officers

Today we had a valuable opportunity to hear the story of two police officers from Los Altos Police Department, and get to know their duty and its role in the community. They were being real with us by explaining their concerns as being officers, such as people being protective when being talked by them despite they just want to have a conversation, and explained one of their main goals is to make the community better. Sharing their personal stories and how they were like us when they were little made the gap between us small, and I felt I could relate to them.

Now as for use of force they explained they utilize different force in different situations: such when the suspect is holding a knife the officers are likely to combat with a gun, and when the suspect is far away from them they use guns instead of tasers. They explained they do not combat with the same weapon the suspect is holding, and will use a better alternative force than them. So as I looked back at the Mike Brown case officer Wilson used the gun to suppress the situation and I personally think it was inevitable for him to use the gun since that was the only force he could've used. Of course if he had the taser that would be the best options, and I do not agree on Wilson actually shooting Brown and should've used as a warning tool.

Another fact I learned is the use of language by the officers. They explained each police department had different provisions on use of language, however pointed out most of the department overall has a light punishment/warning when if it becomes concerning. Now in the Ferguson case I remember Wilson saying "get the f on the sidewalk" and that resulted the altercation, yet this was legal for Wilson to do. It was interesting since some officers(I know it's not the officers around here) apply force when they face trash talks, yet when the position is the opposite, when the officers provoke an individual the person cannot take a jab at them.