“It's a valid concern to worry about the safety of our officers, and no one is advocating for law enforcement to be left defenseless. The term "demilitarization" doesn't mean disarming the police; rather, it refers to the idea of shifting away from military-grade equipment and tactics. The intention is to foster a stronger relationship between the police and the community, reducing the "us versus them" mentality which can escalate tensions.”

I completely agree with your approach to de-escalation of confrontations. I think that in most parts of the country, there is little to no militarization in police departments. From where I am, I am a member of a public safety department and have seen the capabilities of our police department. Our department has only Sig Sauer P320 handguns as personal service weapons, Remington 870 shotguns, and M4 platform rifles inside the squad vehicles. Other than that, the only remaining means of weaponry is a baton and pepper spray. What I am trying to get at is that local departments such as mine do…  Read more not hold "militaristic" weapons, like one would think. My department does not have claymores or M60s, and if I'm going to be quite frank, the weapons that they currently have are great and effective countermeasures to incidents that are past de-escalation.