SpiderCenturion

I am. 11 years on...20 to go.

"Felt threatened" is what the media likes to say, but the justification is the same (death or great bodily harm). If a guy threatens us, we can't just shoot them...so 'felt threatened' really isn't accurate in the states. A citizen who faces the threat of death or great bodily harm is afforded the privilege of deadly force then too. You hear about cops using deadly force more obviously because we are put in those situations more often than a normal citizen.

As far as why we "have" to use deadly force...we don't always use deadly force against suspects with knives. We are given the privilege to protect ourselves from great bodily harm or death. Speaking from my own experience, I have come up against at least 3 suspects armed with knives and I didn't shoot them. So to say that we cops in the US need to show more restraint: you're simply stereotyping us (because, we do show a ton of restraint). Each state has their own use of force guidelines for their police. That one that I quoted is the justification for the use of deadly force for my state. As far as determining if it's reasonable, we are governed by the same law as a citizen (self defense). We don't get to use higher levels of force just because we are cops.

I don't believe it is 'fake' news...I just think they pick the stories that suit their agenda.

I actually think a good parallel can be drawn between the 'rise' of airline issues and police brutality claims. We are presented these stories of airline problems through the media all in a short time frame. Is it really that none of these issues have ever happened before? Or, is it that now, suddenly the media wants to report on it. It's amazing how the news and social media can cause people to think that there is an imminent issue. Imagine for a moment, that CNN suddenly made it their mission to report on every time a hospital messed up and killed a patient because of the wrong medication. How long would it take for people to be outraged and think that things suddenly changed in our hospitals. The same goes for police brutality. If you only report on the .01% of police interactions that go bad, naturally people will suddenly think there is a huge problem. Right now, airline employees are the new police for CNN...finally they found someone else to blame. If only the general public didn't trust everything they see on TV...

It's easier to understand the general justification for deadly force, rather than ask "Can you shoot a guy with a knife...or shovel...or screwdriver". Deadly force can be used against a suspect for 'any behavior which has caused, or imminently threatens to cause death or great bodily harm to you or another'. So...a guy with a knife a football field away, probably not. A guy with a knife about 20-30 feet away...probably. (Training in our business is moving away from that 21 foot rule by the way)