[lesuorac]

I believe you're looking at the situation incorrectly.

An unoccupied car doesn't need to be swarmed with firearms. It's a car; its not going to shoot you. Its not great that the car was misidentified but the response by the police wasn't appropriate even if it was identified correctly.

Tracking nightmare is not the real problem; it's the abuse of power.

[tempfortwitt90]

Well, if you were the police officer responding to the call... You assume you're about to encounter a felonious car thief.

[lesuorac]

Sure, a felonious car thief that is visibly not in the car. Who are you shooting with your guns out, there's nobody there!

They're not setting up a sting or a trap or anything; they're going straight for the kill. That's a problem.

[tempfortwitt90]

If they were going for the kill... They would have killed the owner that approached them.

The guns are drawn in case they can't see the felon. For example, a felon sees cop cars approaching and ducks down to not be seen, while he loads his handgun.

Until they have a grasp on the situation, I can see why a person would want to protect themselves with a gun when approaching a suspected car thief.