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License to kill: US police killed over 1,200 people in 2023 (www.wsws.org)

submitted 9 months ago by PanArab@lemmy.world to c/worldnews@lemmy.world

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[–] Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago

Keep in mind when looking at data like this that we do not actually know how many people police kill. Despite the 1994 crime bill mandating the detailed reporting of every police killing to the feds no one has ever forced them to do it. What we are seeing are only the ones that ended up having an outside entity involved in the investigation (be it of the crime leading to the killing or of the killing it's self).

Years ago, in an interview with a an industry rag Patrick Hendry, head of the NY police union, the largest of it's kind, was asked about this and he answered that "most" killings never leave the department that employed the officer(s) who committed the homicide.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-many-americans-the-police-kill-each-year/

[–] be_excellent_to_each_other@kbin.social 21 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

It total, since 2013, MPV has recorded 12,318 police killings in the US,over 5,000 more deaths than all US military personnel killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other “war on terror” battlefields from October 2001 through October 2019, according to the Watson Institute at Brown University.

[–] Isoprenoid@programming.dev 7 points 9 months ago (3 children)

At what point do we categorise America as being in a civil war?

[–] Limitless_screaming@kbin.social 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

When you can actually defend yourself against the police.

[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If it hits the fan like that the police become an even worse roving gang than they already are. For any well armed and practiced leftist they should be target #1. They have weapons, ammunition, vehicles and fuel in store but are terrible at using any of them. Relatively easy pickings really and just dangerous enough that they really have to be eliminated quickly before they get a real taste of autonomy.

[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You scare the shit out of me but I suppose I take comfort knowing you're lurking out there. Have a great day!

[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 1 points 9 months ago

I'd be perfectly contented to never use a single bit of the training I've done. I don't want to live the beginning of Mad Max, I'm just not going quietly if I have to. The day wasn't bad. Hope yours was at least as agreeable.

[–] bartolomeo@suppo.fi 9 points 9 months ago

It's a class war. Always has been.

[–] SCB@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

1,200 people is nothing compared to what would happen during a civil war. It is multiple orders of magnitude shy of what even a few months of civil war would cause.

As an example, all US cities are within 48 hours of being in starvation all the time. 24-48 hours before all store shelves are empty is generally the accepted logistics.

[–] ULS@lemmy.ml 10 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Anyone know how many police officers were killed by people?

[–] Wrench@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

Do you also get to count police officers killed by police officers (like negligent car accidents)?

[–] Mango@lemmy.world -1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Not enough.

[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 4 points 9 months ago

Wow, what bootlickers downvoted you?

[–] IdiosyncraticIdiot@sh.itjust.works 6 points 9 months ago

~0.03% of US deaths in 2023

[–] pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That still seems pretty low, but I'm sure that not all 1200 were cops abusing their power.

[+] cryptosporidium140@sh.itjust.works 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

[deleted]

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

A car is probably 1,000x less likely to try to kill me because it got spooked or went on a power trip (unless it’s a Tesla, then maybe only half as likely).

[–] Mango@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

That car also does useful stuff until then.

[–] xtr0n@sh.itjust.works 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

278,063,737 personal and commercial vehicles were registered to drivers in the U.S. in 2021.

And

In 2022, there were 708,001 full-time law enforcement officers employed in the United States

I’m too lazy to do the math but I think looking at the numbers of cars and police officers is relevant if you’re gonna compare death rates. While any person is more likely to be killed in a car accident than by a police officer, there a orders of magnitude more cars out there that we all interact with all the time. Is one out of every 700-ish cops killing somebody each year reasonable?

Is there a sense of whether the number of police killings is accurate?

https://www.statista.com/statistics/191694/number-of-law-enforcement-officers-in-the-us

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/car-ownership-statistics/

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 9 points 9 months ago

Is there a sense of whether the number of police killings is accurate?

In most cases the police have no obligation to report, so the reported numbers are going to be lower than reality.

[–] Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

We do not know how many people police kill in the US. Police have been allowed to ignore the part of the 1994 crime bill that obliged them to report everything. The DOJ simply will not look at the situation. So, police killings, go largely unknown. Patrick Hendry, the head of the NY police union, the largest one, was once interview in an industry rag. In this interview they asked about the reporting of police killings and he said that "most" do not get reported outside of the department who employed the officer(s) involved in the killings.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-many-americans-the-police-kill-each-year/

This article discusses this issue however, if you start googling inquiries about "no one knows how many people police kill in the US", or similar rephrasings of this inquiry, you will produce numerous sources discussing the matter. You will have to dig though.

[–] Harpsist@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Isreal: "amateurs!"

[–] bartolomeo@suppo.fi 3 points 9 months ago

According to Israel logic the American people have a right to kil 30,000 police officers in self-defence or until they uproot the bad apples or whatever.

[–] Epicmulch@lemm.ee 0 points 9 months ago

Compare that to how many interactions with cops there were.