I don't know if you live in the US or not. I'll assume you do for now. I certainly do. I have also lived in other countries. Context is very important when comparing nations.

Simple example: Earthquake in Japan, no looting at all. Same thing in the US and you are almost guaranteed to have all manner of debauchery and crime.

Like it or not, our culture is different from that of, say, the UK, Japan, Sweden or Ecuador. The comparisons are difficult at best. A number of years ago I was speaking to a retired cop from a Latin American country. He told me how they always gave violent suspects to state their case in front of the judge...if they could rise from the dead. Be careful to point at a place like the UK and assume that Bobby's with batons is going to work in the US.

> well-trained but unarmed people to these situations. You are the one who is claiming that by not having lethal weapons, they will be ill-equipped.

Maybe I didn't make it clear. They will end-up dead. Well-trained my behind. You cannot go up against a violent well-armed population with a degree in psychology. Every 911 call is a potential death sentence to a first responder. Every single one of them. Nobody can predict what they will encounter on arrival.

Are you old enough to remember when thugs were making fake 911 calls to actually ambush cops and kill them? Imagine that reality.

> You can think about, discuss, research, study, and enact programs, rules, and regulations about a certain area even without having first-hand experience in that area

Right. And then send someone else to die.

Look, the police force is reactionary. It reacts to what society exposes them to every single day. Here in the Los Angeles area, many years ago, there was a famous bank robbery where the crooks came out in full body armor while armed with firearms and (if I remember correctly) armor-piercing bullets. The cops had to run to a local gun shop to arm themselves and be able to protect the public from these maniacs.

While it is likely true that we need to reform aspects of policing, you are NOT going to achieve better results until we reform ourselves. That might means such things as real gun control and real societal reforms. It might means such things as truly caring about education and addressing the problems of communities where crime seems to be the only path out of poverty and despair for some.

Simple idea: If everyone is "happy" only deviants will resort to crime. You don't solve the problem by sending psychologists to 911 calls when you have a society that will happily burn down entire business districts in plain view of the world.

We have a problem, a real problem, and I am betting that policing is likely a minuscule part of it. Cops, despite what is promoted out there, don't go out every day with a mission to cause harm and mayhem.

Here's an exercise for you: Go to your local police station and ask to sit down and have a coffee with the captain. Tell him/her you want to understand their perspective on things. Then compare that to what is being proposed.

Aside from having law enforcement in our family, my old Aikido dojo was probably 75% law enforcement --a retired FBI guy runs it. As Mark Twain said: "A man holding a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way". Very true.