&gt; Bringing their weapon to a ready state, actually increases the time that they have to react, and lets them make more rational decisions.<p>Or one could argue that it reduces the amount of time they spend rationalising the situation, which could result in a &quot;knee jerk&quot; emotional overreaction to any perceived threat.<p>I&#x27;d argue we&#x27;ve seen so many completely unwarranted shootings in the last few years due to: cellphones, reaching for ID, hands in pockets, etc, that maybe police should be taught to slow down and consider the threat, not speed up, and start blasting on a whim.<p>The number of police officers dying on the job hasn&#x27;t decreased with these new higher risk tactics. They&#x27;re just killing more members of the public. It has stayed roughly around 50&#x2F;year shot + 2&#x2F;year from stabbings for the last ten years.<p>Most police officers die due to vehicle crashes&#x2F;collisions and illness. None of which is resolved by shooting more members of the public.