6 ms·

Police officers are killed on the job at something like 60x the rate of the regular population. There is a lot of material to work with here, but if the guy rea

Police officers are killed on the job at something like 60x the rate of the regular population. There is a lot of material to work with here, but if the guy really pulled his Tazer on the cops, he more or less engaged in death by cop.

bruceb 8y ago
It is a challenging job, no doubt. But for some perspective: https://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-top-10-dangerous-jobs-country-tanks/ https://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-top-10-dangerous-jobs-...
- raws 8y ago
  I like the updated source data better it has actually changed quite a bit. https://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries/number-and-rate-of-fatal-work-injuries-by-industry.htmhttps://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries/civilian-occupations-with-high-fatal-work-injury-rates.htm https://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-inju...
  - solidsnack9000 8y ago
    The page says: Sorry, the page you're looking for can't be found;
- solidsnack9000 8y ago
  I am not sure where you are going with this. There are more dangerous jobs than being a police officer — but it is very dangerous, far more dangerous than being a YCNews reader or liberal columnist. It’s easy to judge these things is hindsight but that misses the point.
truthteller15 8y ago
Cops are also 4x more likely to beat their wives. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/police-officers-who-hit-their-wives-or-girlfriends/380329/ https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/police-...
- masonic 8y ago
  Cops are more likely to be accused of domestic violence but less likely to be convicted.
phyzome 8y ago
It doesn't sound like he did that, though, so I'm not really sure what the point of this hypothetical is.
0_gravitas 8y ago
Obligatory 'citation needed'. In addition, I'm quite personally tired of the "they felt threatened" argument. If we are going to give a person such exceptional power (to make arrests, to search a person, and to carry a deadly weapon) it should be suspected that they act with exceptional responsibility, not fear or recklessness. If part of your job description entails that you have the right to kill someone that is a legitimate threat to your own life, you better be 100% sure that that person is a legitimate threat to your own life before you hurt them. Police officers should especially be held to a higher standard, but for some reason they arent, which absolutely baffles me. How do stories exist of cops effectively executing people who are lying on the ground with their hands on their heads, where the cop not only doesn't go to jail, but they keep their job? How is this not absolute insanity?
- solidsnack9000 8y ago
  If part of your job description entails that you have the right to kill someone that is a legitimate threat to your own life... I worry that you are operating from a misconception here. Cops definitely do not have any special rights to kill another person. Most self-defense legislation reads more or less the same as what you wrote: “...you have the right to kill someone that is a legitimate threat to your own life...”. Police officers have the same right of self defense as anyone else — they are just in that situation a lot more often than most people. Cops are not soldiers and don’t lose their rights as citizens. (Are you asking for cops to be soldiers?) Cops do have some special rights to restrain people, make arrests, enter people’s property and so forth, just as you described, but killing other people is not one of them. ...you better be 100% sure... There is only one way to be sure. How is this a realistic standard?
  - DuskStar 8y ago
    > Cops definitely do not have any special rights to kill another person. I think you're confusing "de jure" and "de facto" here. Cops may not have such rights enshrined in law, but they don't end up in prison when they flashbang a baby during a no-knock raid either.
sneak 8y ago
Even if he did, a taser is not a lethal threat. Cops don’t have any right to use lethal force when they are not so threatened. We don’t have to accept “death by cop” as a force of nature any more than we have to accept “death by bacterial infection” - much less so, really, as “death by cop” is an entirely localized problem caused by a policing culture embraced by a very, very tiny percentage of human beings. It is not a force of nature. It can be changed, and straightforwardly.
- solidsnack9000 8y ago
  Even if he did, a taser is not a lethal threat. Cops don’t have any right to use lethal force when they are not so threatened. People have a right to use lethal force if they reasonably believe they are so threatened. We don't require people to be able to read the label off the side of what someone is pointing at them, to know if it is a genuine Glock or a Tokyo Marui replica. As long as people are willing to pull guns or gun look-alikes on armed police and similar forces, there will be death by cop.
  - sneak 8y ago
    Tasers don’t look anything like guns, unless guns come in bright yellow now.

