&gt; &quot;covering their own ass&quot;<p>I think you and jessaustin may be using different interpretations of that term, judging by their reference of the McDonald shooting.  People are much more ok with police officers doing what they need to do to keep themselves and others safe at the time (your usage) than they are with officers lying about why they used deadly force after the fact to keep from getting in trouble (their usage).<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Shooting_of_Laquan_McDonald" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Shooting_of_Laquan_McDonald</a>