Jogills, my point was in retort to Chris`s comment : ".As Biden said had it been Black Americans walking in to the house they would have been faced with a far greater force and I am totally sure none would have gained entry not even armed with machine guns".
The comment by Mr Biden, and echoed by many news media prior to the report of the killed officer, was effectively implying that police officers would have tried harder to prevent black people from entering the Capitol. As ridiculous as that is, that`s how police would read his comment - and that`s how some of the LE people I am acquainted with in the US inferred Mr B`s words. Well, I don`t know what additional effort and extra commitment Officer Brian Sicknick, RIP, could have made. My point was not about Trump - he`s a twat. Because of the behaviour of a minority of bad cops, LE in the US is under far greater siege than we saw at the Capitol Building !
It`s interesting to read comments from all and sundry about how armed police failed to stop the mob. All i`d say, bearing in mind that no two situations are ever the same, unless the officers (who are overwhelmingly ordinary people) feel it is right to literally start shooting everyone (which they wouldn`t - ask Nobby) , it`s very very difficult to stand there outnumbered and effectively stop an advancing crowd - especially when the zone is spread and non-uniform. I`ve been in that sort of situation (and injured) and when people are in sufficient numbers and determined to break through, they often will do just that (ask Buddha ). In the UK we might not be the same as the U.S. (where i`ve also worked with metropolitan LE) but there are lots of similarities.
Police here police by consent - policing is going through a big change. Frankly, I don`t know why anyone would want to join the Service these days (of course, I respect those that do) as the public don`t seem to be decided on what sort of police service they want. I`m afraid to say that the direction we are headed is the French style of policing where public order and similar matters are the primary domain of separate heavily armed riot forces . Once we get there, there will be no turning back.
Sorry for the novel, I feel strongly about this.