I have previously dealt with the topic of "Sheepdogs and Wolves in Uniform," but today, I want to make a couple of suggestions that will help to improve law enforcement officer (LEO) self-control.
Police in wrong house. Happens too often. Police overly aggressive. Happens too often.
Some people on FB are crying to abolish the police. Probably not happening any time soon. May I suggest a couple of measures that might go a long way toward avoiding incidents like this?
1) Start testing police routinely for steroid use, randomly as well as on an incident basis. A lot of LEOs want to pump themselves up to deal with potential physical confrontations, but steroids can alter mood and personality resulting in 'roid rage. A drugged police force is not the answer to drug use on the streets.
2) I'm seeing way too many videos where the LEO skips from verbal command to lethal force. This has to come from either clouded judgment due to steroid use (see #1, above) or lack of training in the spectrum of force. Officers should receive extensive training in Verbal Judo or something like it to deescalate confrontations. They need frequent scenario-based training to refresh those skills and the physical skills needed when a situation does unavoidably escalate.
