As soon as you can ensure that the citizenry doesn’t have guns, that idea might have merit. But the U.S. isn’t Britain, Ireland, Norway, Iceland or New Zealand, and police here are very likely to encounter suspects carrying firearms. I suggest you go first in dealing with them while you’re unarmed, and we can see how that works out.
I have a question. Do we actually have any evidence that he even brandished a gun at the dude who called in the 911 report? We just seem to have one person’s word for it. So now this dude has been convicted, tried, and executed all on one person’s say-so. I will remember that if I ever want to murder someone…just call the cops and say “he threatened me with a gun!”
…well no: I answered the question you asked. This is a new, different question. And as Machine-Elf is the expert on “maintaining control of the encounter” I would recommend you direct the question to him/her.
Are you suggesting that the guy who called 911 just happened to guess that this convicted felon had a gun on him?
If Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and now Alton Sterling had complied with police instructions and not struggled with the officers they’d very likely be alive today. With all the publicity about police killing black men, why would a black man resist and fight back against a policeman? What on earth would he hope to gain other than his own demise?
That is not what I asked and you know it so don’t you misconstrue my words and then act pretty. I asked if we had any proof that he brandished a gun. Having a gun and brandishing it are two different things.
It is easy to see when someone has a gun, you don’t even need to have them show it to you.
Would any of those reasonable ideas involve activists and others cease inflaming black people against the police in the hopes that it would lead to less violent resistance and fewer dead people?
I know a lot of people claim that black parents give their kids “the Talk”, but if that’s true it seems to have been remarkably ineffective in virtually all these cases of police shootings.
One out of every three Icelanders owns a gun.
…by all accounts so far Philando Castile complied completely with police instructions. And he is still dead. Complying with police instructions does not seem to be a requirement for not being killed by the police.
From conversations I’ve had with black people, it’s pure, unadulterated, terror – the instinctual gut fear that they are about to be killed and must therefore fight for their life, tooth and nail.
By which accounts?
By the link upthread, he informed the cop that he had a gun and then reached into his pocket to get his wallet. “An officer in the video can be heard saying, “I told him not to reach for it. I told him to get his hand out.””
It’s still apples and oranges. Having a long gun stored at home isn’t the same as having a handgun in your pocket. Iceland has virtually no firearm violence, and unarmed police make sense. The U.S. is quite a situation, and sending police out without guns has got to be one of the stupidest ideas I’ve heard all year – and that’s saying something.
…that officer who’s voice sounded like he was going to cry?
You are correct: the cop who sounded distressed, upset, not calm and highly emotional gave an account that was immediately disputed by a woman who was calm, not emotional, and who called the policeman “sir” at least four times. You are welcome to believe the words of that emotional wreck if you choose too. I suggest if you haven’t already that you watch the video and not rely on the transcript.
…and here are the rules they follow to do so. I dare say proposing these same regulations in the U.S. would give the NRA a right royal hissy fit.
That is sad. While it seems like an emotional rather than an intellectual reaction, I can’t say it’s irrational. My heart beat faster when pulled over by a cop and all I was expecting was a ticket.
Unfortunately, it appears that sometimes it becomes like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You’re welcome to believe what you want. What you’re not welcome to do is to claim that something happened “by all accounts”, when the only account cited here contradicts that.
Argh! That was supposed to be “The U.S. is quite a different situation…”
I’m curious. What do you imagine the answer is? If, as you say, failing to comply is a death sentence for black men, why do you think they resist?
Your idea that black people distrust the police as a result of the work of activists is wildly out of touch. But even if it were correct, I generally think it is a bad idea to try to solve problems by suppressing the truth. Beyond the principles involved, it generally doesn’t work.
…calm yourself dude. I’ve already withdrawn that claim.
And there were two accounts cited. But I suppose the “black women” doesn’t count.
So it’s okay to struggle, if you’re white?