified by either party.

Answer

I think it depends on what "arming" them consists of. It sounds like many don't have tasers or sprays for more mild situations, so I would start there. Also, I believe bulletproof vests for all (and always wear them in specific situations) would cut down on their fear and lead to less shootings. As for guns, I think one for each is fine. They may also benefit from having specific items for night shifts like better flashlights.

Answer

They could be armed more, armed less, armed the same. The problem is deeper rooted in how they are trained and handle their weapon. There is absolutely no reason though for them to have military weapons though, sometimes less is more with weapons. I think we need to completely reavaluate the system itself, one thing we could do is require that police officers take some psychology or sociology courses to help them understand human behavior and their own self control better. Also there needs to be more effort to end the racism embedded in the system as well.

Answer

Less. I live in Minneapolis, and there was a black lives matter protest in the Mall Of America. 
Now, technically we(the protesters) were breaking the law. The MOA is private property. But the police showed up to break up the protest in RIOT GEAR 
There were NO reports of injury or damage to property..so why the extra weaponry? And neither police nor protesters resorted to force or violence, so it was completely unnecessary. 
It just fosters more hostility between the community and the police officers. And that's something we can all agree is a bad thing.

Answer

till all the police brutality goes down (im honestly scared to walk by myself half the time past a cop since with my hair and body i look like a teenage black boy and i might get shot just for existing) we shouldnt give them more to kill us with!!!

Police officers: should we arm them more or arm them less?

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