02-15-2008, 06:03 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-15-2008, 06:05 PM by Swiss Mercenary.)
Quote:Would you think that the propensity to negotiate would change much from an officer wielding a gun versus a Tazer?
When people are held responsible for what happens when they shoot someone, I'll wager that their negotiating skills will suddenly, miracilously improve.
When an officer shoots someone they shouldn't have, we (ideally) hold them accountable. When an officer tasers someone they shouldn't have... They don't even get a slap on the wrist.
Quote: If the problem is lack of negotiating skills, changing the means of enforcement seems fruitless.
They do have negotiating skills, unless, of course, we want to bring their training into suspect.
They just choose not to use them, when they could run with a faster, easier, no strings-attached (To them) alternative.
Quote: It would be nice if all unreasonable people would listen to negotiations, but it seems listening skills are not taught much either.
Sometimes use of force is unavoidable. However, force should never be the first step... Or even the second step, if the negotiation step was handled as a pure formality.