Pocatello, Idaho, officers shot [Victor Perez] nine times within seconds of arriving at his home, according to the law firm representing Perez’s family. The Latino teenager was on the other side of a fence when officers repeatedly told him to drop the knife as he was moving toward them. He was in the midst of a mental health crisis, his aunt Ana Vazquez told NBC News. She added that while he was holding a knife, the family did not see him as a threat. He died last week, several days after being shot.
I’m living in the UK. The number of killings by police here is in single digits per year. Almost all are armed robberies in progress or active terror incidents.
In my city, there are homeless people, as well as a population of junkies and alcoholics in the city centre. Sometimes one has a meltdown. I’ve seen two or three police patiently talking someone down who’s been having problems.
I’m not saying the local police are without fault. They have their biases and sometimes overreact. The jails are in horrid shape and there are far too many suicides by people in custody. But there’s no reason that police have to be as homicidal as they are in the US.