Why do we bother?

[Vuk]

Look at it on the bright side, IA. Not that far from where you live there are countries where the police strangely manages to combine both incompetent non-interventionism AND a 'shoot first, shoot again if asked questions' mentality.


More in general, I think the unarmed British bobby is still one of democracy's most powerful symbols. In the entire world, how many states make it a distinct policy to approach their population unarmed?

Problem is that it doesn't work. :P Criminals are armed and need to be approached armed. A policeman does not know when he is going to be confronting an ordinary citizen or a criminal. The weapon is not there for the ordinary citizen, so he has no need to fear it. The weapon is only there to defend the policeman, to defend others, and to force criminals to comply. It is like what we do in Taijichuan. We hold out a closed fist, and bring an open palm onto it. It means I know martial arts, but I am not here to use them. It should not matter to a lawfull citizen if the policeman is armed, because he knows that it will not affect him.

I think you should have taken your story to a newspaper. Very sad.

Agreed. That I think would be the best thing to do. Let everyone hear your story, and hopefully something will be done when the community cries out loud enough.