• some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    16 days ago

    I watch police bodycam videos on YouTube because they are like an unscripted version of reality tv. The amount of fear in police at the slightest thing going unexpectedly is frightening to me. In this case, a slowly moving vehicle was reason enough to shoot repeatedly, holster a gun, and then pull it out and shoot again. There was no indication that the guy had a weapon. But they gotta make sure he’s dead and then even more dead just because.

    The idea of cops as heroes is a lie. You might see one or two rush into a flaming vehicle to pull someone out after a crash, but that’s about it. If they think someone has a gun and a hostage, they’ll coordinate for an hour bringing shields and more officers, or maybe SWAT with armored vehicles, while taking cover before anyone makes a move. Kinda like Uvalde: they care much more about protecting themselves than protecting victims.

    And I get it. That’s instinct. But we shouldn’t venerate them as though they all fight off the urge for self-preservation to rescue people. That’s incredibly rare.