Nah cops just have to convince themselves and others that they need the equitment to be safe.
Funny story. Back when I was 19 (3 years ago) my parents called the cops on me for argument and wanted to get me thrown out. The told cops i was threatining my life with a shotgun. They responded by closing down my neighborhood, calling SWAT, dispatching a helicopter, and besides the APC they brought in they had 6 cop cars come also. 7 officers with shotguns/ar's and a marksman posted up on a police car hood. I give up peacefully (was sitting on my porch just waiting for one cop car thinking that would be response) They take me to hospital where I'm released an hour later cause I was obviously mentaly stable to the psyc. Well hospital bills me 3k and I still havn't got my guns back from PD. Complete bullshit and overreaction, not to mention I've been sent to collections on a bill I had ZERO control over and was proven wasn't needed. This country is fucked. Also lost my military career over it but can still fight it, if I even get to MEPS (military suicides are so high they don't like touching anybody with ANY records of evaluations or "involuntary" mental health screenings