Quote:
Originally Posted by Zulu29
So you think only some police officers should be armed? I don’t think this is possible as it would reduce the amount of members available for calls for service. As far as the assault reference, that is the exception. The vast majority of all police/public interactions are routine and mundane.
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The quoted kind of answers itself for why I think it's possible. How often do you answer calls where your weapons or even your handcuffs aren't necessary? How often can you reasonably predict that to be the case?
If lethal weapons aren't required for most calls, I don't think the rare chance that they might be required is a great reason for every officer being armed with a lethal weapon.
I think changing the entire ideology away from "I have this in case I need this" is worthwhile, considering how rarely you actually do. This is especially true in Canada, where an armed public is not near the threat it is in the United States. If police in the UK can do it, why can't we fall somewhere between the two?