Racial divide on matters of law enforcement and policing

[Lyndon]

Ah, sorry, but you know she's the person that called 911, not the suspect.

 

[esmith]

Ah, sorry, but you know she's the person that called 911, not the suspect.

You know now, but did the officers responding know.
And I'm not even trying to justify the LEO actions. Until I know more I'm saying that he was in the wrong.

 

[metis]

With so many guns in circulation, and so much press on violent, gun toting thugs, the police are scared of the public they purportedly 'protect and serve'. They're nervous and trigger happy. Mistakes are made.

Exactly. An analogy I've used before is that having more guns in circulation and believing that this will lower the violent crime rate is like increasing the number of cars on our highways and expecting the number of accidents to go down.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Who said you should? Bias won't be eliminated until Jesus eliminates it, though.

You want to get technical who said I? Only we.

 

[DavidFirth]

You want to get technical who said I? Only we.

Yes, but since you used the we you are including at least you.

 

[Kapalika]

Did I say or imply that we do nothing? Nope.

Intentional or not that's what you seemed to be implying. It's something I've heard before as if "nothing will change' if we try to make X effort to change it, meaning any attempt is fruitless. Okay, maybe it won't ever totally go away. But we can at least reduce it.

Uh, if you are in a profession that has the possibility of ending your life and you are not scared you are in the wrong profession because it will eventually cost you your life. Being "scared" is your minds way of protecting you and you have to learn how to deal with it. Training is the major factor in overcoming fear, some people can learn how to control fear others can not. If you can not learn to control fear then you should not be in a position that generates fear.

By capita fishing industry is the most dangerous profession, Ranching is twice as deadly as being an officer. A few years ago it was ranked number 10 but that's been falling since. By raw numbers, an officer is number 3 with ranching being almost 3 times as deadly and truck driving and truck drivers sales/driving being #1 at about 5 times as deadly.|

How Dangerous Are Law Enforcement Careers, Really?

Also this source:

Police Work Isn't as Dangerous as You May Think | HuffPost

Edit: this source too if you don't like Huff post:
http://www.newsweek.com/it-has-never-been-safer-be-cop-372025

The FBI says most officers die in car accidents. The article does note being an officer is the only job you are confronted with possibly being murdered, but it's main theme is that over the last 40 years the danger of the job has been decreasing steadily to a rate. It notes nationwide deaths at 113 in 2013-2014 and I noticed in the first link that rates have went down even more. And firearm deaths were at their lowest nation wide since 1887 (yes 18) wow.

Something interesting I don't think has enough discussion but the 2nd link brings up the fact that more officers take their own life than die in the line of duty. I think more needs to be done to help those struggling so they don't take their own life, I think that is something any rational person could get behind. And imagine if officers are less stressed or at least get more help to deal with it we will probably see less complaints and misconduct as well as less suicides. That would be a win-win for everyone.

 

[VioletVortex]

I'm sick and tired of everything being "racist". Stop distracting from the real issue-cops are not just killing black people, they are killing people under circumstances that fail to justify it. That's what matters.

If I were a police officer, I would not kill anyone unless absolutely necessary, for example if they were visibly pulling out a gun. Reaching for one's pocket unexpectedly might be cause of the officer to pull out a gun, or a TASER, however shots should never be fired unless a gun is visible and poised to be used.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Uh, if you are in a profession that has the possibility of ending your life and you are not scared you are in the wrong profession because it will eventually cost you your life. Being "scared" is your minds way of protecting you and you have to learn how to deal with it. Training is the major factor in overcoming fear, some people can learn how to control fear others can not. If you can not learn to control fear then you should not be in a position that generates fear.

I happen to work in the medical field emergency department to be specific and we encounter people on PCP, Spice, Cocaine, etcetera all the time. A few months ago a patient stabbed another patient. We encounter danger all the time, but this does not give me an excuse to restrain patients if they talk loud to me or threaten me that is why we take precautions. Same with cops, sorry but again my opinion still stands that if cops are that scared they don't need to be cops.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Exactly. An analogy I've used before is that having more guns in circulation and believing that this will lower the violent crime rate is like increasing the number of cars on our highways and expecting the number of accidents to go down.

You do realize that isn't the basis of this thread right?

 

[esmith]

I happen to work in the medical field emergency department to be specific and we encounter people on PCP, Spice, Cocaine, etcetera all the time. A few months ago a patient stabbed another patient. We encounter danger all the time, but this does not give me an excuse to restrain patients if they talk loud to me or threaten me that is why we take precautions. Same with cops, sorry but again my opinion still stands that if cops are that scared they don't need to be cops.

That's fine everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think I'll stick to experience.

 

[columbus]

I happen to work in the medical field emergency department to be specific and we encounter people on PCP, Spice, Cocaine, etcetera all the time. A few months ago a patient stabbed another patient. We encounter danger all the time, but this does not give me an excuse to restrain patients if they talk loud to me or threaten me that is why we take precautions. Same with cops, sorry but again my opinion still stands that if cops are that scared they don't need to be cops.

Here's the thing that I think @esmith is getting at.
While you are doing your important and somewhat dangerous job, you are in a controlled environment. Somebody else is expected to provide security. Of course you're not going to restrain someone for being rude, however extremely.
Cops don't have those advantages. They are expected to provide the security, and often in chaotic circumstances, where they don't have any way to know who is doing what or why.
The overwhelming vast majority of incidents go off smoothly and professionally. 99.99% of them do. But that's because the cops are generally well trained and trying to be professional under tough circumstances.
I agree that there are bad cops. And too often there blue buddies cover for them. But the blanket condemnation I often see is ridiculously short sighted and I'll informed. I am confident that the efforts of #BLM will result in more deaths of young black men because the police are the main bulwark between them and the violence of their compadres.
Tom

 

[Revoltingest]

People are biased. That isn't going to change.

And people should remember that there are biases other than racial, eg, gender,
class, blue wall, political. Race isn't even the biggest regarding disparate effect.