Fighting Terror: Police, not Armies
Democracies do not fare well with military dictators, nor when entrusted to overpowering and internally focused armies. Armies are trained, quite rightly, to kill and ask questions later. Police forces are trained to exercise discretion, sustain the rule of law, respect human rights, understand the freedoms we have embodied neatly in a Bill of Rights (but which are more natural law than man made incantations) — all this, even in the face of deadly force. That is a tall order, but that is what they are trained to do.
Emphasis mine, because certain people seem to need reminding. From Robert Charles writing in the Counterterrorism blog “Police, Not Armies, Stop Terrorism.”
Thanks- I should have remembered the italics myself-with thanks- Bobby Charles!