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Police killings in the US are around 40 times higher per capita than in the rest of the developed world. Murder Rate is also around 5 times higher than in the r

Police killings in the US are around 40 times higher per capita than in the rest of the developed world. Murder Rate is also around 5 times higher than in the rest of the developed world. Clearly this are problems that needs to be addressed. My opinion is, that the first step to solve this issue are good safety nets for everyone. Sentence lengths need to be reduced and victimless crimes should not be punished. The prison system must be rebuild from the ground up to reintegrate offenders to reduce the risk of re-offending. Police training needs to be improved as well. It can't be that two sober cops end up shooting a drunk that is sobering up in his car in the back because they are unable to handle such a ordinary situation.

asdkhadsj 6y ago
I'm also curious about metrics on racial bias of police. From what I've seen (in other studies, I've not yet looked at this one) shootings don't look immediately biased. However I often hear how biased police are in their attention towards minorities. But I'm unsure how to quantify that, or what metrics we can use to research that.
twsttest 6y ago
Is selling or buying drugs a "victimless crime" when people's lives, families and communities are destroyed by said drugs? What exactly is a "victimless crime" then? Your characterization of the recent killing of Mr. Brooks is incomplete. Brooks fought against the police and fired a taser (a deadly weapon according to the Atlanta DA) at the officers giving him chase. They were absolutely justified in shooting him. The problem we have in America is that many people think it's ok to fight the police. Almost all publicized police killings in recent years are a result of suspects resisting arrest in a violent manner, escalating things to the point where force is required to control them. Of course this doesn't fit the narrative, so it's ignored.
- xorfish 6y ago
  So the taser is deadly? Why was it pulled in the first place? How many times can a taser be fired? Brooks is running away, are you seriously suggesting that he posed a serious thread to the officers? Nevertheless, the incident shows at best how grossly incompetent the police in the US are,however manslaughter is certainly also a reasonable interpretation. Alcohol is the most dangerous drug. Are merchants responsible if they sell alcohol?
  - twsttest 6y ago
    He was out of his mind enough to fight with two police officers, steal a taser and shoot it at them. Whether or not he was a threat to the officers in that exact moment after shooting the taser he clearly could have posed a threat to the community. So yes, he did pose a serious threat and had to be stopped. He brought his death upon himself through his own actions. My feelings on this are completely independent of his race or other superficial characteristics.
    - xorfish 6y ago
      You know, the US is the only developed country where police officers that are called on an unarmed drunk person, end up killing him. You can find excuses for nearly every instance all day, but in the end you can't expect model behaviour from a drunk person. You can however expect two well trained sober offers to handle something like this without an escalation to deadly force. I mean 40 times higher than the developed world. Do you agree, that this is an unacceptable level of violence?
  - CompanionCubee 6y ago
    >So the taser is deadly? It can be, depending on how it is used. > How many times can a taser be fired? This depends on the model but ones which can fire multiple shots are issued to police. >Brooks is running away, are you seriously suggesting that he posed a serious thread to the officers? Yes, because he did.
collyw 6y ago
You have subcultures that idolize gang violence combined with gun ownership being common. You don't get that combination in most of the developed world, or not in the numbers that you do in the US.
macspoofing 6y ago
>Police killings in the US are around 40 times higher per capita than in the rest of the developed world. Murder Rate is also around 5 times higher than in the rest of the developed world. Police killed in the line of duty is higher than anywhere else as well. The per capita murder rate may only be 5 times higher, but the variance is high too. If you sort this table[1] by murder rate (crime rates per 100,000 of top 100 urban center in US), the number are quite stark. The top 4 cities in that list, are in the global top 50 of cities with highest murder rates (St.Louis is actually in the top 10). >My opinion is, that the first step to solve this issue are good safety nets for everyone. Social spending is through the roof already. Federal budget alone allocates the vast majority to healthcare, welfare and social security (and defense). Then you have state and municipal budget putting in billions more. It's not enough to say, 'spend more'. I don't subscribe to the notion that crime is a result of lack of social spending. Hong Kong has immense income inequality, and lots of poverty, but is a very safe city. There are obviously other factors as well. >Sentence lengths need to be reduced and victimless crimes should not be punished. There is a common trope that prisons are filled with either innocent people or non-violent drug offenders. That's not true, at all. There is no meaningful prison reform (if your goal is to reduce incarceration rates) without also reducing sentences for or releasing of violent offenders (who comprise the vast majority of prisoners). People tend to say they want shorter prison sentences, and then you hear about some horrific rape or murder and there are calls for jailing the individual for life. Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for third-degree rape. In most countries, he would get probation, at most. In most developed countries, life sentences are limited to 25 years with parole typical after 15 years (and no stacking of sentences). Are you sure the American public would be OK with that? >Police training needs to be improved as well. Agreed. It's going to be expensive, but it's worth the cost. >It can't be that two sober cops end up shooting a drunk that is sobering up in his car in the back because they are unable to handle such a ordinary situation. That was a not a clear-cut circumstance. I'm not 100% sure police in any other country would have acted differently in that situation. I fully agree about not shooting an unarmed individual running away. But this situation had an individual who assaulted police officers and stole their weapon and fired it at them. That complicates things for you immensely. This is also where police officer should get the benefit of the doubt because they need to make a risk-analysis to the public and to themselves in the span on 1 or 2 seconds. With no weapon involved, we should expect them to err on preserving a life. With a weapon involved, it's different. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b... [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_murder_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_murder_rate

asdkhadsj 6y ago

I'm also curious about metrics on racial bias of police. From what I've seen (in other studies, I've not yet looked at this one) shootings don't look immediately biased. However I often hear how biased police are in their attention towards minorities. But I'm unsure how to quantify that, or what metrics we can use to research that.

