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Tamir was playing with a toy weapon. Looking back, we
all know that now. But, the officers (allegedly) didn’t
believe they had time to figure it out then.

Could this have been handled differently, is the
question that the community has asked over and over.
The obvious answer is yes! It could have been, and it has
been handled differently in thousands of other cases.
They were in a situation where they felt they needed
to act quickly. Should experienced officers have put
themselves in such a situation, in the first place?

This isn’t the first time that these two officers have
had to respond to a weapons call. They could have taken
just as much time in approaching the suspect, as they
have in other responses. This would have given them the
time needed to confirm if this was a toy gun, as the caller
suggested it might be.

Generally, officers don’t pull directly up to (within
a few feet) a gun-wielding suspect. They are trained to
stop the vehicle at a safe distance. Then they exit the
vehicle while using the vehicle as a shield or a protective
barrier between them and the perceived danger. Then,
they call out orders to the suspect, starting with… “Show
me your hands!”
Trained law enforcement agents realize that any
threats from the suspect will most likely happen with the
suspect’s hands. So naturally, they will want to see the
hands. The Secret Service and executive security agents
are trained to constantly pay attention to the hands
of individuals. If anyone in a crowd raises suspicions,
agents immediately look towards the person’s hands.