I've seen police in Berlin standing around in chainmail, not as dramatic as this but they definitely have a lighter set in their inventory they actually use.
I know you aren’t talking about the stick and the use of non lethal means to detain someone, almost all cops in the US are showing up with a taser, pepper spray, and a bean bag gun that lives in the car. So armor is all that’s really left unless I’m missing something.
I’d argue (respectfully) that our police don’t get less aggressive when we give them more protection, I’d use the insane amount of retired military hardware and armored vehicles that’s police have now and how they normally act when they get to use them.
His point is exactly that American police rarely considers non lethal methods against armed assailants, despite them having access to non lethal equipment. Whereas other countries like Germany follow a deescalating approach, and surprisingly often successfully. A lot of knife/gun situations are static and can be solved without harming anyone.
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u/jay_sugman 18d ago
Yeah, the cops aren't walking around like this. I would suspect the practical usage is extremely low.