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Re:Santa Cruz, California bans predictive policing in U.S. f... by umvi on Friday June 26, 2020 @06:10PM (#23657645)
> Why does a standard highway patrolman or cop doing routine speed traps need a gun?

Because civilians have shot and killed police during traffic stops? And not just with guns. I seem to remember a road rage case in Colorado where the raging driver shot and killed another driver with a crossbow.

Re:Santa Cruz, California bans predictive policing in U.S. f... by andrewprock on Friday June 26, 2020 @06:23PM (#23657740)
It's not clear how "there is a non-zero chance a motorist has a gun" leads to the conclusion that "all traffic enforcement must have a gun".
Re:Santa Cruz, California bans predictive policing in U.S. f... by raarts on Friday June 26, 2020 @06:44PM (#23657901)
As someone from the Netherlands I can say there's a non-zero chance that a motorist has a gun. It's smaller than the US, but it's not zero. Still our cops carry guns. In the US the chances are way, way higher. I can understand that cops are armed there.
Re:Santa Cruz, California bans predictive policing in U.S. f... by starkd on Saturday June 27, 2020 @02:42PM (#23663726)
Because the cop showing up doesn't know before hand whether or not the motorist have a gun. There's a lot of other things they don't know. The person could be a drug/human trafficker, or have a warrant out for him. In which case, they are armed.