twsttest 6y ago

Is selling or buying drugs a "victimless crime" when people's lives, families and communities are destroyed by said drugs? What exactly is a "victimless crime" then? Your characterization of the recent killing of Mr. Brooks is incomplete. Brooks fought against the police and fired a taser (a deadly weapon according to the Atlanta DA) at the officers giving him chase. They were absolutely justified in shooting him. The problem we have in America is that many people think it's ok to fight the police. Almost all publicized police killings in recent years are a result of suspects resisting arrest in a violent manner, escalating things to the point where force is required to control them. Of course this doesn't fit the narrative, so it's ignored.

xorfish 6y ago
So the taser is deadly? Why was it pulled in the first place? How many times can a taser be fired? Brooks is running away, are you seriously suggesting that he posed a serious thread to the officers? Nevertheless, the incident shows at best how grossly incompetent the police in the US are,however manslaughter is certainly also a reasonable interpretation. Alcohol is the most dangerous drug. Are merchants responsible if they sell alcohol?
- twsttest 6y ago
  He was out of his mind enough to fight with two police officers, steal a taser and shoot it at them. Whether or not he was a threat to the officers in that exact moment after shooting the taser he clearly could have posed a threat to the community. So yes, he did pose a serious threat and had to be stopped. He brought his death upon himself through his own actions. My feelings on this are completely independent of his race or other superficial characteristics.
  - xorfish 6y ago
    You know, the US is the only developed country where police officers that are called on an unarmed drunk person, end up killing him. You can find excuses for nearly every instance all day, but in the end you can't expect model behaviour from a drunk person. You can however expect two well trained sober offers to handle something like this without an escalation to deadly force. I mean 40 times higher than the developed world. Do you agree, that this is an unacceptable level of violence?
- CompanionCubee 6y ago
  >So the taser is deadly? It can be, depending on how it is used. > How many times can a taser be fired? This depends on the model but ones which can fire multiple shots are issued to police. >Brooks is running away, are you seriously suggesting that he posed a serious thread to the officers? Yes, because he did.

collyw 6y ago

You have subcultures that idolize gang violence combined with gun ownership being common. You don't get that combination in most of the developed world, or not in the numbers that you do in the US.

macspoofing 6y ago

>Police killings in the US are around 40 times higher per capita than in the rest of the developed world. Murder Rate is also around 5 times higher than in the rest of the developed world. Police killed in the line of duty is higher than anywhere else as well. The per capita murder rate may only be 5 times higher, but the variance is high too. If you sort this table[1] by murder rate (crime rates per 100,000 of top 100 urban center in US), the number are quite stark. The top 4 cities in that list, are in the global top 50 of cities with highest murder rates (St.Louis is actually in the top 10). >My opinion is, that the first step to solve this issue are good safety nets for everyone. Social spending is through the roof already. Federal budget alone allocates the vast majority to healthcare, welfare and social security (and defense). Then you have state and municipal budget putting in billions more. It's not enough to say, 'spend more'. I don't subscribe to the notion that crime is a result of lack of social spending. Hong Kong has immense income inequality, and lots of poverty, but is a very safe city. There are obviously other factors as well. >Sentence lengths need to be reduced and victimless crimes should not be punished. There is a common trope that prisons are filled with either innocent people or non-violent drug offenders. That's not true, at all. There is no meaningful prison reform (if your goal is to reduce incarceration rates) without also reducing sentences for or releasing of violent offenders (who comprise the vast majority of prisoners). People tend to say they want shorter prison sentences, and then you hear about some horrific rape or murder and there are calls for jailing the individual for life. Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for third-degree rape. In most countries, he would get probation, at most. In most developed countries, life sentences are limited to 25 years with parole typical after 15 years (and no stacking of sentences). Are you sure the American public would be OK with that? >Police training needs to be improved as well. Agreed. It's going to be expensive, but it's worth the cost. >It can't be that two sober cops end up shooting a drunk that is sobering up in his car in the back because they are unable to handle such a ordinary situation. That was a not a clear-cut circumstance. I'm not 100% sure police in any other country would have acted differently in that situation. I fully agree about not shooting an unarmed individual running away. But this situation had an individual who assaulted police officers and stole their weapon and fired it at them. That complicates things for you immensely. This is also where police officer should get the benefit of the doubt because they need to make a risk-analysis to the public and to themselves in the span on 1 or 2 seconds. With no weapon involved, we should expect them to err on preserving a life. With a weapon involved, it's different. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b... [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_murder_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_murder_rate