Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
According to statistics I have read, you are 8 times more likely to be killed by a cop in America then by a terrorist. Sorry if I don't shed a tear when a cop gets killed.
Wow, you're a cold hearted person. You do realize cops have families too, right? Unless you are there when a cop shoots, you have no reason to judge them. Unless you knew what was going down, what was in their heart, their intentions, etc., you shouldn't be talking like that. Moderator cut: off topic
For what it's worth, I'm more scared of the police/government than I am of terrorists. The odds of encountering terrorists is unbelievably small. The odds of the cops raiding your home or shooting your dog or your spouse...or your kids is far, far higher.
How does the saying go? "The road to hell is paved with good intentions".
"There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics." - Mark Twain
If the ratio is really 33/500 then this is a big problem. It is of course devastating when a cop dies on duty. It is also devastating when kids are killed by cops.
Its not a competition.
In fairness, we don't know how many of the 500 civilians were innocent. Obviously, cops aren't always going to make the right decision and some people will be shot through no fault of their own. However, a 33/500 ratio does seem out of range if only for the fact that we hear about cops shooting dogs and innocent people so often. Once the data is analyzed we may have only 10 innocent people shot or as many as 50 - I don't know. Now, more cops than the 33 I quoted died on duty, but the 33 were shot/stabbed. The other cops died of anything from a heart attack to an auto crash to electrocution.
Moderator cut: -
Considering we have about 319 million people living in the U.S., I believe those numbers are very good.
And
Quote:
Shame on every single person who tries to tell a cop how to do his/her job. If you want to do that, then go to school, become a cop and walk in their boots
This seems fallacatious. In this case, no one can ever tell the President or CEO how they should act ethically because we never walked in their boots. This does not give a cop a right to overexert the law (granted they are apart of the exeutive branch, but still).
Cop death outrage doesn't exist because it's ''part of the job''. Unless, of course, we have a cop serial killer people would be pissed. But many Americans have a love/hate relationship with the police.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 08-19-2014 at 08:11 AM..
Reason: If you have an issue with the topic ignore the thread, don't comment on it.
There has become quite the disparity between the police of yesteryear and those of today. Having had interaction with cops pretty much all my life I've seen a heck of a shift in how they think/act towards the public and how the public sees them.
When young you had better odds of being talked to/parents talked to and sent home than sent to jail. You had some odds that an "old time" cop would box your ears, give you a lecture then a kick in the butt towards home. Common sense and discretion of the officer ruled the day.
Now? Now you've got way greater odds of being at the minimum sent to jail.
Cops used to be approachable and would stand and talk with you.
Now? Hard to approach an armored vehicle or feel comfortable going up to a person dressed like they're about to invade a third world country.
There used to be cops walking a beat then it went to car patrol but most in their neighborhoods knew their neighborhood cops.
Now? You pretty much only see them when there's trouble,ticket,incident.
To give you a short answer, right or wrong for many it's become an "us vs them" mentality and neither side seems to care much about the other.
It seems a big change in the attitude/militarization of local police officers changed after two fairly recent events.
The North Hollywood Bank of America shootout and the 9/11 (Patriot Act).
I do agree the police officers today are less approachable than in decades past. Their response is that the criminals are arming themselves more heavily and that the cops have to meet force with force or exceeding force. I certainly don't want to see a cop get killed, but I also don't like to see them roll up in former military equipment from the current wars. It's said that cops are much more aggressive now and not the "public servants" of old.
These Men/Women gave their lives defending our streets. Protecting US! Where is the outrage over their deaths?
I guess this is related to the Brown shooting, I won't comment on that. Just a reality check - A police officer losing his life in the line of duty gets tremendous coverage and publicity. It's a sad event. There is plenty of outrage. They report it on the news, they have public funerals, widows get contributions, streets are named after the officer. And a cop-killer will rarely escape justice (or death).
However - statistically, a police officers job is not overwhelmingly dangerous. Most of the line-of-duty deaths are caused by traffic accidents, just like any other field. Also, many fields are more dangerous then police officer. Thus I throw it back at you - where is the outrage when taxi-drivers, convenience store workers, construction workers, fishermen, all of who have a higher line-of-duty death then police officers, die in the line of duty? Indeed - those are the ones you don't hear about.
Personally I don't depend on a police officer to protect myself. They are usually too busy issuing speeding tickets. Personal protection I leave to the XD 9mm behind my right hip.
And if the police weren't around to provide general control over crime and mayhem, you wouldn't be able to Rambo yourself out of all the trouble that would exist with your trusty gun du jour on your hip.
I don't fully disagree, except that that the "Rambo" phrase is a bit melodramatic since we are trained to use weapons as a last resort, i.e. in self defense. I can also add this common saying: "When seconds count, the police are minutes away".
Also I don't see how it is relevant to the topic - the tradgedy of one occupational death over another. A construction worker that dies in the line of duty is tragic. No he's not out there giving out parking tickets, he's simply trying to do a good honest job and provide for his family, while constructing something to make a citizens life better and safer.
In my slight disagreement with your thread - it's not only police that control crimes, they are a mere component of the entire legal and judicial system - laws, judges, and courts control crime.
Depending on what study you read, they aren't even in the top 10. People think it's a dangerous job because they watch to many cop shows on TV. It's simply ignorance. The top danger component seems to be that they drive a lot, thus are subject to traffic accident deaths. They don't lose their lives because they are in melodramatic gunfights. They lose their lives in car accidents probably for the same reason civilians do - they are trying to drive while texting, eating donuts, etc, or the other driver is.
Anyways other jobs more dangerous:
-Construction
-Farmers
-Drivers/Truck Drivers
-Power Line Workers
-Refuse Collectors
-Iron and Steel workers
-Roofers
-Pilots
-Fishermen
-Loggers
Not many movies made about the above occupations however. And, sadly, there is not much outrage when the above die in the line of duty.
Police getting killed is terrible- just like any other innocent person. Don't tell us we have to respect them- I repect the fact that they have authority, but too many of them take advantage of that. I'm sure it's a stressful job, but that does not justify the MANY instances of brutality and unfaiar treatment they give out on a routine basis. Anytime a person is given authority- a gun and a badge, the tendency is to abuse it. Notice, I didn't say they all abuse it, but the tendency is there- it's human nature.
There has become quite the disparity between the police of yesteryear and those of today. Having had interaction with cops pretty much all my life I've seen a heck of a shift in how they think/act towards the public and how the public sees them.
When young you had better odds of being talked to/parents talked to and sent home than sent to jail. You had some odds that an "old time" cop would box your ears, give you a lecture then a kick in the butt towards home. Common sense and discretion of the officer ruled the day.
Now? Now you've got way greater odds of being at the minimum sent to jail.
Cops used to be approachable and would stand and talk with you.
Now? Hard to approach an armored vehicle or feel comfortable going up to a person dressed like they're about to invade a third world country.
There used to be cops walking a beat then it went to car patrol but most in their neighborhoods knew their neighborhood cops.
Now? You pretty much only see them when there's trouble,ticket,incident.
To give you a short answer, right or wrong for many it's become an "us vs them" mentality and neither side seems to care much about the other.
Very good comment. Most police do NOT act or appear the least bit approachable. The younger ones especially seem to have a facial expression that says "Make my day". I'm not kidding- most of the older ones are cordial, but the younger ones think they are Clint Eastwood!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
