US Police Kill More Civilians In March Than UK Police Killed In 100 Years

[closeupready]

From April of 2015:

The following statistics seem impossible to believe. While I wonder how accurately the UK has been tracking these numbers historically, the enormous spread seems much too large to ignore, and is a national embarrassment that should be dealt with immediately.

From the Free Thought Project:

A new report by ThinkProgress.com unearthed disturbing figures when it came to the number of police-related deaths that occurred in America in the month of March alone.

Just last month, in the 31 days of March, police in the United States killed more people than the UK did in the entire 20th century. In fact, it was twice as many; police in the UK only killed 52 people during that 100 year period.

According to the report by ThinkProgess, in March alone, 111 people died during police encounters — 36 more than the previous month.

This high number in March increased the average for police killings from every 8.5 hours, to nearly 1 police killing every 6.5 hours in the US.

China, whose population is 4 and 1/2 times the size of the United States, recorded 12 killings by law enforcement officers in 2014.

On average, US police kill people at a rate 70 times higher than any of the other first world countries as they “protect and serve” the American citizens.

This is not what freedom looks like.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-08/us-police-kill-more-civilians-march-uk-police-killed-100-years

Separate link to the underlying data source:

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/american-cops-killed-people-month-march-uk-entire-20th-century/

[JEB]

1. Fascism. eom

[orwell]

2. Obviously...

...we need more guns!

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. I think the country being awash in guns has something to do with it.

A lot of the people cops killed had guns.

And the cops' fear of someone pulling a gun on them is understandable.

Guns are only part of the explanation, but they are part of the explanation.

[closeupready]

4. What does "awash in guns" mean? Israel and Switzerland are "awash in guns".

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. It means more than 300 million guns in this country.

According to this wikipedia chart, the US tops the world in per capita gun ownership:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country

It has the US at 88.8 per hundred, Switzerland at about half that (45.7). The chart doesn't mention Israel.

In Switzerland and Israel, a significant number of former military have government-owned rifles in their possession. Those numbers are not included in the rankings. But a former soldier keeping a government-owned rifle in case of war is a bit different from most civilian gun ownership.

I'm saying the large number of guns in the US has something to do with this. Not everything.

[closeupready]

6. If correlation is causation, then life causes death.

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. I'm sorry, I just think having 300 million guns laying around might have something to do with it.

I'm not proposing taking away your guns, just making an observation. I guess it's just one of the prices we've decided we're willing to pay to have all our guns.

[closeupready]

8. Well to be honest, this really is an off-topic thread for GD but

I posted it in response to the PRIOR off-topic gun thread that was left unlocked, even though that was equally off-topic.

As to your last point, I was going to respond in one way, but then upon further reflection, I realized that the statistical finding referenced in my opening post underscores for some people why they want these weapons for themselves in the face of a law enforcement establishment with local jurisdictions which are either unable or unwilling to hold accountable members of their law enforcement personnel who murder civilians - some who are UNARMED. Until jurisdictions take away lethal weapons from ALL LEO's, there are going to be many who oppose any and all measures designed to leave them at a disadvantage against abusive and dangerous cops.

[Cal33]

9. And the British policemen normally do not carry firearms. They do so only in exceptional cases.

This applies to England, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland policemen do carry firearms.

Firearms do make killing easier.

[eridani]

10. Would like to see the per capita results n/t

[davidn3600]

11. But...they also have far less population

Population of Great Britain is 63 million. Population of the United States is 320 million.

However, I am sure it would still be a big difference even if you take population into account.

[Jappleseed]

13. Not 1200 times less.

Quite a stretch for sure.

[seveneyes]

12. The UK has 320 million people living there like the US has?

Who knew.

[nilesobek]

14. I don't have the stats handy but I'm absolutely sure

that per capita, taking into account the population difference, which is roughly a 5-1 ratio, then you would find that Great Britain, overall, has a shockingly low gun violence rate in comparison to the USA. Embarrassing and shameful. The USA is trying to fit every violent and negative stereotype that is tossed around Europe these days: Dumb, fat, and prone to gun violence.

I love America and its unique cultures but the guns and killing culture isn't one of them.