The quest for a more just and better system.
This is kind of simplistic, obviously, but it makes a good point that I think is worth exploring a little more.
Yes, legally, every person killed by a cop is innocent in the sense that they have not yet been convicted of a crime that they are suspected of committing in a court of law and once killed, they will never have the opportunity to defend themselves.
That's one of many things that makes it a tragedy whenever cops use lethal force.
That said... By the same argument and logic:Cops who kill suspects as a part of carrying out their duties to enforce the law are also innocent (presumably of murder) until proven guilty in a court of law.
In a more just and better system, cops would kill almost no one and would be able to bring virtually all criminals in alive so that they could be tried for their crimes... But also, when cops do kill people, they would be given a fair and impartial trial that does not give them special immunities and protections from prosecution, favorable treatment by judges and juries, and have a nearly guaranteed chance of not being held accountable for the fact that they took a life.
You'd think that cops would welcome this, in the same way you'd think that they'd be thrilled to wear functioning body cams. Because if they actually had to kill someone to prevent themselves or others from becoming the victims of a violent crime, that would come out on tape and in court.
But cops often don't welcome this and instead fight to hold onto secrecy and prosecutorial immunity... which makes me think that way more often than not, they're killing people in contexts that a court would not exonerate.
Anyway... There's some meme overanalyzation for ya.