"a few bad apples"?

[bhsmte]

I'm sorry, I thought the discussion was: "is killing suspects good police work?" which was what Ana the Ist said.
tulc(always thought an arrest defined good police work)

A goofball with a gun being killed by police certainly could be good police work, if it prevented the suspect from shooting someone else.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I'm not sure a story that ends with "...and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene..." can be called "good police work".
tulc(just a thought)

If someone decides to threaten the lives of others with a weapon, I'd rather he/she die than the person they're threatening.

Of course I'd prefer no one ever die this way, but I live in the real world so I realize it's going to happen.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I'm sorry, I thought the discussion was: "is killing suspects good police work?" which was what Ana the Ist said.
tulc(always thought an arrest defined good police work)

Again, killing people who are threatening the lives of others with weapons (which is what happened in the case I commented on) before they have the chance to harm/kill someone is good police work.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

It would seem some here want a world where people are free to kill one another, just as long as the police are not the ones doing the killing.

 

[tulc]

hmmm...just found this site, it seems pretty interesting:
Gun Violence Archive
tulc(thinks it might have some of the info everyone was to busy posting here to look up for themselves)

 

[bhsmte]

Again, killing people who are threatening the lives of others with weapons (which is what happened in the case I commented on) before they have the chance to harm/kill someone is good police work.

Sounds reasonable.

 

[AirPo]

I'm sorry, I thought the discussion was: "is killing suspects good police work?" which was what Ana the Ist said.
tulc(always thought an arrest defined good police work)

Seems to me more like the discussion is "Is the sweeping generalization that all cops are bad accurate?"

 

[Belk]

Seems to me more like the discussion is "Is the sweeping generalization that all cops are bad accurate?"

I don't think that was the topic introduced. That seems much more like something that was (I think incorrectly) presumed about the OP.

 

[Ana the Ist]

hmmm...just found this site, it seems pretty interesting:
Gun Violence Archive
tulc(thinks it might have some of the info everyone was to busy posting here to look up for themselves)

That's really interesting stuff...

Seems you're almost ten times more likely to be shot by a civilian than a cop. About 66% (?) more likely to be shot accidentally than use a gun defensively.

You always hear that if we take guns away then only criminals will have guns...but it looks like they're the ones mostly using them anyway.

 

[Belk]

That's really interesting stuff...

Seems you're almost ten times more likely to be shot by a civilian than a cop. About 66% (?) more likely to be shot accidentally than use a gun defensively.

You always hear that if we take guns away then only criminals will have guns...but it looks like they're the ones mostly using them anyway.

To shoot people perhaps. Lots of recreational shooters and hunters.

 

[Ana the Ist]

To shoot people perhaps. Lots of recreational shooters and hunters.

Lol right...I should've added that

 

[whatbogsends]

That's really interesting stuff...

Seems you're almost ten times more likely to be shot by a civilian than a cop. About 66% (?) more likely to be shot accidentally than use a gun defensively.

You always hear that if we take guns away then only criminals will have guns...but it looks like they're the ones mostly using them anyway.

Which means that an individual cop is much more likely to be involved in shooting someone than a random citizen. There is roughly 1 cop per 250 US citizens (checked several sources, none of them firm, but most of the estimates seem to have this ration). If a cops shot people at the same rate as other citizens, you would need to be 250 times more likely to be shot by a civilian, rather than 10 times.

One should expect the police to be involved in more shootings than an average citizen, just not sure if 25 times the involvement is a reasonable expectation.

When dealing with numbers at these levels, it's hard to make any determination that bears widespread validity.

Of course, let's not lose sight of this thread, which is that in a 30 day span, 40 cops were charged with sexual assault or abuse. The number of police shootings is better continued in the "police in America" thread.