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> All these protests are because police murdered innocent people. I would argue the protests are demanding general change of policing, not limited to killing o

> All these protests are because police murdered innocent people. I would argue the protests are demanding general change of policing, not limited to killing of civilians (dark-skinned or otherwise). There is nothing special about the lack of accountability when police kill. They are also not held sufficiently accountable when they screw up the address while executing a warrant, strangle or punch or kick or taze or detain innocents or torture arrested civilians in a police black site (in Chicago) or (as happened in my city) harass the private practice of the Independent Police Auditor (who quit the role because the harassment adversely affected the business). Every little interaction with police that causes civilians more stress, financial burden, or even just disrespect is a potential cause for someone to demand police accountability. Hell, even when an officer covers their badge number or demands that a video recording of them on the job be deleted is sufficient for me to demand accountability. Police killings in the USA (according to police reports) are a rare occasion (consistently about 1000 per year). The total number of police-civilian interactions per year is something like 100Million (I've seen police unions use this figure).

mindslight 6y ago
You're right about the larger issue. But the murdering makes for the clearest examples, especially to be judged in the court of public opinion. If a cop gets into a small scuffle arresting someone, it's hard to definitively say which party was unreasonable, or to argue it was a false arrest due to profiling or extrajudicial punishment. Whereas when a gang commits a nighttime home invasion and murder, as was done to Breonna Taylor, the lack of justice is glaringly obvious.
- thephyber 6y ago
  Yes, videotaped killings are the most visceral, so they are most likely to catalyze protests, but the 1000 killings a year don't sufficiently explain why so many people are protesting. There's more video of the less-than-lethal police actions that are more likely to explain the crowds that are far larger than in 2015 after Ferguson.

mindslight 6y ago

You're right about the larger issue. But the murdering makes for the clearest examples, especially to be judged in the court of public opinion. If a cop gets into a small scuffle arresting someone, it's hard to definitively say which party was unreasonable, or to argue it was a false arrest due to profiling or extrajudicial punishment. Whereas when a gang commits a nighttime home invasion and murder, as was done to Breonna Taylor, the lack of justice is glaringly obvious.

thephyber 6y ago
Yes, videotaped killings are the most visceral, so they are most likely to catalyze protests, but the 1000 killings a year don't sufficiently explain why so many people are protesting. There's more video of the less-than-lethal police actions that are more likely to explain the crowds that are far larger than in 2015 after Ferguson.