12-year-old Shot Dead by Police

[bedstuy]

So, police are supposed to wait to have a gun pointed at them?  Remember, they didn't necessarily know this was a toy. 

You just can't reach for a gun when you're around cops.  You should treat cops like people who might shoot you without a good reason.  You shouldn't look at them, you shouldn't talk to them and you shouldn't mess around with fake guns near cops for God's sake.  And kids in places like Cleveland should never have toy guns, it's way too dangerous. 

[bedstuy]

You should treat cops like people who might shoot you without a good reason.  You shouldn't look at them, you shouldn't talk to them and you shouldn't mess around with fake guns near cops for God's sake.  And kids in places like Cleveland should never have toy guns, it's way too dangerous. 

This is absurd.

Why would you give a cop any reason to interact with you?  They're not there to be your friend.

[bedstuy]

You should treat cops like people who might shoot you without a good reason.  You shouldn't look at them, you shouldn't talk to them and you shouldn't mess around with fake guns near cops for God's sake.  And kids in places like Cleveland should never have toy guns, it's way too dangerous. 

This is absurd.

Why would you give a cop any reason to interact with you?  They're not there to be your friend.

Well, maybe the citizen-police relationship in the US has really come to a point where no interaction is the best policy, but I still find it absurd.

Citizens shouldn't be afraid to interact with the police in a democracy - saying that you should treat the police like a foreign occupation power (no eye contact, no talk etc.) is absurd. It can only increase the alienation between citizens and police if there is no normal human interaction between them.

Police officers are meant to service and help people, so they should be on friendly term with (law abiding) citizens.

If you pull out a gun in front of cops who are confronting you, what exactly do you expect?

[bedstuy]

You should treat cops like people who might shoot you without a good reason.  You shouldn't look at them, you shouldn't talk to them

No, no and no. That minding only exist in America and it's honestly very dangerous. People shouldn't fear policemen (unless they have some reason to). No wonder violence is so high compared to the Western World. People will solve their issues with their own guns between each other instead of calling police.

Police should protect. Right now, police is making people afraid.

Part of how the police protect people is by making people afraid of them.  Of course, you can call the police and they might decide to help you if they choose to.  But, if you don't have any business with police, it's best to keep clear of them and let them do their job.

This whole story is just a human tragedy brought on by our gun obsession.  Guns carry a tax in people's lives and bodies.  Most people don't really care because most of the victims are poor and black or latino.  But, as long as we have crime infested, gun infested cities, we'll regularly have these accidents.  Some people want to put all the blame on individual cops or on racism, which is always a factor.  But, the real problem is that we care more about protecting a hobby than protecting black kids.