# Police prioritizing their own personal safety over that of the public **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 16, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900 "2026-10-16T20:24:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/61 "2026-10-17T18:55:17Z")
> [@robby](#): > > If someone threatens me, or even goes so far as to point a gun at me, and I immediately pull out my own gun and empty the magazine into them, I am certain to be arrested and tried for murder. And a jury will then decide if I was justified in responding with deadly force or not. I don’t think that’s certain at all. If you shoot someone who was pointing a gun at you, barring some extenuating circumstances on the side of the person you shot, I’d expect you not to be charged. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/62 "2026-10-17T19:07:32Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I’d expect you not to be charged. I think that depends heavily on where you live. In New Jersey you can at least expect to spend the night or a few days in jail no matter the circumstances. And most gun owners know that. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/63 "2026-10-17T19:29:02Z")
Not to mention the fact that a proportionate use of force is typically enforced much more strictly with civilians than it is with police. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/64 "2026-10-17T19:31:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If they did that, they for the most part would be bored shitless, and/or they wouldn’t get the true gist of what goes on because the police would be in “performance mode”. The police are nowhere near the top of the list when it comes to dangerous work, btw. Have you ever gone? Like I said, I went twice and once very early , No “performance mode”. Yes, if there was a dangerous firefight, the ridealong would not go there. Those are very very rare. Police are the 14th most dangerous job in America. And in very few of those _is the worker getting murdered_. Being as there are thousands of different occupations, that does make being a Police officer quite dangerous- > **[Fleet Management Software](https://www.teletracnavman.com/fleet-management-software/telematics/resources/most-dangerous-jobs-infographic)** > > TN360 is the fleet management software that keeps you connected with your people, vehicles and assets. Its flexible solutions are designed to digitize fleet management and keep your business moving smoothly. > **[See All Occupations](https://www.onetonline.org/find/all)** > > O\*NET OnLine provides detailed descriptions of the world-of-work for use by job seekers, workforce development and HR professionals, students, developers, researchers, and more. Individuals can find, search, or browse across 900+ occupations based on... > [@Chronos](#): > > Why not, if insisting they let the perp take the first shot will decrease the number of innocent people killed? Because it would massively increase the number of Police officers getting killed- _and_ innocent bystanders getting killed.. And the number of people getting killed by police is mostly criminals, not innocents. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/65 "2026-10-17T19:38:56Z")
I think the “prioritizing their own personal safety over that of the public” is also revealed in an ongoing and if anything, expanding tendency to protect their own _interests_. Specifically the (as reported in many threads) massive pushback on being recorded under any circumstance. THAT, to me is the clearest evidence that the public, and the public’s demands for accountability are a _distant_ consideration far back from protecting their perks and jobs. Not to mention the number of times body cameras are somehow “off” or non-functional or unavailable. > **[Officer's body camera went dark during key moment of Patrick Lyoya's death](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/officers-body-camera-went-dark-during-key-moment-of-patrick-lyoyas-death)** > > Body camera footage of Patrick Lyoya's fatal encounter with a Michigan police officer shows a close-up view of an intense struggle -- but the video goes dark 42 seconds before the officer shoots the Black man in the head. This sort of thing is, to me, clear proof of the sort of “gang-like” culture and police-state concerns raised upthread. Note, I have not said at any point this is **all** LEO, or true for every single district, but it’s pervasive enough to support the OP’s concern. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/66 "2026-10-17T19:40:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Because it would massively increase the number of Police officers getting killed- _and_ innocent bystanders getting killed.. And the number of people getting killed by police is mostly criminals, not innocents. Do you have cites for any of these statements? Because as I stated above (and provided cites to support this) the number of police officers killed by the felonious use of firearms last year was just **43** , whereas in a typical year **1,200-1,300** people are shot and killed by police. Maybe, just maybe, we could try to adjust that balance. Especially since the police are the ones typically in control of the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/67 "2026-10-17T19:41:38Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Exactly. I actually bristle every time I encounter a police officer now. It doesn’t help that they are [armed to the teeth](https://fb.watch/v/3xVdz432S/?). That’s all standard equipment. And it’s been like that for a long time. There’s no reason to react in this way. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/68 "2026-10-17T19:44:29Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > Exactly. I actually bristle every time I encounter a police officer now. It doesn’t help that they are [armed to the teeth](https://fb.watch/v/3xVdz432S/?). > > That’s all standard equipment. No kidding. That’s part of the problem. The police typically outfit themselves like they are going to war, even small-town police with areas with minimal crime. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/69 "2026-10-17T19:45:30Z")
From 2020, the height of the “Defund The Police” movement: > **[The Police Were a Mistake](https://newrepublic.com/article/157978/police-violence-george-floyd-constitution)** > > Law enforcement agencies have become the standing armies that the Founders feared. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/70 "2026-10-17T19:48:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Have you ever gone? Like I said, I went twice and once very early , No “performance mode”. Yes, if there was a dangerous firefight, the ridealong would not go there. Those are very very rare. Yes he has as he later clarified. When I started my ridealong, the officer showed me the shotgun that was attached to the car with a magnetic lock. There were four switches and two of them had to be pushed up. He asked if I knew how to operate a shotgun when I said yes, he said, “this is never going to be necessary but here is how you unlock it.” That said, he did have me hang back when we went to a domestic disturbance and then waved me over when it was clear that it wasn’t a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/71 "2026-10-17T19:50:12Z")
