4 ms·

Even before I had a family member killed by police, my rule of thumb has been to only call the police in life or death situations - because the act of calling t

• downerending 6y ago
  This is true. It's also true of firefighters and doctors (among others). The decision to bring people like this should not be taken lightly, because even assuming good intent on their part (which I generally do), you're giving a lot of decision-making power to people that you don't know. To give a specific example, I had a kid trapped once in a situation that I became worried could be a tragedy if they weren't freed pretty quickly. In pretty short order, I decided to call the fire department for help, and I quickly had six experienced guys with lots of equipment to help. But, the solution ended up involving using a rather large, nasty-looking circular saw within a few inches of the kid's head. That in itself could easily have turned out far worse, as blades can break, hands can slip, etc. Sometimes there are no great answers. As techies, we're used to the idea that we can take our time and usually try again if our first attempt goes wrong. Those professionals, though, often operate under time pressure and get only one chance to get it right. I wouldn't want that responsibility, myself. I'm very sorry for your loss.