Some Facts on the Police, Violence, Use of Force and Race (From Reddit)

[halfback20]

Dangers of Police Work vs. Police Killings

• In 2013, police were assaulted 49,851 times. That includes 897 knife attacks and 2243 attacks with guns.
   
  
• 14,556 police were injured by these assaults, but only 27 died. The severity of the average injury is not reported by the FBI in the data I saw.
   
  
• Somewhere between 400 people (FBI) and 1100 people ("Killed By Police") are killed by police annually.
  
• Body cameras in Rialto, CA resulted in a reduction of complaints by 88% and a 60% reduction in overall use of force.
  

 

Use of Force

 

• About 31 million Americans were stopped (in a car or on foot) by the police in 2011. Of them, about 1.5% experienced the use of physical force by the police. This number rises to 6% if you include swearing, shouting, or threatening force as "force".
  
• About 31 million Americans were stopped (in a car or on foot) by the police in 2011. Of them, about 1.5% experienced the use of physical force by the police. This number rises to 6% if you include swearing, shouting, or threatening force as "force".
  
• About 55% of citizens subject to the use of force thought the police acted "properly", versus 88% of citizens overall.
  
• Of those who experienced the use of force, 65% did not think the force was "excessive", but 75% did think it was "unnecessary".
  
• Overall, less than 5% of people who believed the police did not behave "properly" for whatever reason filed a formal complaint. This includes those who were not subject to the use of force, meaning about 0.06% of police contacts with citizens.
  
• In 2006, the DOJ did a study of 26,000 formal use of force complaints from 2002. This averages out to about six complaints per 100 sworn officers among large agencies.
  
• 34% of complaints were not sustained, meaning the allegation could not be proven.
  
• 48% of complaints were unfounded, meaning the factual basis for the allegation was false; or were exonerated, meaning the officer was justified in the use of force.
  
• 8% of complaints were sustained and resulted in disciplinary action. The severity of the excessive force in question is not reported. This is 0.5 sustained complaints per 100 officers, or 0.8 sustained complaints per 100 officers responding to calls.
  
• Interestingly, agencies that had a civilian review board or a policy requiring external investigations actually had fewer sustained complaints than other agencies.
  

 

Police and race - are minorities killed by the police at a high rate?

• 
  
• Among those who had involuntary contact with the police in 2011, 89% of whites, 83% of blacks, and 87% of Hispanics thought the police behaved "properly".
  
• 13% of blacks were stopped by the police at some point, as opposed to 10% of whites and Hispanics. Of white drivers stopped 2% were searched versus 6% of blacks and 7% of Hispanics.
  
• Blacks and Hispanics were more likely to believe the reason they were stopped was illegitimate (84% of whites, 67% of blacks, and 74% of Hispanics). People were more likely to believe that the stop was legitimate when stopped by someone of the same race (74% vs 83%).
  
• According to Vox, around 31% of those killed by the police were black, 63% were white, and 17% were Hispanic.
  
• According to the FBI, 44% of criminals who feloniously killed police were black, 52% were white, 12% were Hispanic.
  
• Overall, about 49% of murderers arrested by police in the US are white, and 49% are black. About 55% of robbery arrests are of blacks, about 43% are of whites. About 34% of assault arrests are of blacks, about 62% are of whites.
  
• Around 55% of murder victims are black in the US.
  
• Around 77% of the US is white, around 13% are black, and around 17% are Hispanic.
  
• 
  

 

Link to the post. Sources for all above information are in the link as well.

 

The Reddit user posted his/her conclusions from the above information. I didn't post those here. Click the link above if you want to read that part.

[JokersWild24]

Thanks for sharing. Looks like a ton of info and Reddit is usually good at sorting through facts calling people out on discrepancies if the post is popular enough and sees enough viewers. About to crash for the night, but will definitely look through the whole thing tomorrow.

[halfback20]

Apparently no one is interested in facts.

[AverageJoesGym]

Apparently no one is interested in facts.

 

What were we supposed to say about them?

[lawildcat]

I am pro-police so not really anything to say or dispute.

 

People are going to believe what they want to believe based on whether they are for or against the police.

[capt278]

What were we supposed to say about them?

 

You could say that they show that there is no war on the public by the police.