> [@robby](#): > > > [@Magiver](#): > > > > > [@robby](#): > > > > > > Exactly. I actually bristle every time I encounter a police officer now. It doesn’t help that they are [armed to the teeth](https://fb.watch/v/3xVdz432S/?). > > > > That’s all standard equipment. > > No kidding. That’s part of the problem. The police typically outfit themselves like they are going to war, even small-town police with areas with minimal crime. Am I missing something? Did you link the wrong video? You linked to a video of a police officer with a taser and a pistol. I’ve seen things that make me think “armed to the teeth”, like a motorcycle cop with a shotgun of some sort mounted on his bike. But a cop with a sidearm isn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/72 "2026-10-17T19:53:35Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Maybe, just maybe, we could try to adjust that balance. Especially since the police are the ones typically in control of the situation. How many of those are not criminals? In the **last 20 years** only 4-7 officers were convicted of murder, and only 35 have been convicted of a crime resulting from the on-duty shooting. > **[\-9-On-Duty-Shootings-Police-Officers-Charged-with-Murder-or-Manslaughter.pdf](https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/health-and-human-services/document/Criminal-Justice-Program/policeintegritylostresearch/-9-On-Duty-Shootings-Police-Officers-Charged-with-Murder-or-Manslaughter.pdf)** In other words during that time, officers killed 20,000 people- of those killings only 35 were not justified. So, per year about 43 officers are murdered- and less than 4 innocents are murdered by police officers. A ration of 10 to one. > [@Babale](#): > > Am I missing something? Did you link the wrong video? You linked to a video of a police officer with a taser and a pistol. > > I’ve seen things that make me think “armed to the teeth”, like a motorcycle cop with a shotgun of some sort mounted on his bike. But a cop with a sidearm isn’t one of them. Yeah, not “armed to the teeth” is more like it- and now police carry more NON-lethal weapons. (More correctly- “Less-Lethal”). ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/73 "2026-10-17T19:59:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > Maybe, just maybe, we could try to adjust that balance. Especially since the police are the ones typically in control of the situation. > > How many of those are not criminals? > > In the **last 20 years** only 4-7 officers were convicted of murder, and only 35 have been convicted of a crime resulting from the on-duty shooting. > > [https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/health-and-human-services/document/Criminal-Justice-Program/policeintegritylostresearch/-9-On-Duty-Shootings-Police-Officers-Charged-with-Murder-or-Manslaughter.pdf](https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/health-and-human-services/document/Criminal-Justice-Program/policeintegritylostresearch/-9-On-Duty-Shootings-Police-Officers-Charged-with-Murder-or-Manslaughter.pdf) > > In other words during that time, officers killed 20,000 people- of those killings only 35 were not justified. > > So, per year about 43 officers are murdered- and less than 4 innocents are murdered by police officers. A ration of 10 to one. I politely disagree. The degree to which officers are given _legal_ great latitude under “qualified immunity” means that the actions have to be _excessive in the extreme_ before any investigation happens and charges are brought, much less actually convicted. Combined with historical trends where only one side is alive to report, blatant “missing information” like my cite above, and other issues leads me to find the actual conviction rate utterly unconvincing. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/74 "2026-10-17T20:01:04Z")
> [@robby](#): > > The police typically outfit themselves like they are going to war, even small-town police with areas with minimal crime. I’m sorry but that’s just nonsense. Police have always carried a gun and handcuffs regardless of the size of a town. The addition of a taser or tear gas gives an officer more options vs using a gun. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/75 "2026-10-17T20:02:29Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > . The degree to which officers are given _legal_ great latitude under “qualified immunity” means that the actions have to be _excessive in the extreme_ before any investigation happens and charges are brought, much less actually convicted. Qualified Immunity only effects civil lawsuits. Not criminal actions at all. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/76 "2026-10-17T20:05:35Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Am I missing something? Did you link the wrong video? You linked to a video of a police officer with a taser and a pistol. That’s also part of the problem. The typical police equipment keeps expanding. So taser (which is definitely preferable to a gun), baton, semiautomatic pistol with 15-17 rounds in the gun plus one in the chamber, along with two spare magazines with 15-17 rounds each, and bulletproof vest / body armor. I think that is excessive. Compare this equipment loadout with a typical cop from our grandparents’ era. I really noticed this on my Navy base once. The civilian police were _much_ more heavily armed than the topside watchstander (i.e. guard) on my submarine. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/77 "2026-10-17T20:09:03Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Have you ever gone? Yeah, not answering this one again. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/78 "2026-10-17T20:10:03Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Police have always carried a gun and handcuffs regardless of the size of a town. First off, police have not always carried a gun. The practice did not start until the mid- to late 19th century. And it’s only in recent decades that police officers started carrying enough rounds in high-capacity pistols sufficient to engage in an extended firefight. Plus body armor. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/79 "2026-10-17T20:18:14Z")
There’s the whole issue of the [militarization of the police](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarization_of_police), with even small-town cops having body armor, assault weapons and armored personnel carriers. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900/80 "2026-10-17T20:20:45Z")
> [@robby](#): > > First off, police have not always carried a gun. The practice did not start until the mid- to late 19th century. Most Police forces as such were not organized until the early 1800’s, before that it was local Constables and elected Sheriffs- who did carry. > **[Important Dates In Law Enforcement History - National Law Enforcement...](https://nleomf.org/memorial/facts-figures/dates-in-law-enforcement-history/)** > > Milestones in the History of the Profession 1600s APRIL 1635 The City of Boston establishes a “night watch,” in which officers served part-time, without pay. 1600s 1700s April 29, 1786 Sheriff Benjamin Branch of Chesterfield County, Virginia died... > Police officers in the U.S. carried firearms unofficially or individually from the earliest days of American law enforcement (including colonial night watches and sheriffs). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-prioritizing-their-own-personal-safety-over-that-of-the-public/1033900.md?page=5)