Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Agree completely. That incident and this graphic got me to wondering whether there is some sort of behavioral explanation for the way police officers act -- you have an initial stop and scuffle and the officers adrenaline is running high, and when the other guy starts running, there's some sort of fight instinct that can't be turned off easily. Officers learn to say the right things about what they thought (I saw a gun, I feared for my life) after the fact, but that is just post hoc dressing for a series of decisions that aren't rational at all.
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I think it's a combination of power and an unwillingness to suffer any type of disrespect by people you think are lesser than you. Throw in the fact that you know every single police shooting will be found justified, and you get police violence.
I feel the disrespect and swollen sense of authority almost every time I have interacted with a police officer (when they've initiated). They expect their orders to be followed. Period. As soon as they sense that you are pissed off or haven't acted on an order quickly enough, they are about 3 or 4 words from initiating violence.
TM
