Obligationary sanctioning of killing people

And then we're back to the problem that they live in the same area as the people they spend all day irritating.
Yes indeed, they will and that is exactly what will help cut down on these shootings. Personal accountability, on the part of the officers as well as the residents.

When Officer Jones is driving down the street in his own neighborhood and he sees young Henry walking in the street, he thinks "Oh that's just crazy Henry... Ms. Jenkins' son" rather than "Who is this young punk! Is he dangerous?!? I better start a confrontation with him" ... And instead of pulling up next to him and shouting expletives, he pulls up and says "Hey Henry, how's it going? Should I call your Mom and tell her you're in the street?" ... and Henry, instead of yelling expletives and running away says "Aw man officer Jones wuzzup! My bad, lemme get out of the street right quick."

No one dies... because everybody knows each other. No one shoots anyone, because they don't want to have to look that parent (or spouse), their next door neighbor in the eye after shooting their unarmed child (or their husband the officer). And in the rare case of a shooting death, there is mourning and harmony, because ... "I know officer Jones, I see him everyday dropping his daughter off at school. He would have never shot that boy unless he had to."
 
Yes, that's an advantage - unfortunately there are plenty of problems with policing people that you know. Ever seen Hot Fuzz?
 
I think the merry-go-round that we keep spinning around on keeps bringing us back to the same place... Is the safety of the police more important or is the safety of the public more important?

If public safety is the goal, then the police have to be willing to take some risks, like living in the neighborhood they police so that there is community familiarity, trust and accountability. If officer safety is the priority then by all means let the officers detach themselves as much as possible from the community they police so they can "leave it all on the field" as the expression goes.
 
Valid up to a point, but part of the job is being irritating to certain people. Nobody ever said 'of course I'd had too many to drink and was being rather noisy, thank you for letting me know', or 'ah yes, I can see that I deserve a ticket for driving like that', or anything in that manner.

Well, actually people do say things like that. When their neighbor says "hey, you've maybe had a few too many and you're making a lot of noise here" it is pretty believable that someone might say "yeah, thanks, I'll tone that down."

They just never say that kind of thing and end it with 'officer'. A cop says "hello" to me my response is "unless you have a warrant and I have a lawyer this conversation is over," and I never have a twinge of conscience. Now, if that was a guy who lived a couple blocks over I would be pretty well forced to treat him like a human being.

The flip side is that rather than saying "you are being a little loud" or "you need to watch the speed, there's kids that play on this street" I start any 'behavioral adjustment' conversation in my neighborhood with "I hate [deleted] cops, and I really hate it when they come around. If you keep doing [whatever they are doing] sure as sunrise some [deleted] is going to call the cops on you and we're all going to have to deal with those [deleted]." If we actually had cops living in the neighborhood I'd have to find a new angle, and that one really works well, because near as I can make out everyone except cops also hates cops.
 
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