I've been thinking: are the police militarised?

[Pete]

I was in Canada and heard a frost back call a black guy a ******. Therefore all of Canada is racist because of one incident.

Also, slavery ended a hundred and fifty years ago. Whatever my great great grandparents did to your great great grandparents doesn't have any bearing on today. The fact that people feel guilty about this is insane. Yes it sucks that it happened, but I wasn't the one cracking the whip, and nobody in America today is getting whipped. However, in Africa, there are currently more slaves than there ever were at any time in the United States.

That being said, racism is still apparent in America. Why is it that affirmative action still exists? Why should a minority get special priveledge and job entitlements because they aren't white? If there's a job like police or fire fighter, I want the best, most capable people on the job, regardless of their color. I don't want to see candidates who aren't as qualified be picked above the most capable just to fill a quota. That's racist. It's also ridiculous when minorities claim that civil service tests are racist. Are you telling me that there's a white version of a test versus a minority version? Should I complain that the Chinese kid taking the same test had it easier because there was a math question? Ridiculous.

As for the police being militarized. They should have the best tools at their disposal. This doesn't mean they should be patrolling the streets with m4 rifles, but they should be readily available if the situation arises when they are needed. Training should be paramount, and the idea of de-escalating a situation should be the main focus. However, as far as I know, none of us are police, and none of us can really say what we would do in a situation without experiencing it first hand. We'd all like to say that we'd never act irrationally or out of fear, but until we're in a situation like that, we're all talking out of our asses. I won't lie though, if I were a cop, my two biggest concerns would be to do my job fairly and the right way, and to come home in one piece every day.