I agree the context is important, and it may <i>sometimes</i> provide reasonable justification for the police to shoot first, like if there&#x27;s a crowd behind the officer.  Generally, I think the officers should minimize the probability that 1) innocent bystanders get shot, 2) unarmed suspects get shot, and 3) the officer gets shot; in that order.  Some people seem to put 3) in front of 2), and I think that&#x27;s wrong.<p>However, a in lot of recent videotaped incidents, it&#x27;s been shown that many police officers are shooting and often killing people merely because the officer falsely &quot;thought&quot; they had a real gun.  That behavior is unacceptable and needs to stop, even if that means police have to take more personal risks themselves.