[DanaC]

The thing is - the majority of police officers do not shoot people. The overwhelming majority never kill anybody - but they routinely face the same threats their fellow officers face when they shoot someone.

The natural, and probably necessary given their job, brothers in arms mentality means that people who are temperamentally unsuited to a job in which they are entrusted with the right to apply armed force, don't get shuffled out of the system once that becomes apparent. At a local and organisational level they present a united front - which pitches them, as an organisation, in opposition to those criticising them: the public.

They need to get their fucking house in order if they want public support and therefore legitimacy to continue. This goes for many police forces, including the british police. The problem of a them and us attitude and closing ranks when criticised is common to this kind of organisation. But there is something particular going on with police forces in the US. There are many countries with routinely armed police where deaths from police shootings are nowhere near as common.