On: In Iraq, I raided insurgents. In Virginia, the pol...

[frogpelt]

Based on your comment, I completely skipped the first three points.

If the rest of the bullet points are true, the first three don't make a difference.

To answer your question, police officer are not trained to retreat and allow a criminal to get away because they feel danger.

[mikeash → frogpelt]

OK, so why aren't they trained that way? Unless a criminal represents an imminent threat to the public, the police should prioritize safety above getting their man.