Toy Gun Panic

I see where some cop in Cleveland killed a 12 year old black kid who was waving around a toy plastic-pellet gun.

And earlier this year, also in Ohio, cops killed a 22 year old black man who was walking around a WalMart with a toy gun.

I don't remember this sort of story from my youth - my youth when most of us boys were running around outside playing cops and robbers with toy guns. Of course, when toy guns were more common - extremely common - maybe the real cops were less likely to assume that toy guns are real.

Both cases involved someone making a 911 call. In both cases the responding officers were given incomplete or incorrect information. Did you ever play that "telephone game" where people whisper in each other's ears, passing a message along, and the message gets completely scrambled? I wonder if we would be better off letting the responding officers hear a recording of the actual 911 call.

Drop that replica gun
or your days are done!