I liken it to Russian Roulette. If you load one bullet into a revolver and pull the trigger while it’s pointed at someone, sure you only have a one in six chance of killing them, but that won’t fly in court (unless you’re a cop and therefore above the law). Less than one in six? Okay, one in 12, or 60. How many chambers does the gun need to have before it becomes okay to load a bullet into it and pull the trigger while you point it at someone?
The threshold for calling the cops should be the same as calling a local gang member or pulling a gun on someone yourself, nothing short of imminent mortal danger. In other words, don’t call the cops on someone (or yourself) unless you’re willing to risk the lives of any civilians involved.
If the norm was for cops to de-escalate situations, that would be different. But the norm is for cops to escalate. That’s literally what they’re trained to do in the vast majority of situations.
