I’ll say this for the Queen. She was brave—or possibly stupid. It’s easy to mistake the two. - Ben Aaronovitch

It was already one of the hazards of being police that you became suspicious of the everyday. You didn’t have to spend much time on the job before realising that professional criminals are comparatively rare and that crime is something committed by ordinary people.

And what they don’t want you to know, you definitely want to know.

Police doctrine is, even if you’re waiting for someone to do something violent to your suspect, you should de-escalate the situation because at the very least a peaceful solution produces a ton less paperwork.