My concern with officers drawing weapons are the conditions that cause them to draw weapons. Like the results of police interactions in general, we have next to no data on when it happens and what happens as a result.
In Rand's case, it might have been a dicey neighborhood with a pattern of violent robberies. Maybe the building had been targeted before by folks who were armed and discharging shots.
Sometimes its a report of shots fired in or near a casino.
Maybe police are headed to Section 8 housing. Maybe that set of buildings has a history of criminal activity.
But its reports like Richard Sherman's this week that have me thinking there is something else going on: (Of course, I cannot find the quote I want now, but main points are the story are in this link) http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/s...ampaign=buffer
Incident #1, out for Jamaican food and you look like a suspect reported in the area? Matching hair, perhaps matching height, body type, etc.? OK, I get detaining him and checking him out.
But the other half of the story, where he and some teammates have been called to help an alumnus move furniture, is where my interest is piqued. The quote I saw elsewhere was that someone in the neighborhood called the police about people taking things out of the house or maybe vague suspicious activity and the police arrive with guns drawn at the front door.
I am just guessing about the neighborhood, but I assume its upscale if the homeowner is handing out $20-50 bucks for college kids to move furniture. I doubt the police, when they are called into that neighborhood for something non-violent normally have their guns drawn and eight cars for backup (Sherman said there were nine cars, whether this is exaggeration for effect or he actually counted I don't know). But they arrived in force. Was it because the call indicated it was a bunch of black dudes milling about the driveway? I have no way of knowing, no one does.
What I do know is that everyone who takes the side of cops know that police are generally not biased. And everyone who has one of Sherman's stories are convinced that the police react differently if they know a minority (or minority neighborhood) is involved.
And my bet is that there is something going on. Not overt, though that may exist, but implicit. And my suspicion is from that moment the entire interaction with the future suspects is affected. Further, I believe it leads to worse outcomes for all involved. Without reporting and numbers, I cannot gauge how severe or common. But I do think its important to take the reports seriously. And its high time to take the review and the reporting out of self-interested hands.
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