# Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942 "2014-10-10T07:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 322
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6421 "2015-10-08T17:36:31Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Well let’s wait for Smapti’s explanation of how those children are dangerous and deserved to die. Why on Earth would I say a thing like that? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6422 "2015-10-08T17:45:37Z")
Because anyone who disagrees with somebody must be evil ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6423 "2015-10-08T20:18:21Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Why on Earth would I say a thing like that? Because you seem to think that people deserve to be killed by police for the most insane things, and you’ve already demonstrated that children are not excused in your thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6424 "2015-10-08T20:29:40Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Because you seem to think that people deserve to be killed by police for the most insane things, and you’ve already demonstrated that children are not excused in your thinking. Were those children killed by police? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6425 "2015-10-08T23:43:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Why on Earth would I say a thing like that? Because you’re a literal monster with absolutely no moral sense? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6426 "2015-10-09T04:30:15Z")
North Charleston, SC will pay $6.5 million settlement to the family of Walter Scott. Mr. Scott was shot and killed by former-Officer Michael Slager last April. A bystander’s video exposed Slager’s lies and the murder he committed. [Story here](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/154bf154d119432bb79e242e2ce42ee3/city-pay-65m-settlement-family-man-shot-cop). ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6427 "2015-10-09T20:51:34Z")
[Interesting _Washington Post_ story](http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2015/10/08/police-withhold-videos-despite-vows-of-transparency/), “Police withhold videos despite vows of transparency”: > [@](#): > > Nationwide, police have shot and killed 760 people since January, according to a Washington Post database tracking every fatal shooting. Of those, The Post has found 49 incidents captured by body camera, or about 6 percent. Remind me again how many people are killed by police in other first world countries. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6428 "2015-10-09T21:08:35Z")
Police pretty much straight out murder a man by denying him medical treatment and telling 911 to ignore calls. [http://news.yahoo.com/video-california-officers-ignored-dying-mans-distress-095125822.html](http://news.yahoo.com/video-california-officers-ignored-dying-mans-distress-095125822.html) Then the sick bastards deny any wrongdoing and smear him as a 'major drug dealer" even though no drugs were found in his house. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6429 "2015-10-09T21:09:00Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Remind me again how many people are killed by police in other first world countries. What a coincidence – I did a post on this before (comparing US and UK): > [@Do any other wealthy, developed nations have the level of police violence in the US](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-wealthy-developed-nations-have-the-level-of-police-violence-in-the-us/717153/16): > > Police in the United States killed more people in [March 2015](http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/04/01/3641143/use-of-force-incidents-march/) than police in the UK have killed in the last [115 years](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_Kingdom). > > Here’s how the per-capita math works out: > > The US has a lot more gun violence than the UK – the US has about 9000 gun murders per year, and the UK has only about 30 gun murders per year – adjust for population, and we find that the US has about 60 times the gun homicides per capita of the UK. > > But this is not even close to the difference in killings-by-police: 12 months \* 115 years \* ~300 mil/~60 mil = 6900… multiply that by ~3 (the US killed 3 times as many in March 2015 as the UK killed in the last 115 years) and the US has about 20,000 times more killings by police per capita than the UK. > > How about per-gun-murder? Back of the envelope math… US police kill more than 300 times as many people _per gun murder_ as UK police kill. > > There is way more going on here than just a difference in gun amounts, or gun violence. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6430 "2015-10-09T21:13:12Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Remind me again how many people are killed by police in other first world countries. [Remind me again how many people are armed in other first world countries.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/GunsPer100_10052015.png) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6431 "2015-10-09T21:18:39Z")
Well, then we circle back to the beginning. The idea that our police are too violent, too prone to resorting to deadly force, too prone to illegal violence and corrupt cover-ups of the deaths they deliberately cause. That WE THE PEOPLE have the right to decide as a nation how much we expect of our police and how we allow them to act, and that by the considered opinion of many of us, we need to CHANGE THIS PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR. Then there’s sociopathic fascists like you who tell me that we don’t have this right. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6432 "2015-10-09T21:21:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [Remind me again how many people are armed in other first world countries.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/GunsPer100_10052015.png) This is interesting, but obviously not the whole story. UK police kill about 15,000 to 20,000 times fewer people, per capita, then US police, and about 300 times fewer people _per gun murder_. The US has about [16 times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country) more guns per capita than the UK. I think it’s very likely that there is more to this issue than _only_ the difference in guns, and the difference in gun violence. I’m sure this is involved, but you should consider that it’s possible that other factors are involved as well. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6433 "2015-10-09T21:42:01Z")
If you look at [murder rates by country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate), things look far different than before. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6434 "2015-10-09T21:52:08Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > If you look at [murder rates by country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate), things look far different than before. I accounted for gun murders in my calculations. In overall murders, the US is only about 5 times per capita of the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6435 "2015-10-09T22:34:26Z")
Only five times? Hey, that’s only half a magnitude. It’s a 'tude! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6436 "2015-10-10T06:09:17Z")
A Semitude. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6437 "2015-10-10T12:15:04Z")
Would half a Semitude be a Quaalude? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6438 "2015-10-10T13:57:11Z")
Yes, and one 10 to the -18th is an Attotude. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6439 "2015-10-10T14:01:57Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Police pretty much straight out murder a man by denying him medical treatment and telling 911 to ignore calls. > > [http://news.yahoo.com/video-california-officers-ignored-dying-mans-distress-095125822.html](http://news.yahoo.com/video-california-officers-ignored-dying-mans-distress-095125822.html) > > Then the sick bastards deny any wrongdoing and smear him as a 'major drug dealer" even though no drugs were found in his house. When they report the cops “didn’t seem to care”, that would be exactly right. Many cops don’t actually care. They won’t even lose a nights sleep over it. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6440 "2015-10-10T14:17:35Z")
> **[Cop Accidentally Shoots 4-Year-Old Girl: 'Mommy Am I Gonna Die?'](https://news.yahoo.com/cop-accidentally-shoots-4-old-212529646.html)** > > An officer was responding to a routine call when he says the family's boxer terrier charged at him. That is a truly horrible story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=321) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=323)