http://killedbypolice.net/
And this number is probably low since the site just posts what people find reported in the news.
And this number is probably low since the site just posts what people find reported in the news.
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356 people killed by police this year as of April 21, 2015
- Thread starter ksen
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Don't forget Canada. Our cops have killed 13 people this year. We're a distant second, but you can't count us out yet!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_Canada
It's really only 12, though, since one of the victims had made an offensive tweet against a Premier, so we can't really blame the cops for gunning the fucker down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_Canada
It's really only 12, though, since one of the victims had made an offensive tweet against a Premier, so we can't really blame the cops for gunning the fucker down.
You're not trying to insinuate that all these deaths were unjustified, are you? Have you read the links?
ronburgundy
Contributor
I randomly clicked on three of the links.
One was a man who a child wittiness claimed had his hands up as he got out of his car, but the cops claim to have found a gun on the scene. So, unclear as to justification.
The second was a man who was beating a woman, took her hostage and fled the scene when cops arrived, the car died as he tried to enter the freeway going the wrong direction, then he began strangling the woman in the car. Fairly clear that is was justified.
The third was a random pedestrian that cops hit with their car as they were pursuing a suspect. IOW, a random auto accident guaranteed to occur sometimes because cars are dangers and cops drive cars (so "justification" is irrelevant).
One was a man who a child wittiness claimed had his hands up as he got out of his car, but the cops claim to have found a gun on the scene. So, unclear as to justification.
The second was a man who was beating a woman, took her hostage and fled the scene when cops arrived, the car died as he tried to enter the freeway going the wrong direction, then he began strangling the woman in the car. Fairly clear that is was justified.
The third was a random pedestrian that cops hit with their car as they were pursuing a suspect. IOW, a random auto accident guaranteed to occur sometimes because cars are dangers and cops drive cars (so "justification" is irrelevant).
I'm insinuating that being on track to have police officers kill over 1,100 citizens this year is unacceptable.
ronburgundy
Contributor
So, you are insinuating that cops should only ask nicely for men to stop killing their wive's, and wait patiently for them to finish strangling them.
I find shooting a guy who is strangling the woman he was beating and is now holding hostage to not only acceptable, but laudable.
Seriously? You're responding to his post as if he's trying to claim that every one of them was a bad shooting and he was against each specific instance there?
Yes, that's exactly what I'm insinuating. The bitch probably burned his Earl Grey so she had it coming.
I think people are seriously responding to the post as if this list is attempting to overinflate the statistics to make the problem of bad police shootings sound worse than it really is.
I think the mere fact of that high a number properly inflates it. There are some times when it's appropriate for the police to shoot somebody (note my example above where a guy had made an offensive tweet about the leader of a province), but the American police are clearly way more trigger happy than they need to be with no corresponding benefit to reduced crime as a result.
Jimmy Higgins
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Worse than it really is? The problem is... we don't know what "really is" actually is.
If you ask the random person they probably wouldn't guess over 1000 Americans are killed by the Police every year. Certainly not everyone is a needless killing. But even if only 1 in 10 are needless, that is over 100 people murdered by police in this nation.
In the same period, Canadian police have only managed to kill one person in a car accident and it looks like the Brits haven't found themselves running anybody over. If the US police are as careless behind the wheel as they are when they're pointing a gun at somebody, it's simply one more area they need better training in.
OK, so again, if you're trying to call attention to needless killing why make a big list that includes justified killings and accidents?
If you were trying to draw attention to rape would you make a big list of all the times people had sex?
This does not actually answer the question of what the point of keeping the list is. Or starting a thread about it.
Will you post a thread about people killed by postal workers or brain surgeons soon too?
Jimmy Higgins
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Because there appears to be no full list of the total number of people killed by cops. I mean seriously, Patron Saint of the Status Quo dismal. If you don't amass all of the accidental and legit incidents, you can't look at the unlawful uses of force with any sort of perspective.
If I were trying to make a point, I would try not to use a ridiculous analogy that has little similarity with the discussion at hand.
This does not actually answer the question of what the point of keeping the list is.
It does answer the question of what the point of keeping the list is. It answers it exactly.
I've already said what my point was in starting this thread.
No, but I might start a thread about how some libertarian leaning folks are more concerned about people talking about government agent initiated deaths than about government agent initiated deaths.
Jimmy Higgins
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If this were about malpractice, stats on people who died during operations or poor treatment by brain surgeons would be rather relevant.
Kind of like how stats regarding those killed by cops would be relevant in a discussion people killed by cops.
Postal workers are government agents.