I’m continually reminded that the public forgets police are TRAINED to de-escalate situations. They have several non lethal tools at their disposal. Police kill people and justify it with logic that defies their training. Stop buying into this con.

I see way too many takes that don’t ask the right question. It’s not “what would you do?” But it’s “what would a trained law enforcement officer do?” Time and again we see no accountability because the public buys their untrained, deadly response as “normal” and it’s systematic.

We expect teachers, retail workers, bus drivers, and others to deal with these situations untrained and with no weapons (lethal or otherwise) regularly. Ask them.Yet police shoot first and the logic of “they were scared” and “they had a weapon” shows up right on time, every time.

This is a social psychological trick the public buys into. The police are supposed to be professionals trained to deal with these risky situations. We see too many instances of them dealing with white people with non-lethal force to buy that they’re not trained. It’s a choice.

We have to take a step back and look at the larger issue of why this is systemic. Even with the body cameras, social media, heightened media scrutiny, and investigations. Police are banking on tropes of Black innate violence and threat to absolve them. It needs to stop. Now.