There are all sorts of tragedies in life, of which, one of those tragedies is when someone who has the responsibility to protect and to serve, somehow misconstrues that protection and service, into the use of deadly force in those types of interactions, in which, that subsequent event did not and should not have had to end with a tragic outcome. The thing about the police in America, is that they are completely militarized, and in certain areas of this nation see themselves as therefore essentially going into hostile territory, and whenever civilians are consistently being perceived as being dangerous to the public safety, or perhaps of more relevance, to those of the police force, even that which is ordinary can quickly morph into the extraordinary and thus tragedy.
There are plenty of people that are rightfully afraid of and leery of the police. That type of mindset, is actually sensible, because police officers seemingly have the impunity to arrest anyone that they so desire, to physically abuse anyone that they so wish, and if necessary, to use lethal force against anyone that gets on their wrong side. For all those that believe that this is an exaggeration, it can't be, because time and time again, everyday interactions between members of the general public and police happen, in which, that member of the general public, ends up having their life terminated at the hands of the police, despite the fact that they were never even reasonably endangering anybody or anything, and were not a menace to the public order.
Those that are taught, that the world is a dangerous place, and of which, lethal firearms and other weapons are absolutely necessary in order to maintain proper law and order, are therefore going to fundamentally see that world as a place in which force is going to have to be exerted, because without such force being exerted on the supposed behalf of the public safety, then society, will invariably devolve eventually into utter mayhem and chaos. So then, for police officers, every encounter with the general public, in which, that officer doesn't feel comfortable, because, for instance, of racial reasons, socioeconomic differences, neighborhood reasons, or an inherent bias, is going to be fraught with tension, and those that are under pressure, are going to react differently than those that are not.
What makes an everyday encounter with a police officer, that turns deadly, so tragic, is the very fact that it need not have happened. When a given person gets pulled over for a traffic violation, or is just walking or hanging out in their neighborhood, or is having a problem with their mental clarity, these are, in and of themselves, situations that do not and should not necessitate deadly force – yet it happens, far too often. The main reason that the ordinary can and does turn into the extraordinary is because the mindset of that police officer isn't right – and it isn't right because that officer sees the society that they are a member of, not as civilized, but as uncivilized, which thus opens the door to taking that action which will terminate that perceived uncivilized element.