bruceb 8y ago

It is a challenging job, no doubt. But for some perspective: https://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-top-10-dangerous-jobs-country-tanks/ https://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-top-10-dangerous-jobs-...

raws 8y ago
I like the updated source data better it has actually changed quite a bit. https://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries/number-and-rate-of-fatal-work-injuries-by-industry.htmhttps://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries/civilian-occupations-with-high-fatal-work-injury-rates.htm https://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-inju...
- solidsnack9000 8y ago
  The page says: Sorry, the page you're looking for can't be found;
solidsnack9000 8y ago
I am not sure where you are going with this. There are more dangerous jobs than being a police officer — but it is very dangerous, far more dangerous than being a YCNews reader or liberal columnist. It’s easy to judge these things is hindsight but that misses the point.

truthteller15 8y ago

Cops are also 4x more likely to beat their wives. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/police-officers-who-hit-their-wives-or-girlfriends/380329/ https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/police-...

masonic 8y ago
Cops are more likely to be accused of domestic violence but less likely to be convicted.

phyzome 8y ago

It doesn't sound like he did that, though, so I'm not really sure what the point of this hypothetical is.

0_gravitas 8y ago

Obligatory 'citation needed'. In addition, I'm quite personally tired of the "they felt threatened" argument. If we are going to give a person such exceptional power (to make arrests, to search a person, and to carry a deadly weapon) it should be suspected that they act with exceptional responsibility, not fear or recklessness. If part of your job description entails that you have the right to kill someone that is a legitimate threat to your own life, you better be 100% sure that that person is a legitimate threat to your own life before you hurt them. Police officers should especially be held to a higher standard, but for some reason they arent, which absolutely baffles me. How do stories exist of cops effectively executing people who are lying on the ground with their hands on their heads, where the cop not only doesn't go to jail, but they keep their job? How is this not absolute insanity?

solidsnack9000 8y ago
If part of your job description entails that you have the right to kill someone that is a legitimate threat to your own life... I worry that you are operating from a misconception here. Cops definitely do not have any special rights to kill another person. Most self-defense legislation reads more or less the same as what you wrote: “...you have the right to kill someone that is a legitimate threat to your own life...”. Police officers have the same right of self defense as anyone else — they are just in that situation a lot more often than most people. Cops are not soldiers and don’t lose their rights as citizens. (Are you asking for cops to be soldiers?) Cops do have some special rights to restrain people, make arrests, enter people’s property and so forth, just as you described, but killing other people is not one of them. ...you better be 100% sure... There is only one way to be sure. How is this a realistic standard?
- DuskStar 8y ago
  > Cops definitely do not have any special rights to kill another person. I think you're confusing "de jure" and "de facto" here. Cops may not have such rights enshrined in law, but they don't end up in prison when they flashbang a baby during a no-knock raid either.

sneak 8y ago

Even if he did, a taser is not a lethal threat. Cops don’t have any right to use lethal force when they are not so threatened. We don’t have to accept “death by cop” as a force of nature any more than we have to accept “death by bacterial infection” - much less so, really, as “death by cop” is an entirely localized problem caused by a policing culture embraced by a very, very tiny percentage of human beings. It is not a force of nature. It can be changed, and straightforwardly.

solidsnack9000 8y ago
Even if he did, a taser is not a lethal threat. Cops don’t have any right to use lethal force when they are not so threatened. People have a right to use lethal force if they reasonably believe they are so threatened. We don't require people to be able to read the label off the side of what someone is pointing at them, to know if it is a genuine Glock or a Tokyo Marui replica. As long as people are willing to pull guns or gun look-alikes on armed police and similar forces, there will be death by cop.
- sneak 8y ago
  Tasers don’t look anything like guns, unless guns come in bright yellow now.