However, even if we accept the Department's report as endorsed by Jonathan Capehart, the question remains, did Officer Wilson have no alternative but to use deadly force on Michael Brown? Clearly the answer is no.
Wilson's alternatives were at least three. He could have (1) stayed in his car and called for backup, (2) allowed Brown to "escape" and later arrest him (with suitable reinforcement) at Brown's home which was known to the police, or (3) in the worst of circumstances, shot the unarmed Brown in the legs to wound rather than kill.
The fact that such alternatives did not occur to Wilson underscores the poor training of police in our country. Clearly all of them are instructed on how to use their deadly-force weapons. Evidently however, they are not sufficiently trained on how and when not to use them.
As for the hazards of policing, it doesn't even rank among our country's ten most dangerous jobs. Those belong to loggers, fishermen, pilots, roofers, steel workers, garbage collectors, electricians, truck drivers, farmers, and construction workers.
That list puts into perspective the "I feared for my life" defense inevitably invoked by police allegedly mistaking wallets, pens, candy bars, and sandwiches for lethal weapons.
As retired NYPD detective, Graham Weatherspoon puts it: if policemen are that afraid to put their lives in danger, they've chosen the wrong profession. It would be better, he said, to "go home to mommy," and find some other line of work.
Ironically, Darren Wilson and his defenders are correct in their claim that he was "just doing his job."
That's exactly the problem: the job of the law enforcement in our emerging police state is now to intimidate, control, and kill with impunity rather than to "serve and protect."
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