Our dedicated men and women in uniform need all the tools that enable them to keep us safe. If they need a police tool then they should have it.

Each patrol vehicle should have a net gun which can be used when encountering an irrational suspect. Once covered by the net, the suspect can roll around and fight with the net until they tire out. And the police should not be held responsible if the suspect has taken fentanyl, meth, cocaine, etc.

And lastly, SCC DA Rosen should focus on putting away the bad people for long prison terms. This would solve the morale issues our police have and with bad people put away, let confrontations to address.

The more, the better. Stock up PAPD!

How did they end up getting the acoustic device. I thought was for crowd control, essentially the sound equivalent of tear gas. Can it do any permanent physical damage to the ears?

"The more the better"? Seriously? I know sarcasm doesn't always carry over online, but the point itself is not unheard of so I'll respond.

Any particular piece of police equipment can be evaluated on its own merits, which I hope they've done in this case. I have no a priori objection to this one. It's literally the first I've ever heard of foam bullets so I'll need to learn.

"Stocking up" like it's the Bat Cave is not only poor resource allocation, but exactly the attitude that has brought us to heavily militarized police departments in the US that are like none other in the developed world. It hasn't made us safer either. The most impactful crime I've aware of in Palo Alto is bicycle theft. That's a serious property crime, though I don't think it can be addressed by foam bullets. (I am not talking about East Palo Alto, a more dangerous city in an adjacent county.)

Online I find the claim "The violent crime rate in Palo Alto is 7.7 per 1000 residents, which is significantly lower than the US average of 22.7 per 1000 residents." This is several years out of date and may be pre-pandemic, but I have visited Palo Alto enough since and have not noticed serious degradation. I lived in Baltimore for over 6 years in the 1990s, and I do know what a dangerous city actually looks like. Even there, well-traveled areas such as Charles Village near Johns Hopkins were quite safe except very late in the evening. Palo Alto is a cakewalk as long. Just don't leave your bike unlocked anywhere.

It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. The police are our urban warriors and I am grateful for their service. They do a remarkable job of keeping our community safe and should be roundly supported. Give them all the tools they want.

Why are foam bullets considered a military grade weapon?Who in their right mind would go into to battle shooting foam bullets?