Non-lethal weapons

I don't get this at all ...
The US police - at least some places it seems - are armed with guns, but have to ask for special trained officers to get a beanbag shotgun or Taser ...? Wow, I'm speechless.
Mind you, I'm not really talking here about shooting and killing a teen armed with a pair of scissors - strange and senseless as it may be.
What I do find really weird is that they are not provided with less lethal options. Double wow.

Story:
A limited number of nonlethal weapons in the county Police Department arsenal may have led to the fatal shooting of a mentally ill teenager who threatened officers with scissors, a newly released report shows.

The 251-page police report on the May 14 shooting of Justin James Fisher, released last week after a Maryland Public Information Act request by The Capital, reveals new details of the case.

Anne Arundel police have since increased the number of beanbag shotguns issued to officers and are considering buying Tasers - plans that were already in the works before the fatal shooting.

Fifteen minutes before officers shot Mr. Fisher, the report shows, an officer radioed to ask whether someone could bring a beanbag shotgun to the scene so officers wouldn't have to kill him.

But no special-operations officers - the only ones who carried beanbag shotguns at the time - were on duty that midnight shift, the report shows.

Source