What's the point of American police saying "Show your hands" after they shot a man?
(self.nostupidquestions)
You say that but most cops still will go their whole career without firing their gun statistically.
you know the other part of that statistic, right? that those who do tend to get into substantially more situations that 'require' lethal force in the first place. Some of this has to do with where they happen to work.... cops working in departments within large cities are much more likely than cops out in the burbs or sticks. Part of it is also their specific occupational specialty- SWAT for example is just put into more situations where it's necessary, compared to state highway patrol vehicle inspectors. or the Federal Reserve Cops.
Plus hand guns are crazy hard to aim over any distance
Yeah, that's true enough when your average cop has less than 15 hours of range time annually, and only quals out once a year. The vast majority of distance for police engagement is 3-6 feet. I can put a four inch grouping at fifty feet, a six inch grouping at thirty feet in stress simulations. And I am not some badass. I just get a lot of range time for work.
If you're going to carry... you need to be able to hit what you're aiming at. a miss isn't just a miss. Its a chance to clip that kid playing ball a hundred yards a way, or the grandma poking her head out the curtains to see what the fuck is going on outside.
Cops need to be better- every round that misses it's target is potentially some random kid caught in the crossfire. Personally, cops need way more training on not going to lethal force in the first place. but that's a different topic.