Word of the day: N.H.I.

As recently as the early 1990s, California state police euphemistically referred to cases involving young black men as N.H.I. – No Humans Involved, according to the study. A police officer involved in the 1991 Rodney King beating had just come from a domestic dispute with a black couple and referred to it as "something right out of (the movie) Gorillas in the Mist."
Penn State Live

I heard this on a recent TWIS podcast and during an episode of Law & Order:SVU. What an incredible thing.

Military personnel are trained to dehumanize their enemies. In an armed conflict, it stands to reason that you cannot afford to hesitate to pull the trigger in a life-or-death situation. However, where is dehumanization suitable as a psychological tactic and where is it not?

In Montreal, protesters joined in a police anti-brutality march, and became violent as armored teams arrived to quell the rowdy protesters.

Montreal police shot a man who threatened them with a knife. The Canadian Press
Another man, also wielding a knife, attacked Montreal police and was shot to death. The Gazette
Robert Dzieanski was famously Tasered to death by police at a Vancouver airport. Youtube
In fact, according to Amnesty International, 17 people have died of Taser related deaths over the years. Canada.com

However, perhaps our blinders are on... because according to Amnesty International, since 2001 over 290 individuals have died after a Taser was used on them. Amnesty International
Canada's certainly doing better than the U.S., however they need to hire a better P.R. agent.

In fact, check out that above link and scroll down to see many videos hosted on YouTube of people upon whom Tasers are being used.

In a military conflict, it's very clear what the rules of engagement are and who is on what side, but elsewhere we cannot have this dehumanization. Police officers, security officers, anybody not involved in a war must think of human beings as just that, Human. Individuals with the same capacities and thoughts and feelings as they themselves hold.

I don't believe there are many bad people in this world, just people in bad circumstances.