# 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:** 326
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6501 "2015-10-12T20:41:02Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > 42 last year. > > How many dog-induced fatalities would you consider to be an “acceptable” number? Considering that’s one fatality per 100,000 dog attacks, and less than 1/20th of the number of people killed by police, it seems it’s pretty much a non-factor. ---
**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 12, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6502 "2015-10-12T20:48:04Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Considering that’s one fatality per 100,000 dog attacks, and less than 1/20th of the number of people killed by police, it seems it’s pretty much a non-factor. Right, so if I’m attacked by a dog, I should offer no resistance that would any way harm the animal, because it’s statistically unlikely that it will be able to kill me. ---
**Author:** ![climbuponahilltop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c0e974/32.png) [@climbuponahilltop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/climbuponahilltop)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6503 "2015-10-12T20:48:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > 42 last year. > > How many dog-induced fatalities would you consider to be an “acceptable” number? About the same number as I would consider police shootings of nonviolent people. Prairie View, Texas, the site of Sandra Bland’s arrest, is in the news again. Another tasing of an unarmed person who hadn’t committed any crime. City councilman this time. [http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/texas-police-use-taser-on-city-councilman/](http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/texas-police-use-taser-on-city-councilman/) ---
**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 12, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6504 "2015-10-12T20:49:37Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > **Smapti** , when are you going to suddenly realize that you’re clinically insane ? When a clinician diagnoses me as such. “Refusing to allow a dangerous animal to kill you” is not yet considered to be grounds for a finding of insanity, so far as I am aware. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6505 "2015-10-12T20:49:58Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Right, so if I’m attacked by a dog, I should offer no resistance that would any way harm the animal, because it’s statistically unlikely that it will be able to kill me. Disingenuous asshole much? Get off my fucking planet already. As I said just above, other physical means of self-defense are possible without discharging a firearm in a situation likely to (and in the case above, very definitely did) injure innocent children and bystanders. DEATH should not be the first response to every situation. ---
**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 12, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6506 "2015-10-12T21:02:26Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > DEATH should not be the first response to every situation. If I am in danger and I am in possession of the means by which to permanently eliminate that danger, then I am in no way required to not use it simply because I also am in possession of a means which _might_ eliminate that danger at a greater risk to myself if it fails to do so. The US was not obligated to not nuke Japan because a ground invasion _might_ have been successful. > [@climbuponahilltop](#): > > Prairie View, Texas, the site of Sandra Bland’s arrest, is in the news again. Another tasing of an unarmed person who hadn’t committed any crime. Your phrasing implies that there was a _previous_ “tasing of an unarmed person who hadn’t committed any crime”, which, if you’re referring to the Bland affair, is a blatant falsehood. It’s also a blatant falsehood in reference to _this_ affair, in which the “victim” is interfering in a police investigation which he is not a party to and where he believes that being an elected official means he’s above the law. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6507 "2015-10-12T21:04:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Right, so if I’m attacked by a dog, I should offer no resistance that would any way harm the animal, because it’s statistically unlikely that it will be able to kill me. Right, because it’s either shoot to kill or quietly wait for death. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6508 "2015-10-12T21:11:10Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Right, because it’s either shoot to kill or quietly wait for death. Might be a while for that miniature Poodle. Better bring a book. ---
**Author:** ![climbuponahilltop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c0e974/32.png) [@climbuponahilltop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/climbuponahilltop)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6509 "2015-10-12T21:20:55Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Your phrasing implies that there was a _previous_ “tasing of an unarmed person who hadn’t committed any crime”, which, if you’re referring to the Bland affair, is a blatant falsehood. > > It’s also a blatant falsehood in reference to _this_ affair, in which the “victim” is interfering in a police investigation which he is not a party to and where he believes that being an elected official means he’s above the law. Well, I admit my phrasing was a little sloppy there, but I was referring to the many, many times in America where an unarmed person who hadn’t committed any crime was tased. I do concede that Sandra Bland did not switch on that turn signal. And asking questions of the police is still not a crime. