The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Barrister]

So no comments on the report itself?

It's pretty damning against the Ferguson PD.

*cough*

[Martinus]

So no comments on the report itself?

It's pretty damning against the Ferguson PD.

*cough*

I didn't mean you. 

[Ed Anger]

I have no desire to discuss anything with the pack of screeching baboons that inhabit Languish.

[Syt]

http://english.pravda.ru/news/society/06-03-2015/129981-us_citizens_killed_by_police-0/

US citizens 55 times more likely to be killed by police than terrorists

The data on the killings of US citizens by US police are grossly underestimated. It was reported earlier that US citizens run the risk of being killed by a police officer nine times more often than by a terrorist.

However, a careful analysis of the statistics of killings committed by police officers from 1999 till 2002 in Central Florida showed that national databases were not accurate. An average of 545 people killed by local and state law enforcement officers in the US went uncounted in the country's most authoritative crime statistics every year for almost a decade.

According to new close to reality estimates, US police officers kill on average 928 people a year. This has been a trend for nearly eight years already. This means that everyone, who lives in the US, is 55 times more likely to be killed by police than a terrorist.

Meanwhile, the FBI has published a different number - 383 people, which only confirms the failure of the US government to monitor and control the work of the police.

Daniel Benjamin, the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the United States Department of State from 2009 to 2012, said that the total number of deaths from terrorism had been extremely small in the West in recent years. The terrorist threat itself has considerably reduced, according to statistics, but not media headlines.

[Valmy]

Thanks Pravda but barely anybody in the US gets killed by terrorists.

The only number that matters is how many unarmed people get mistakenly shot by police.  If the police are justified in shooting you because you are pointing a gun at them well that is something else.

[Valmy]

Wow, this case is as clear cut as it can be yet Languish racists are still downplaying it. Just wow.

They have done a pretty good job completely ignoring garbon on this issue, but I guess that is because he is such a racebaiter.

[Caliga]

Thanks Pravda but barely anybody in the US gets killed by terrorists.

The only number that matters is how many unarmed people get mistakenly shot by police.  If the police are justified in shooting you because you are pointing a gun at them well that is something else.

AMERIKA POLICE STATE LOLOLOL!

Unlike Russia of course

[The Minsky Moment]

For the Languish "Meh, they're only niggers" crowd : an article where you can read excepts of the DOJ report, so you're not bothered with having to read the whole thing, what with it not being "proof in and of itself of discriminatory policing".

Interesting to watch the DOJ report percolate through the blogosphere; libertarian-leaners are the right are aligning with the civil rights activists on this issue.

An example from Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/03/the-ferguson-kleptocracy.html

Concluding lines:

The worst abuses of government happen when an invading gang conquer people of a different race, religion and culture. What happened in Ferguson was similar only the rulers stayed the same and the population of the ruled changed. In 1990 Ferguson was 74% white and 25% black. Just 20 years later the percentages had nearly inverted, 29% white and 67% black. The population of rulers, however, changed more slowly so white rulers found themselves overlording a population that was foreign to them. As a result, democracy broke down and government as usual, banditry and abuse, broke out.

[CountDeMoney]

Concluding lines:

The worst abuses of government happen when an invading gang conquer people of a different race, religion and culture. What happened in Ferguson was similar only the rulers stayed the same and the population of the ruled changed. In 1990 Ferguson was 74% white and 25% black. Just 20 years later the percentages had nearly inverted, 29% white and 67% black. The population of rulers, however, changed more slowly so white rulers found themselves overlording a population that was foreign to them. As a result, democracy broke down and government as usual, banditry and abuse, broke out.

[The Minsky Moment]

No kidding it's like some strange cross between Al Sharpton and Ludwig von Mises.

[garbon]

Wow, this case is as clear cut as it can be yet Languish racists are still downplaying it. Just wow.

They have done a pretty good job completely ignoring garbon on this issue, but I guess that is because he is such a racebaiter.

Why am I being dragged into this?

[derspiess]

If the report is the unvarnished truth I would agree it's very troubling and exposes some serious issues that need to be addressed.  But since it was produced under the direction of our self-described "Activist Attorney General", it's difficult for me to trust it.

Why not just disband the enclave city of Ferguson and have the city of St. Louis annex it?  I would think that would make it easier to address some of the issues in the community.

[CountDeMoney]

If the report is the unvarnished truth I would agree it's very troubling and exposes some serious issues that need to be addressed.  But since it was produced under the direction of our self-described "Activist Attorney General", it's difficult for me to trust it.

 

[Valmy]

Why am I being dragged into this?

Because I consider you an 'ami du peuple' on this issue.  But if you want to forfeit your seat at the Jacobin club be my guest

[Barrister]

If the report is the unvarnished truth I would agree it's very troubling and exposes some serious issues that need to be addressed.  But since it was produced under the direction of our self-described "Activist Attorney General", it's difficult for me to trust it.

Why not just disband the enclave city of Ferguson and have the city of St. Louis annex it?  I would think that would make it easier to address some of the issues in the community.

Why don't you try actually reading portions of the report?  At 105 pages it a manageable length.  And to me it seems very well sourced - it has statistics and a whole series of emails to support the accusations it makes.

And given the politics involved I suspect that disbanding Ferguson is a far more complex than just about any other possible option out there.