Couldn't agree more. "But other people" is no excuse for poor performance on the part of people who self-select into a job where they are expected to be able to use a firearm proficiently in defense of themselves and others. Incidents like this illustrate both personal shortcomings in the judgement and ability of the officers involved, and institutional shortcomings in the design and operation of a police department which allows officers onto the street with this level of proficiency.
The problem will never be fixed so long as the kneejerk response is to whine about how unfair it is for police to be criticized when their poor actions result in deaths, and how everyone else in the world except cops are wrong for engaging in insufficient worship of the profession. I'm not interested in complaining, I'm interested in seeing actual changes that increase the level of firearms proficiency and judgement in the police profession so this doesn't happen again.
Though, I do agree with others who have pointed out that the primary failure here is judgement, not specifically marksmanship, as it was an unrealistic shot for anyone of any ability. But firearms judgement is just as important, if not more important, to learn than raw proficiency.