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6510 "2015-10-12T21:37:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I know it’s hard for you to believe, but cops are, in fact, _human beings_. They have the same feelings and emotions that you have, and all they want to do is do their job and go home and get paid so they can support themselves and their families, just like you. Well, as has been pointed out, some cops are bullies and assholes who like to fuck with people while on the job (and off-duty);\* it’s probably why they are cops in the first place.\* So they basically can get away with it. Video is changing that. > [@Smapti](#): > > 42 last year. > > How many dog-induced fatalities would you consider to be an “acceptable” number? So, dogs kill less people than cops. 42? Cops probably do that in a couple of weeks. But this is acceptable because almost everyone shot by a cop did something to deserve it. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6511 "2015-10-12T21:37:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Right, so if I’m attacked by a dog, I should offer no resistance that would any way harm the animal, because it’s statistically unlikely that it will be able to kill me. Ironically this is **Smapti’s** _actual_ advice for dealing with the police. ---
**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 12, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6512 "2015-10-12T21:40:31Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Just go ahead and get that #DogLivesMatter hashtag going viral already. And just be honest and throw in #CopsLivesDont while you’re at it. It’s not that cop’s lives don’t matter, it’s that what you write seems to indicate that to you, only cop’s lives matter. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6513 "2015-10-12T22:15:10Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [4.7 million people are attacked by dogs in this country every year.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States) Did you even click your own link? Of the 4.7 million dog bites, less than 30 were fatal. Moreover, the cowardly cop wasn’t even bitten – he was probably just barked at. (Which BTW with many dogs, is a signal you’re NOT getting bit!) So, the chance of grievous injury was akin to the chance of winning a lottery and … cowardly cop fires his weapon, grievously injuring a young girl. And **Smapti** defends the cowardly cop. :smack: Upthread you were implictly asked whether FedEx delivery men should carry guns in case a dog barks at them. Did you ever answer that question? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6514 "2015-10-12T22:16:02Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > 42 last year. 20 of those were children. Some were elderly adults. Some were disabled adults. Let’s assume that we don’t let children, the elderly, or disabled adults be police officers. After reading about the killings, only one adult (a 59-year-old woman) was killed by a single dog. All others were killed after being attached by multiple dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6515 "2015-10-12T22:21:41Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > 20 of those were children. Some were elderly adults. Some were disabled adults. > > Let’s assume that we don’t let children, the elderly, or disabled adults be police officers. > > After reading about the killings, only one adult (a 59-year-old woman) was killed by a single dog. All others were killed after being attached by multiple dogs. That should be: “only two non-retirement age adults (a 59-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man) were killed by a single dog. All others were killed after being attached by multiple dogs.” ---
**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 12, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6516 "2015-10-12T22:36:24Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > That should be: “only two non-retirement age adults (a 59-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man) were killed by a single dog. All others were killed after being attached by multiple dogs.” So if they’re still attached, does that mean they had to bury the dogs with the humans? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6517 "2015-10-12T22:55:54Z")
Well, I know\*\* I\*\* wouldn’t want to be attached to no dog. That sounds like Dr. Moreau stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6518 "2015-10-12T23:01:48Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > That should be: “only two non-retirement age adults (a 59-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man) were killed by a single dog. All others were killed after being attached by multiple dogs.” So we’re now down to a more accurate 0.000005% chance of death as a justification for unquestionable, immediate deadly \*\*Smapti \*\*force - less than 1/1.000.000. For reference, and I just fucking checked, this is strictly lower than the chance of getting struck by lightning (which is generally-speaking 1/700.000 for the US, although obviously this varies by local climate). SHOOT THE MURDEROUS SKIES ! ---
**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 12, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6519 "2015-10-12T23:18:27Z")
Were it possible to shoot lightning, I would have no objection to anyone doing so. Feel free to hashtag #LightningLivesMatter at your convenience. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/6520 "2015-10-12T23:20:57Z")
Actual lives matter, but apparently not to you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=325) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=327)