Two thumbs down on police armed with assault rifles at Musikfest
The Bethlehem Gadfly
(The latest in a series of posts on City government)
It would be hard to disagree with Chief DiLuzio’s thought that he “will ever err on the side of caution,” but I’m not sure having police officers armed with assault rifles is the way to do that.
There are at least two major problems with this misguided approach:
1. If there’s a threat in a crowd of Musikfest patrons, the assault rifle is not a useful response tool. If officers think their superior firepower will solve the problem, it is likely to delay a more constructive response.
2. It normalizes the ideas that guns make people safer and that having officers with military weapons is the best way to be safe.
(The latest in a series of posts on City government)
It would be hard to disagree with Chief DiLuzio’s thought that he “will ever err on the
There are at least two major problems with this misguided approach:
1. If there’s a threat in a crowd of Musikfest patrons, the assault rifle is not a useful response tool. If officers think their superior firepower will solve the problem, it is likely to delay a more constructive response.
2. It normalizes the ideas that guns make people safer and that having officers with military weapons is the best way to be safe.
“Two thumbs down.”
Peter Crownfield