You said:”One thing is certain; cops don’t pull that Glock 23 and blast away for nothin’”
I say; Sorry but you are too trusting.I had the misfortune in the late 80s to work in a department with an officer who had been fired from his city police job.
This officer bragged of illegally shooting “stray”(any cat without a collar) at night with a .22 while on patrol.That would be illegal discharge of a firearm within city limits AND it is also an offense to destroy someone else pet or livestock without cause,albeit the fine back then was only $50.These animal shootings were not city policy.What about misses and stray bullets???!!
This officer was reprimanded for his habit of approaching every traffic stop with gun drawn and held behind his back !!!
What finally got him fired was tampering with police computer records!
And after I had left “my” local department one of the officers pointed his gun at a woman with young child ,who had “attempted to evade pursuit” by driving all of 35mph to a spot she felt safe in pulling over;didn’t ever see that he was fired;just needed more “training”.
All too many become police because they want to swagger around with a gun on their hip.I’ve met a few that didn’t make police and took a security job,even accepting lower pay in order to get the armed position!
A different officer nearby is being investigated for dragging a woman out of her car and throwing her to the ground when she argued that she did not run the stop sign;it seems she thought he was taliking about the intersection just passed but the officer was going to cite her for one several intersections and quite some distance behind.
There ARE people out there who feel empowered beyond reason by wearing a uniform and gun.
Not every cop,indeed I wonder if even the majority these days, geenuinely wants to protect and serve the public.
I don’t hate cops;I do hate BAD cops!
I didn’t say there aren’t bad cops. IMHO, there are FAR too many of them loose on the streets. Too many Dirty Harry wannabes.
What I did say is that they don’t go blasting that Glock 23 (.40 cal) for the hell of it. Your examples bear that out, even though in each case you describe the officer should have either been severely disciplined or outright fired.
All I’m saying is that to cross the HUGE line into actually shooting someone to death for the hell of it is not a super-common occurrence. Of course it has happened, happens, and will happen. It’s not the norm.