It is certainly more 'democratic'...

It used to be that if you were an 'average Joe' and non-violent towards the police, then the chances of them killing you was essentially zero. On the other hand, if you were actually being violent towards the police, then they might shoot you. It always seemed to be a perfectly reasonable line-in-the-sand. Since most people are basically non-violent, the average citizen had about as much chance of being killed by the police as being hit by an asteroid. Ah, the good old days.

Now, it's much more democratic. Everyone, from back-talking speeders, to people that aren't quite quick enough to comply with often-confusing commands, to people in medical distress, to zoned-out drug addicts, to drunks, to the suicidal, and - yes - even to murderous thugs violently attacking the police, EVERYONE. It now seems that we all have a non-zero risk of death during our run-ins with the law - no matter how minor those run-ins might be.

Thanks Taser. Yeah, thanks a lot.