And another one showing what cops have to deal with, even during regular traffic stops (which happen to be when many officers are shot/assaulted/killed).
This is more in response to the claim that Officer Wilson shouldn’t have shot Michael Brown because he was unarmed.
Cops have to make split-second decisions that often have life-or-death consequences. In the vast majority of cases, cops have no idea if someone is armed or not.[/quote]
I agree with you in many ways. One difference, though, is that Officer Wilson intended that Michael Brown die (or be grievously harmed) whereas I do not believe the officers in the Eric Garner case intended, or had a reasonable belief that Eric Garner would die. Chokeholds are not a walk in the park (and I know they are not allowed by the NYPD), but I would say that the level of force used was less than with Michael Brown. It’s similar to the question of whether it’s worse to try to shoot someone and miss or to smack someone in the head who dies due to having an “egg-shell” skull.
Call me naive, but I’m not sure that either of these situations were racially motivated – I think there are a lot of power crazy police officers out there.
