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Comment by akudha | Hacker News Reader

I saw 5 or 6 cops tackle a drunk guy. He was so drunk, barely able to stand, a 10 year old kid could've taken him down. The amount of force used in the most trivial of cases blew my mind.

During the occupy wall street protests, I saw the cops a few times (I was working in a nearby building). The amount of serious gear they had, it was insane. I bet they are better armed than most militaries.

All I can say is they are super scary.

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IIRC, the NYPD budget is much higher than those for Sweden's or Mexico's military and not too far behind Iran's.

I've witnessed the same. Police responding with overwhelming force. Unfortunately, we're not unarmed like in Japan (or most of the UK), so there have been instances of police being caught off-guard and killed for being too "chill" so by policy they must respond with almost worse-case-scenario.

With that, I will say they need to learn how to use less than lethal tactics and force to apprehend a violent person. Firearms should be very the last resort as a result of non-confrontation. In other words, the police at times provoke more violence by the way they address an issue. A violent drunk. Instead of getting up close so they lunge with a knife, get far back, get people to move away and then corral the drunk in or use alternate methods of subduction and use lethal violence only when the perp makes it necessary.

It's safer to be a cop than to be a roofer or deep sea fisherman. Cops need to stop being such wusses. If they don't like the job, find another one but don't rationalize their ridiculous over-use of force as justified.

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