General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKillings by Utah police outpacing gang, drug, child-abuse homicides
Killings by Utah police outpacing gang, drug, child-abuse homicides
In the past five years, more Utahns have been killed by police than by gang members.
Or drug dealers. Or from child abuse.
And so far this year, deadly force by police has claimed more lives 13, including a Saturday shooting in South Jordan than has violence between spouses and dating partners.
As the tally of fatal police shootings rises, law enforcement watchdogs say it is time to treat deadly force as a potentially serious public safety problem.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/1842489-155/killings-by-utah-police-outpacing-gang
Bettie
(15,995 posts)We really can't trust those entrusted to protect us. They are quickly becoming the problem.
When I was a child, I was taught that the police were there to help. Then again, I was a white girl in a small city.
I don't think that is the case anymore. They aren't there to help, they are there to eliminate insurgents. Unfortunately, the insurgents are the people of whatever community they work in.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Albuquerque police lieutenant advertises Killology classes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/11/20/albuquerque-police-lieutenant-advertises-killology-classes/
Killology is a neologism which attempts to define the study of the psychological and physiological effects of combat on humans. The term was invented by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman (ret.) of the Killology Research Group in his 1995 book On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.
Claims
Grossman's theory, based on the World War II research of S.L.A. Marshall, is that most of the population deeply resists killing another human.
Modern military training allegedly overrides this instinct, by:
using man-shaped targets instead of bullseye targets
practicing and drilling how soldiers would actually fight
dispersing responsibility for the killing throughout the group
displacing responsibility for the killing onto an authority figure, i.e. the commanding officer and the military hierarchy. (See the Milgram experiment)
By the time of the United States involvement in the Vietnam War, says Grossman, 90% of U.S. soldiers would fire their weapons at other people.
The act of killing is psychologically traumatic for the killer, even more so than constant danger or witnessing the death of others.
Grossman further argues that violence in television, movies and video games contributes to real-life violence by a similar process of training and desensitization.
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Killology.html
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... they are enemy combatants or peaceful protesters.