Police use of deadly force is extremely rare. The bankers kill way more innocent people.

[Guest]

"Another component of the national debate is that police are wantonly killing unarmed suspects, especially if they are black. We find no support for this claim in our data...importantly, less than 1 percent of the victims of police killing in our data were unarmed. In other words, police killings of unarmed suspects—especially unarmed black men—garner massive media coverage (and not without reason), but they are far less common than the prevailing narrative suggests"
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf ... puar.12956

In 2019, 1004 people were shot by the police.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/585 ... e-by-race/

[_Icarus]

Not nearly as rare as it ought to be.

These numbers are wrong though. Since 2015 there have been over 5,400 people killed by cops and 6% of them were unarmed, not 1%.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... story.html

[_moksha]

Thank goodness the Washington Post is keeping a more accurate database rather than one of under-reporting for self-serving purposes.

[_DoubtingThomas]

Since 2015 there have been over 5,400 people

That is 1,080 each year and about 0.3 per 100,000 each year.

6% of them were unarmed, not 1%.

That is about 0.018 per 100,000. Do you know how many people die of a heart attack? The bankers are killing way more innocent people than the police.

[_Icarus]

So now you're gone from "look at these numbers" to "who cares if the numbers are wrong when more people die from heart attacks!"

[_DoubtingThomas]

So now you're gone from "look at these numbers" to "who cares if the numbers are wrong when more people die from heart attacks!"

No, I said the bankers are killing more innocent people. I am not defending the police, I don't like cops and I believe prisons create more criminals.

Although Americans are suffering fewer heart attacks, the rate is dramatically increasing among those under 40. In fact, 20 percent of people who have a heart attack are 40 or younger, a rate that has risen 2 percent a year for 10 years, new research reports. Some of these people are now in their 20s and early 30s, said senior study author Dr. Ron Blankstein, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He said it used to be "incredibly rare" to see anyone under age 40 with a heart attack.
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/new ... ung-adults

It is a bigger problem, but it is not dominating the headlines. The pandemic never dominated the headlines before it was too late.

[_MeDotOrg]

Since 2015 there have been over 5,400 people

That is 1,080 each year and about 0.3 per 100,000 each year.

6% of them were unarmed, not 1%.

That is about 0.018 per 100,000. Do you know how many people die of a heart attack? The bankers are killing way more innocent people than the police.

There is an interesting Wikipedia Chart showing police homicide rates per country. The United States easily outranks the Western World in police homicides, the closest country (Luxembourg!) has a rate less than half of ours.

Clearly we can do a lot better. Think of all of the the military vehicles that were sold or given to police departments in the last decade. Think of the value of that equipment going into the effort of reducing police homicides and better community policing.

And if you don't think there isn't a relationship between the number of police homicides and the percentage of the country that is armed, you just need to drill down in the data.

[_DoubtingThomas]

Clearly we can do a lot better. Think of all of the the military vehicles that were sold or given to police departments in the last decade. Think of the value of that equipment going into the effort of reducing police homicides and better community policing.

I agree.

And if you don't think there isn't a relationship between the number of police homicides and the percentage of the country that is armed, you just need to drill down in the data.

Good point!

[Guest]

Not nearly as rare as it ought to be.

These numbers are wrong though. Since 2015 there have been over 5,400 people killed by cops and 6% of them were unarmed, not 1%.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... story.html

The official reporting of officer involved shootings was so haphazard that newspapers had to collect the numbers themselves. I want to say the Guardian started it.

ETA: the broken clock strikes again: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ser ... e-killings

[_ajax18]

Clearly we can do a lot better.

Do you think it's only the police that need to do better? Would it help any if people started taking the approach of rather than fighting and resisting arrest (right or wrong), complying politely with the officer and saving the argument or the courtroom? Or is that too much personal responsibility to ask from the public?