FBI reports 27 cops were killed last year. But how many civilians were killed by officers?
The bureau compiles a wealth of statistics on law enforcement deaths: The number decreased by 45 percent compared with the 49 officers killed in 2012. The average age of the officer killed last year was 39. All but two were white. Two were black. Two were female.
Six were killed while making arrests. Five were ambushed. Four were involved in tactical situations. All but one were killed with a firearm. One was struck and killed by a vehicle.
But there is no reliable data on the number of civilians who are killed by police officers each year, The Post’s Wes Lowery reported in September.
The police shooting of an unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson has shined a spotlight on the issue. And early Sunday, a Cleveland police officer fatally wounded a 12-year-old boy brandishing what turned out to be a BB gun. Days earlier, an unarmed man was accidentally shot and killed by a police officer in a Brooklyn housing project. All three victims were black.
Meanwhile, the FBI has warned about “a growing domestic threat to law enforcement” coming from people who believe that state and federal governments operate illegally in the United States.
Earlier this year, two officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department were shot –one in the back of the head, the other in the throat and then multiple times after that–in a pizza joint near the Las Vegas Strip. Their assailants were a couple, Jerad and Amanda Miller, who placed a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and a swastika on one of the officer’s bodies. They pinned a note to the other’s body that read “This is the beginning of the revolution,” The Post’s Mark Berman reported. Jared Miller was killed by police; his wife committed suicide.
There is a movement that believes that the federal government has dangerously overstepped its authority, and within that movement are groups that believe they need to be ready to fight back against any perceived overreach, Berman reported.
Fat Bastardo's Op Ed:
First off, more innocent civilians are gunned down by cops than vice versa and most people regardless of their political stripes believe that America is now a police state nor do they trust the police.
Lists of killings[
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States 2014
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States 2013
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States 2012
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States 2011
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States 2010
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States 2009
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States prior to 2009
Given the militant thuggish behavior of so many American cops many people are developing an irrational blind hatred towards American law enforcement and the government and the righties already have a maniacal hatred for the very idea of government. This is a very dangerous trend. We need to police to be are friends and not our enemies. That said, there is no doubt that police are the ones responsible for why Americans have lost respect for law enforcement. Americans no longer trust the police to do the right thing and their mistrust is not unfounded. A few minutes on Youtube watching video after video of police misconduct will convince even the staunchest defender of law enforcement that America is no a police state.
The problem with law enforcement is not as complex and the lame stream corporate media would have us believe and the solution is even simpler. Back when law abiding citizens like the police policing was a profession. Today policing is an industry as are prisons and medical care but that is only part of the problem. Policing for profit is now common place but beyond that the blatant trampling of the Bill of Rights is clearly another power grab by the corporate fascists. Corporatism is the first step to fascist totalitarianism. The hapless cop on the beat has been seriously brainwashed by the high ranking command and control cops in white.
Policing has become a tool of the corporate criminal elite. Stop and frisk is a prime example of that. The corporatists want to strike fear into the populace and squash any descent. Unfortunately the very few of the men and women in blue are not brain washed or sophisticated enough to see that they are no longer peace officers but rather revenue collectors and thugs for the corporate Nazis much like Hitler's Gestapo.
The solution is not going to be one of violence. Randomly assassinating cops is wrong on many levels but beyond that it won't work to reform American law enforcement and restore it to the days when cops didn't routinely act like fucking assholes.
Most cops are not "good" cops but neither are most cops "bad" cops. The truth is, like everyone else most cop are neither good nor bad. Most cops are "just doing their jobs" and not giving a single thought to the rights of others. They blindly follow orders from the top.
How Police Can Effectively Police the Police
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| Good Cop Arresting Bad Cop: America Needs More of This! |
Since the few good cops will only suffer reprisals for doing the right thing, most good cops simply wait for retirement while the Machiavellian ones advance in their careers. Fear and intimidation is the preferred tool of tyrants. This is often the case in industry and less often the case with a profession.
Grant ALL police whistle blower status and protection and offer them HUGE rewards for turn in their criminal bosses. The good cops will jump at the chance to restore honor to their tarnished profession and the neutral cops will do it for the money.
Policing the police is a no brainer but as we all know we civilians cannot trust internal affairs to do it's job but police can police the police if they are given the support and incentives.
The other solution is to make it mandatory that before candidates enter a police academy they be required to go through intense psychological evaluations and personality profiles.
The Racial Component
Certainly there is a racial component to American policing but I don't believe most cops are racists. Their main reason for picking on Blacks is because Blacks who are often poor are far easier to exploit. Blacks are merely the canary in the coal mine. Police brutality against Blacks is merely another indication that American police are out of control and this is why we as Americans need to not get fixated the racial component and see the big picture.
Related: Race Matters: New Report Shows White Cops Killed A Black Person Twice A Week For Over 7 Years In America CLICK HERE - See more at: http://bossip.com/1018103/race-matters-new-report-shows-white-cops-killed-a-black-person-twice-a-week-for-over-7-years-in-america/#sthash.5yjs0qmi.dpuf
