[chrisseaton]

> Not true. I presume that PSNI, like any law enforcement agency in the U.S., operates with some form of a use of force continuum that ranges from officer presence to deadly force.

That's not what the person you're replying to means.

They mean despite what other options the officer had available to them, they had already reached for the lethal option (drawing their pistol) and from there had nowhere to go but threatening to kill or actually killing.

As soon as an officer turns up with a firearm, you have irreversibly escalated the situation to out-of-control insanity.