# Why are police so quick to kill?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-so-quick-to-kill/787689>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 30, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-so-quick-to-kill/787689 "2017-05-30T00:48:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 219

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-so-quick-to-kill/787689/219 "2017-07-18T19:10:33Z")

</div>

> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#):
>
> My entire point is that the jury was dead wrong. On both counts.

Nope, that’s not how this works. The jury found reason to doubt their guilt, that’s not something they _can_ be wrong about. It is quite literally meaningless to say they were wrong.

> [@](#):
>
> In both cases, the video clearly showed an _unjustified_ shooting.

That is false.

> [@](#):
>
> When you’re trying to defend the position that it was justified, simply appealing to the jury misses the point. Yeah, on one hand, the juries decided the cops were not guilty. On the _other_ hand, we have direct video evidence showing these cops murdering people. So… Yeah.

No, appealing to the jury is the _only_ way to determine it, as they are the ones who determine what the facts of the case are. Factually, the videos do not prove murder (or at present, any other crime). You are provably wrong here, and no amount of claiming otherwise will change that, any more than claiming black is white will change anything.

You could, if you feel that the law is wrong and that such killings should not in future be justified campaign to change the law. Hopefully you will fail, as the right to self defence and the right to presumption of innocence are more important than your desire to get vengeance on the police for not doing their job exactly the way you would like them to.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-police-so-quick-to-kill/787689)._