Former police officer Raeford Davis returns to the show to discuss the latest spree of police shootings. According to Davis while there are plenty of bad apples who join police forces across the country, the real problem is the training cops receive and the willingness of courts to acquit unjustifiable shootings. Davis breaks down the details of the video of Daniel Shaver’s murder from the perspective of a former cop. Davis then explains how police officers are masters at escalating potentially violent situations with the goal of creating arrests. Scott and Davis then discuss the way cops are portrayed in mainstream culture and the stark differences from reality. Finally Davis gives his advice on what can be done going forward to reduce violent deaths at the hands of the cops.

Raeford Davis, a speaker for Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), is a former North Charleston police officer turned voluntaryist libertarian. He now works with cops to reduce violent conflict with citizens. Follow Davis on Twitter @RaefordD.

Discussed on the show:

• Death of Daniel Shaver
• “‘You’re Fucked’: The Acquittal of Officer Brailsford and the Crisis of Police Impunity” (ACLU)
• “How Police Training Contributes to Avoidable Deaths” (The Atlantic)
• “A Police Killing Without a Hint of Racism,” by Connor Friedersdorf (The Atlantic)
• “A day with ‘killology’ police trainer Dave Grossman” (Washington Post)
• “Being a cop showed me just how racist and violent the police are. There’s only one fix.” (Washington Post)
• Shooting of Philando Castile
• “Use-of-force expert: Cop who fatally shot Philando Castile justified in shooting” (Police One)
• “Tamir Rice’s Basically Reasonable Murder,” by Scott Greenfield (Simple Justice)
• Graham vs. Connor (1989)
• “U.S. prison population dwarfs that of other nations” (The New York Times)
• Shooting of John Crawford III
• “Dash cam video from Walter Scott shooting released” (CNN)

Today’s show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; 

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Podcast (thescotthortonshow): Play in new window | Download