General Discussion

eridani

(51,907 posts)

13. Lucky for you living in a country whose government bothers to keep track

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 07:38 PM

Dec 2014

ow many police shootings a year? No one knows

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/09/08/how-many-police-shootings-a-year-no-one-knows/

Several independent trackers, primarily journalists and academics who study criminal justice, insist the accurate number of people shot and killed by police officers each year is consistently upwards of 1,000 each year.

“The FBI’s justifiable homicides and the estimates from (arrest-related deaths) both have significant limitations in terms of coverage and reliability that are primarily due to agency participation and measurement issues,” said Michael Planty, one of the Justice Department’s chief statisticians, in an email.

The article you cited says that from 2008-2011 there were 14 fatal police shootings, or 3.5/year. Given a population of 317 million for the US and 23 million for Australia, the equivalent would be 672 shootings per year. Given the "upwards of 1000" estimated by independent researchers, Us cops shoot twice as many per capita.

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32 replies

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Another Police Killing: Disabled Black Man Holding a Spoon. Racists Online Cheer. [View all] eridani Dec 2014 OP

I can see that a spoon might be mistaken for a knife in those circumstances. Nye Bevan Dec 2014 #1

I agree, given SamKnause Dec 2014 #4

Well said. n/t nomorenomore08 Dec 2014 #25

Thank you. SamKnause Dec 2014 #28

Of course you can,he was black after all. morningfog Dec 2014 #7

I'm not the only one noticing a trend, thank god n/t Scootaloo Dec 2014 #27

But a white guy pointing a rifle at a cop isn't at all dangerous eridani Dec 2014 #18

It wasn't a knife! jen1980 Dec 2014 #31

The disdain for disabled people in the comments is alarming. Ilsa Dec 2014 #2

Why can't they fire a warning shot or use a taser first? Why always a kill shot? nt Quixote1818 Dec 2014 #3

Because warning shots are usually illegal and tasers don't have a 100% success rate Lurks Often Dec 2014 #5

I would add that the incident occurred in the garage of a private home in the middle of the night. branford Dec 2014 #9

thanks for some rational thought . . . it is lacking around here in these days of DrDan Dec 2014 #12

If more police departments were smarter Lurks Often Dec 2014 #16

agree - it is pretty easy to second-guess how someone should react DrDan Dec 2014 #17

warning shots aren't legal and they're crazy TorchTheWitch Dec 2014 #6

Odd that this doesn't happen too often in other developed countries eridani Dec 2014 #8

You analyzing with knowledge that the officer did not possess. branford Dec 2014 #10

True only if you believe the part about "came at him in an aggressive manner" eridani Dec 2014 #14

If a mentally disabled man was in a strangers garage in the middle of the night, branford Dec 2014 #15

How was he more dangerous than a white guy pointing a rifle at a cop? n/t eridani Dec 2014 #19

I don't really care, and that is certainly not the legal standard. branford Dec 2014 #20

I don't take it as a "fact" that the guy charged him. eridani Dec 2014 #23

I certainly have no objection to a thorough investigation to confirm the officer's account. branford Dec 2014 #29

happens quite a bit here shaayecanaan Dec 2014 #11

Lucky for you living in a country whose government bothers to keep track eridani Dec 2014 #13

it says right in the article why the officer shot him TorchTheWitch Dec 2014 #21

They always say the victim "charges at him" eridani Dec 2014 #22

Why do you always, without exception, believe the police account of the situation? nomorenomore08 Dec 2014 #26

Can anyone actually visualize this scene? eridani Dec 2014 #24

Here's the thing Tsiyu Dec 2014 #30

The police need to be better trained on how to recognize and deal with the mentally ill Wella Dec 2014 #32