Being a police officer just isn't all that dangerous. Period. Truck drivers have a fatality rate 2x that of cops. And it isn't just the obvious jobs (logging, roofing, etc). Landscapers, farmers, garbage men....all have fatality rates that are higher than a police officer. I am tired of hearing about how they are laying their life on the line in the most dangerous job and they need special toys to do their job. They chose to do the job, it wasn't like they were forced into it. Hell, "misc ag workers" are 11th on the list and that category is basically filled with people who are working that job because they don't have any other choice.
Maybe we should adopt the model of the UK and TAKE GUNS AWAY FROM PATROL OFFICERS - they have firearms units that are called in when they are needed. Else they rely on non-lethal weapons. Maybe then cops will learn to de-escalate with something other than a gun. And Atatiana would still be alive. Oh, you doth protest that it leaves them undefended against all those people with guns? Maybe there should be a debate about that. Let's not forget the police kill more people each year than all of our "mass shootings" combined. And the largest group of gun violence victims are suicides (60% of all shooting victims)
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by nycnick.
Mentality of Danger
I think every time this happens, someone needs to point out that police work just isn't all that dangerous. A quick google search brought up this https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/01/08/most-dangerous-jobs-us-where-fatal-injuries-happen-m ost-often/38832907/
Being a police officer just isn't all that dangerous. Period. Truck drivers have a fatality rate 2x that of cops. And it isn't just the obvious jobs (logging, roofing, etc). Landscapers, farmers, garbage men....all have fatality rates that are higher than a police officer. I am tired of hearing about how they are laying their life on the line in the most dangerous job and they need special toys to do their job. They chose to do the job, it wasn't like they were forced into it. Hell, "misc ag workers" are 11th on the list and that category is basically filled with people who are working that job because they don't have any other choice.
Cops need guns to protect against guns? More googling shows there are about 1.1m total law enforcement officers in the US, https://www.odmp.org/search/year?year=2018 show that 164 were killed in the line of duty last year. A .01% fatality rate. 52 were killed by guns. A .004% rate. BTW, 709 people have been shot and killed by police this year (we have averaged about 1k/yr the past few). https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/police-shootings-2019/
Maybe we should adopt the model of the UK and TAKE GUNS AWAY FROM PATROL OFFICERS - they have firearms units that are called in when they are needed. Else they rely on non-lethal weapons. Maybe then cops will learn to de-escalate with something other than a gun. And Atatiana would still be alive. Oh, you doth protest that it leaves them undefended against all those people with guns? Maybe there should be a debate about that. Let's not forget the police kill more people each year than all of our "mass shootings" combined. And the largest group of gun violence victims are suicides (60% of all shooting victims)
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by nycnick.
Submit a story now.