[Michael Corleone]

Obey the laws and respect those who are sworn to enfore the law. End of story

[halfback20]

 

What were we supposed to say about them?

 

I can't tell you what to say. You have an awful lot to say bad about police, figured these numbers would interest you.

 

There's always room for improvement, but these numbers don't support the claims that there's an epidemic of police brutality in this country.

[Habib]

If your purpose here is to refute someone's argument, then why don't you post that argument and how its incorrect. Otherwise it seems you've constructed a straw man and are now making petulant posts about how noone has jumped in to offer contrition over it. Otherwise, I'm not sure what one should take away from this list.

[rockmom]

I'm not sure what to say. I do feel that there is a disconnect in the discussions of these recent weeks. The issue (IMO) isn't one that can be defined with a statistic. No one (with a reasonable, rational perspective) is AGAINST police or any law enforcement agency

The issue isn't racial, although that is being forced and detracting from the real issue.

 

The issue, I believe, is accountability. I don't necessarily think it's a bigger issue than in the past, but that social meDia in particular, has made these incidents more visible to a larger audience. When there are incidents on a daily basis that seem to infringe on the rights of average citizens, yet nothing is done, it makes the averge citizen at large uncomfortable. And we've had several of those discussions recently...the case where the dog was killed, the Ferguson and NY cases, police using force to enter homes that were unwarranted. It's not that anyone is against the police. It's that citizens want them to be accountable in the same way those who don't wear a badge are accountable.

 

Just as those in law enforcement expect support from the citizens they protect, the citizens expect support from the justice system when a mistake is made.

[halfback20]

I'm not sure what to say. I do feel that there is a disconnect in the discussions of these recent weeks. The issue (IMO) isn't one that can be defined with a statistic. No one (with a reasonable, rational perspective) is AGAINST police or any law enforcement agency

The issue isn't racial, although that is being forced and detracting from the real issue.

 

The issue, I believe, is accountability. I don't necessarily think it's a bigger issue than in the past, but that social meDia in particular, has made these incidents more visible to a larger audience. When there are incidents on a daily basis that seem to infringe on the rights of average citizens, yet nothing is done, it makes the averge citizen at large uncomfortable. And we've had several of those discussions recently...the case where the dog was killed, the Ferguson and NY cases, police using force to enter homes that were unwarranted. It's not that anyone is against the police. It's that citizens want them to be accountable in the same way those who don't wear a badge are accountable.

 

Just as those in law enforcement expect support from the citizens they protect, the citizens expect support from the justice system when a mistake is made.

 

Police are held accountable. 4 different police officers were recently charged and arrested in South Carolina.

 

I personally know police that have been arrested in Kentucky.

 

The fact is, fortunately, police as individuals still have the same rights as you and I. I don't think that should change. I don't think police should give up their rights because they are police.

[jrfrank56]

No one is asking to for police to give up their rights. They are asking for them be held accountable when they screw up. Some and I would hope most are held accountable and some are not. You can criticise certain individuals without condemning police as a whole. It is very dangerous when a certain profession is above criticism, especially when the profession is the one with the slogan "To protect and serve."

[rockmom]

I do think the statistics regarding body cameras and citizen review boards bear out my view. When the citizens of a community feel there are tools in place to protect them from abuse of authority the would be less likely to feel taken advantage of. They may also be helpful in keeping a law enforcement officer focused on doing their job without unnecessary measures.

[halfback20]

No one is asking to for police to give up their rights. They are asking for them be held accountable when they screw up. Some and I would hope most are held accountable and some are not. You can criticise certain individuals without condemning police as a whole. It is very dangerous when a certain profession is above criticism' date=' especially when the profession is the one with the slogan "To protect and serve."[/quote']

 

No one said they are above criticism. And they are held accountable.

 

The Brown and Garner cases were investigated and presented to a grand jury of civilians. What else could be done?

[halfback20]

I do think the statistics regarding body cameras and citizen review boards bear out my view. When the citizens of a community feel there are tools in place to protect them from abuse of authority the would be less likely to feel taken advantage of. They may also be helpful in keeping a law enforcement officer focused on doing their job without unnecessary measures.

 

I think cameras are a great idea. Recently they have exposed a lot of liars trying Yu say the polIce did something they did not do. They also help catch bad police.