I could go on and on about my thoughts on this, but I'll do my best to sum it up and keep it as short as possible.
The race issue - awfully tired of that - the only reason it's a race issue is because of the media, and people being too lazy to think for themselves. It is quite sad that race is still a big issue, even sadder is the fact that the media plays it up as much as possible to get more viewers and sell more papers. The only thing they are doing, other than doing whatever they can to make more money with no respect for humanity, is prolonging and forcing the race issue. It's too bad that so many buy into it, rather than doing some actual thinking of their own.
Police have a very tough job, sure some are bad, but you get that with every group/race/military/religion/political party/etc/etc. People become just as racist/prejudiced with these things, they use blanket statements and judgements, and then go riot about the fact that people use blanket statements and judgements.
If a cop shoots a suspect who is posing a threat to that officer and the people around them, why does it matter what color their skin is? Do many people just assume that since a white cop shoots a black person, it's race related? Isn't that being kinda racist? I just don't understand.
People are people, assholes are assholes, both come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. Look at any group and you will find stinky assholes that are making the rest look bad. If you own a company and an employee is doing a poor job and making the company look bad, you can simply fire that employee. Unfortunately you can't really do that with the assholes in your race or religion.
Can you really blame a cop, or judge them at all, for shooting a bit sooner rather than later? It's really easy to analyze everything after the fact and decide if they did the right thing or not, but try putting yourself in the same situation when you only have milliseconds to make the right choice. Sure they have training and you don't, but nobody is going to make the perfect split-second decision 100% of the time, I don't care how many years of training and experience you have.
As for these criminals that are resisting arrest and getting killed for doing so, I find it really hard to feel bad for them. If a person (especially someone who robs a store with a gun) is threatening the life of an armed and trained police officer, how do you think that person would handle you and your family if they broke in to your home or robbed the place you're working at? I would rather just not have that type of person around.
Yes some cops go rogue, and others should never be given a weapon or position of power in the first place, but it would take a really special kind of person to be a great cop for their whole career, and unfortunately demand outweighs the supply of that type of person by a long shot, all over the world.
This is just making it even more stressful and dangerous to be a cop than it already is. I can see a cop hesitating to shoot a suspect because they are a different color, and getting killed due to the hesitation. Would that ever make headlines? No, because the media would only be able to blame themselves and people in general.
I try to imagine myself in their job, or being in the military in a warzone, and man I don't think I'd last very long before becoming jaded at least, or just completely snapping. The good things these brave people do, and crap they have to go through that we never see or hear about, for months and years, and then have everyone turn on them for a momentary lapse of judgement that happened to be witnessed or caught on video... pretty harsh.
^Post was way longer than I intended, sorry - TLDR / Moral of my story: Before jumping on any bandwagon or reacting to any situation, or even opening your mouth to say something, do some actual thinking of your own first, please. Always keep in mind that the media will only report on things that they think will get more attention, and negative attention spreads faster. Oh, and racism shouldn't even be around in this day and age, but that goes back to the thinking on your own part.
The race issue - awfully tired of that - the only reason it's a race issue is because of the media, and people being too lazy to think for themselves. It is quite sad that race is still a big issue, even sadder is the fact that the media plays it up as much as possible to get more viewers and sell more papers. The only thing they are doing, other than doing whatever they can to make more money with no respect for humanity, is prolonging and forcing the race issue. It's too bad that so many buy into it, rather than doing some actual thinking of their own.
Police have a very tough job, sure some are bad, but you get that with every group/race/military/religion/political party/etc/etc. People become just as racist/prejudiced with these things, they use blanket statements and judgements, and then go riot about the fact that people use blanket statements and judgements.
If a cop shoots a suspect who is posing a threat to that officer and the people around them, why does it matter what color their skin is? Do many people just assume that since a white cop shoots a black person, it's race related? Isn't that being kinda racist? I just don't understand.
People are people, assholes are assholes, both come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. Look at any group and you will find stinky assholes that are making the rest look bad. If you own a company and an employee is doing a poor job and making the company look bad, you can simply fire that employee. Unfortunately you can't really do that with the assholes in your race or religion.
Can you really blame a cop, or judge them at all, for shooting a bit sooner rather than later? It's really easy to analyze everything after the fact and decide if they did the right thing or not, but try putting yourself in the same situation when you only have milliseconds to make the right choice. Sure they have training and you don't, but nobody is going to make the perfect split-second decision 100% of the time, I don't care how many years of training and experience you have.
As for these criminals that are resisting arrest and getting killed for doing so, I find it really hard to feel bad for them. If a person (especially someone who robs a store with a gun) is threatening the life of an armed and trained police officer, how do you think that person would handle you and your family if they broke in to your home or robbed the place you're working at? I would rather just not have that type of person around.
Yes some cops go rogue, and others should never be given a weapon or position of power in the first place, but it would take a really special kind of person to be a great cop for their whole career, and unfortunately demand outweighs the supply of that type of person by a long shot, all over the world.
This is just making it even more stressful and dangerous to be a cop than it already is. I can see a cop hesitating to shoot a suspect because they are a different color, and getting killed due to the hesitation. Would that ever make headlines? No, because the media would only be able to blame themselves and people in general.
I try to imagine myself in their job, or being in the military in a warzone, and man I don't think I'd last very long before becoming jaded at least, or just completely snapping. The good things these brave people do, and crap they have to go through that we never see or hear about, for months and years, and then have everyone turn on them for a momentary lapse of judgement that happened to be witnessed or caught on video... pretty harsh.
^Post was way longer than I intended, sorry - TLDR / Moral of my story: Before jumping on any bandwagon or reacting to any situation, or even opening your mouth to say something, do some actual thinking of your own first, please. Always keep in mind that the media will only report on things that they think will get more attention, and negative attention spreads faster. Oh, and racism shouldn't even be around in this day and age, but that goes back to the thinking on your own part.
<~~~~ Attempt at a joke to calm down. Just realized I'm actually shaking as I type. *sigh* 
.... It brought a smile to my face.
. It shouldn't have went that far. The officer looked like he was attempting to "flex" his authority and the old man was going to stand for it. In case I'm not being clear: I think the officer was wrong. I wish the old man would have just accepted the arrest, and dealt with it through the proper channels.
. 
. I happened to look over at the computer screen and decided to hit refresh. I wish I could say I was dealing with it well but I know my mindset has changed a lot over the years. It probably would be a lot worse though if I didn't continue doing the things I love / enjoy. For example I still play video games, watch cartoons and anime, still talk in a babyish voice (sometimes) with my wife, still curl up in ball with my head on her lap, etc. etc. Later tonight we will likely watch a movie. It's hard to remember to continue doing the things that you did before you joined the force. I didn't realize I had stopped until I finally had to go see first a psychologists followed by a psychiatrists. The psychiatrists ask me to list everything I enjoy to do. At the end he ask me how many things on my list did I do. I realized I didn't do one thing off my list anymore. So I try to make sure I do the things I enjoyed before I became an officer. 
