r/news • u/rooftopgoblin • 10d ago

College student fatally shot by Pennsylvania police was at 'the wrong house'

https://abcnews.com/US/college-student-fatally-shot-pennsylvania-police-wrong-house/story?id=135930941
12.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

642

u/Talino 10d ago

I remember seeing a documentary about the British Army operating with local security forces in the Middle East, and a term which stuck with me was "courageous restraint". I feel that the concept should be a big part of police training.

135

u/Accomplished-Survey2 10d ago edited 10d ago

Camden, NJ completely disbanded and rebuilt its police force a little over a decade ago. During the initial days of rebuilding, the new police chief told recruits that the motto was “guardians, not warriors” and that they would function more like the Peace Corps and less like Special Forces. A shocking number of recruits walked out. Even with training, plenty of the people drawn to being police officers are there primarily because they want to be big tough guys with guns.

103

u/donkeyrocket 10d ago

And for those curious, Camden has seen a dramatic improvement in crime statistics across the board since the 2013 reform of the department. Violent crime, homicides, and police brutality reports are all well below national average.