# A white LEO kneels on a black man and ends his life. And the world erupts... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 4, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075 "2020-06-04T21:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/1 "2020-06-04T21:14:49Z")
I would like to know what the dollar cost of this action will be. Consider loss of property due to riots and looting. Extra personnel to manage the unrest. Hospitals and medical care for the injured. Funerals for the deceased. Use of resources to quell the unrest. Legal teams to represent the accused. Trials, judges. And probably more I haven’t mentioned. This single, horrifying act will be very expensive. Any ideas? Guesses? ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/2 "2020-06-04T21:23:27Z")
You don’t wish to throw new COVID-19 infections in the mix? ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/3 "2020-06-04T21:23:38Z")
I don’t suppose it can be ascertained for years. My WAG would be in the billions. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/4 "2020-06-04T21:43:13Z")
You sound as if you think this one incident caused it all. It did not. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/5 "2020-06-05T03:20:51Z")
Not sure if this is what the OP is getting at, but I think it is. What’s the ROI of one white officer murdering a black man in the global glare? Or rephrase it as "what is the cost-benefit ratio of the PD spent a little more money on training their force, enforcing standards, weeding out the bad apples, etc. The cost is already in the billions in pure direct dollars from the policing costs, the property damage, the looting, national guard mobilizations, fire fighting, medical, etc. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/6 "2020-06-05T03:55:08Z")
Well heck, maybe this is the economic stimulus we needed! Sorry. Couldn’t resist. It’s actually an interesting question, as is **VOW** ’s point about new covid-19 cases. I don’t know that it’s something that can be calculated. What is the cost of centuries of oppression? Even if we coldly only consider the economic costs, surely we can spend whatever it takes to properly screen and train police and still come out ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/7 "2020-06-05T17:56:37Z")
Is this really that mundane and pointless? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/8 "2020-06-05T18:30:20Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I would like to know what the dollar cost of this action will be. > > Consider loss of property due to riots and looting. Extra personnel to manage the unrest. Hospitals and medical care for the injured. Funerals for the deceased. Use of resources to quell the unrest. Legal teams to represent the accused. Trials, judges. And probably more I haven’t mentioned. > > This single, horrifying act will be very expensive. > > Any ideas? Guesses? Any answer would be purely speculative. Could you share with us the point of your asking, and what deeper conclusion you would draw based on an answer? ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/9 "2020-06-05T19:02:27Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Well heck, maybe this is the economic stimulus we needed! [Broken windows fallacy.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window) ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/10 "2020-06-05T19:20:39Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Not sure if this is what the OP is getting at, but I think it is. > > What’s the ROI of one white officer murdering a black man in the global glare? Or rephrase it as "what is the cost-benefit ratio of the \*\*PD spent a little more money on training their force, enforcing standards, weeding out the bad apples, etc. \*\* > > The cost is already in the billions in pure direct dollars from the policing costs, the property damage, the looting, national guard mobilizations, fire fighting, medical, etc. Bolding mine. Excellent China Guy. If the bolded type comes out of this, and it is is successful it will be one large step for mankind. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/11 "2020-06-05T19:22:15Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Is this really that mundane and pointless? No, but it wouldn’t work in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/12 "2020-06-05T19:27:34Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Any answer would be purely speculative. Could you share with us the point of your asking, and what deeper conclusion you would draw based on an answer? Originally it was to see a figure and say, “WOW”. But, I like where China Guy has taken it. Preventing it from happening again. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/13 "2020-06-05T19:28:39Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > [Broken windows fallacy.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window) Great link. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/14 "2020-06-06T11:29:37Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > This single, horrifying act will be very expensive. > > Any ideas? Guesses? My WAG is long term sand-in-the-gears economic drag from cities experiencing their “Day Without Cops”. I’d expect the usual patterns to play out – Black Riots\* -\> White Flight -\> Businesses follow to burbs -\> Fewer opportunities in poor areas -\> neighborhood decline -\> etc. Real estate agents are already reporting noticeable increases in sales in the 'burbs (although driven some by CV). I’ll try to find the link (sorry). [Here’s a 2018 WAPO report on Ferguson MO.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/business/is-racial-discrimination-influencing-corporate-investment-in-ferguson/) - But four years after the unrest, nearly all of the new development is concentrated in the more prosperous — and whiter — parts of town, bypassing the predominantly black southeast neighborhood where Brown was fatally shot by a police officer while walking to his grandmother’s home. The investments, rather than easing the economic gap, have deepened that divide. The sole sign of progress is the job training center run by the Urban League, built on the site of the QuikTrip gas station burned down by protesters. Nader Abde, the 32-year-old shop owner who grew up in the Canfield Green apartments across the street, lamented the slow trickle of customers. Half the neighborhood, it seemed to him, had moved out after the protests. “That’s all we’re known for,” Abde said. “Businesses are afraid to invest.” - \*Whether or not you personally define the events with those words, many do and will react as such. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-white-leo-kneels-on-a-black-man-and-ends-his-life-and-the-world-erupts/855075/15 "2020-06-06T20:02:37Z")
I think it’s gonna cost a bundle, which is way less of a big deal than the fact that this was a murder, and it keeps happening over and over and over again right in front of us for years. Can you even imagine four black men with guns crushing the life out of a white man on video, and nobody even goes after them?