Longmire the antithesis of modern police (spoilers)

I'm referring to, in particular, the 2nd episode in Season 5 where he confronts Doc's emotionally unstable kidnapper and voluntarily puts his .45 on the table while said kidnapper is holding the .30 cal rifle on Doc and Walt. This kind of scene played out in earlier episodes also, and I kept thinking, today's cops would shoot her down immediately, and for good reason. At least based on the kind of news we are getting recently.

How often have we witnessed actual police working like this and actually trying to defuse a situation rather than escalate it? Naturally, nice videos like that would be hard to come by. Blood sells a lot better on the local news.

Yes, this is fiction and not real life.

Walt reminds me of the old Hill Street Blues episodes where the cops, more often than not, would attempt to defuse situations instead of shooting first with little or no provocation. In that sense, maybe the writers are attempting to convey a more sympathetic viewpoint to the times where police do try to avoid bloodshed, but you just don't hear about it? Or, Longmire is simply a different breed of law enforcement. More in keeping of the old moniker Peace Officer.



Democracy is the pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. H.L. Mencken