CA - Stephon Clark, 22, unarmed, fatally shot by Sacramento police, 18 March 2018

[bluesneakers]

Being an ordinary civilian is more dangerous than being a police officer. So far this year 264 civilians have been shot and killed by police officers...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/police-shootings-2018/?utm_term=.4421575c63d4

Compared to 16 police officers killed in the line of duty...

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/12/us/officer-shooting-deaths-2018-trnd/index.html

And police officers are always armed, while some of the people they shoot are unarmed or armed with weapons like cigarettes, pens, pencils, forks, scissors, etc.

 

[Tawny]

And police officers are always armed, while some of the people they shoot are unarmed or armed with weapons like cigarettes, pens, pencils, forks, scissors, etc.

I wish I could find the link, but that some should be changed to most.

 

[RANCH]

Police killed nearly 1,000 people in 2017

While many of the year-to-year patterns remain consistent, the number of unarmed black males killed in 2017 declined from two years ago. Last year, police killed 19, a figure tracking closely with the 17 killed in 2016. In 2015, police shot and killed 36 unarmed black males.

Police again most frequently used fatal force after encountering people armed with knives or guns, killing 735, a number nearly identical to the 734 armed people and killed in 2015. The number was slightly lower in 2016, with 693 armed with either type of weapon.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/05/police-killed-nearly-1000-people-in-2017/

 

[everybodhi]

The injury rate for state and local government employees is higher than in private sector occupations, but the problem is police officers are in a category with firefighters (at least in every report I've seen) so there's no way to tell what law enforcement's specific rate is or what causes those injuries.

The chart separates LE and firemen but doesn’t break down the causes.
The only charts I can find on causes, it is by total work force and not broken down by occupation.

Police and sheriff officers had 10 deaths per 100,000 workers.
Firemen had 8.

 

[RANCH]

I wonder what the death rate of police officers would be if they didn't use their firearms against armed suspects. I would like to see the death rate of officers to be zero. JMO

 

[everybodhi]

Police killed nearly 1,000 people in 2017

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/05/police-killed-nearly-1000-people-in-2017/

They sure are consistent, it almost looks like they are operating under a quota, they are so consistent.

264 people have been shot and killed by police in 2018

 

[Rocky1]

I wonder what the death rate of police officers would be if they didn't use their firearms against armed suspects. I would like to see the death rate of officers to be zero. JMO

I agree. I would also like the death rate of unarmed people to be zero as well.

 

[everybodhi]

I wonder what the death rate of police officers would be if they didn't use their firearms against armed suspects. I would like to see the death rate of officers to be zero. JMO

I wonder what the death rate of civilians would be if police didn’t use their firearms to kill unarmed suspects? I would like it to be zero, too.


There are huge racial disparities in how US police use force

 

[Cappuccino]

I wonder what the death rate of police officers would be if they didn't use their firearms against armed suspects. I would like to see the death rate of officers to be zero. JMO

I don't think anybody objects to police officers using their firearms against armed suspects. I would like to see the death rate of unarmed suspects to be zero.

 

[bluesneakers]

The chart separates LE and firemen but doesn’t break down the causes.
The only charts I can find on causes, it is by total work force and not broken down by occupation.

Police and sheriff officers had 10 deaths per 100,000 workers.
Firemen had 8.

The most dangerous jobs are usually measured by fatalities so I was looking at injuries. I notice a lot of police officers die in automobile accidents and shootings, but how many are injured in shootings and automobile accidents? Although I'm not sure the results would change law enforcement' position on the most dangerous occupation's list because I couldn't find any specific on the job injuries reports for law enforcement.

 

[bluesneakers]

I wonder what the death rate of police officers would be if they didn't use their firearms against armed suspects. I would like to see the death rate of officers to be zero. JMO

I don't think anyone here wants to see police officers die in shootings with armed suspects.

 

[RANCH]

I wonder what the death rate of civilians would be if police didn’t use their firearms to kill unarmed suspects? I would like it to be zero, too.

There are huge racial disparities in how US police use force

Since the majority of police shootings involve armed suspects reducing the number of unarmed civilian deaths to zero wouldn't be a big number out of the nearly 1000 civilian deaths per year. JMO

 

[Orville Butch]

Since the majority of police shootings involve armed suspects reducing the number of unarmed civilian deaths to zero wouldn't be a big number out of the nearly 1000 civilian deaths per year. JMO

Zero unarmed civilian murder by police is absolutely attainable with the correct changes from police.

 

[Cappuccino]

Since the majority of police shootings involve armed suspects reducing the number of unarmed civilian deaths to zero wouldn't be a big number out of the nearly 1000 civilian deaths per year. JMO

And your point is? Do you think its not a big deal to reduce extra judicial killings of unarmed suspects to zero just because it won't clean up the statistics much?

Imagine if you or someone in your immediate family was among the statistics of unarmed suspects shot dead by the police - I bet you wouldn't care so much about the numbers then.

 

[bluesneakers]

Since the majority of police shootings involve armed suspects reducing the number of unarmed civilian deaths to zero wouldn't be a big number out of the nearly 1000 civilian deaths per year. JMO

Killed by police in 2017:

68 victims were unarmed
26 victims were armed with a toy weapon
At least one was armed with a pen

And 236 victims had a mental illness

Whatever the percentages are those numbers are too high.

 

[bluesneakers]

And your point is? Do you think its not a big deal to reduce extra judicial killings of unarmed suspects to zero just because it won't clean up the statistics much?

Imagine if you or someone in your immediate family was among the statistics of unarmed suspects shot dead by the police - I bet you wouldn't care so much about the numbers then.

Every one of those lives is as valuable as anyone's.

 

[RANCH]

And your point is? Do you think its not a big deal to reduce extra judicial killings of unarmed suspects to zero just because it won't clean up the statistics much?

Imagine if you or someone in your immediate family was among the statistics of unarmed suspects shot dead by the police - I bet you wouldn't care so much about the numbers then.

I'm just stating the facts. I don't want anyone to die. JMO

 

[Cappuccino]

I'm just stating the facts. I don't want anyone to die. JMO

The facts are fairly ugly, and not wanting anyone to die won't make them prettier. If I lived in Sacramento I wouldn't be sitting around not wanting anyone to die, I'd be out joining in with the protesters.

 

[RANCH]

The facts are fairly ugly, and not wanting anyone to die won't make them prettier. If I lived in Sacramento I wouldn't be sitting around not wanting anyone to die, I'd be out joining in with the protesters.

I'll pass on joining the protesters. The facts are what they are. I stand by my feelings on not wanting anyone to die. I'm sorry that isn't good enough for you.

 

[Cappuccino]

I'll pass on joining the protesters. The facts are what they are. I stand by my feelings on not wanting anyone to die. I'm sorry that isn't good enough for you.

It doesn't really matter what's good enough for me, the facts are objectively ugly. Your local police force has committed an extra judicial killing and you will "pass on joining the protesters." Why, I'm not even going to ask, (because I already know the answer).