Killing not police intent

Again The Spokesman-Review has shown its anti-police bias. “Law enforcement officers are trained to shoot to kill,” states this morning’s (Dec. 7) paper.

No, they are trained to stop a threat, not kill. They aim for the body mass, the largest target, not the head which would be the target if killing were their intent.

They also do not meet lethal force, i.e., guns, knives with nonlethal force, i.e., tasers, mace, batons.

Our police officers risk their lives every day to keep us safe. Recently several of them risked their lives to pull a suicidal man from the Maple Street Bridge. If killing was their intent why would they have bothered to administer CPR to the down man in the tavern parking lot?

To imply that our dedicated, courageous men and women of our police force are trained killers is to equate them to uniformed mafia hit men.

Frequently our officers are in a no-win situation, condemned if they act too fast (does it take more than five seconds to drop a gun?) or too slow if someone had been shot. Thank God we have fine young men and women who will shoulder that responsibility!

Don Griffiths

Spokane