I wonder if we, as a nation, could push for just one day of cops not having guns. Let the cops actually have to interact with people as human beings while doing their job for just one day. Their itchy trigger fingers are getting way too itchy as of late.
Uh, no, that's not going to happen, nor should it. Cops should have the means to take whatever action is needed, especially in a country where anyone can be armed when something happens.
I definitely think we need to re-think police training to focus much more heavily on integration with the community and de-escalation techniques. Using a weapon (firearm, or even a taser or pepper spray) should be a last resort when all other reasonable efforts have failed, not a first option. Wishful unicorn thinking doesn't magically make our society any less dangerous though. There are a lot of dangerous criminals out there, and I sure as heck would not want to be a police officer tasked with enforcing the law without any means of defending myself if the bad guy is armed.
In the UK, police officers do not carry firearms. But we are a much more violent people.
Correct, but firearms are pretty much banned for the regular population of the UK as well, and they also don't have the same issues with armed gangs etc to deal with.