For years, police officers in departments like Tucson’s have been learning de-escalation.
They learn to slow down their response to agitated people, to respond proportionally, to lower the temperature of a confrontation, not raise it. Sometimes they fail at it, as we saw in the case of Carlos Adrian Ingram-Lopez, and we demand they do better. But it’s a valuable skill to have — and not just for police officers.
In this volatile era especially, with President Trump’s itchy Twitter finger constantly threatening escalation, it’s important for politicians to put de-escalation to work for the better of the communities they serve.