# Cop Killers -Disproportionate response? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2011, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-killers-disproportionate-response/574638 "2011-03-14T10:03:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-killers-disproportionate-response/574638/21 "2011-03-14T20:08:35Z")
From the Australian soap opera, _Prisoner_ (_Prisoner: Cell Block H_) Joan the evil warder speaks to the even eviler inmate Nola McKenzie, who escaped from a prison in Perth and was captured in Melbourne and now is in Wentworth Detention Center > [@](#): > > Joan) You killed a police officer McKenzie, in Western Australia they hang people who kill police officers, I think that’s right, and I’m going to see to it that you hang ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-killers-disproportionate-response/574638/22 "2011-03-14T20:19:06Z")
Killing a police officer is an attack on society as a whole in a way that killing me, a non-police officer, is unlikely to be. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-killers-disproportionate-response/574638/23 "2011-03-14T21:19:45Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > It might be unrelated to any particular divide but attacks on the Fire Brigade seem relatively common in Northern Ireland. I don’t know whether it’s worse than the UK norm but one rarely hears of attacks of this nature down here south of the border. In modern times at least it seems to be more a consequence of the fractionalisation and break-down of society, these attacks seem to be mostly about bored children and teenagers enjoying a little of the old ultraviolence rather than anything political. > [@Huerta88](#): > > I remember in Derry seeing posters and news stories saying please don’t throw bricks at the emergency responders, and the problem seemingly extended beyond the RUC to the ambulance service and maybe fire. When was this? The RUC hasn’t been around for a long time, having been superseded by/incorporated into the PSNI. And see above, go into any hospital in NI and you’ll see plenty of posters asking people to please do not attack the medical staff who are treating them. Its because too many people think such behaviour is acceptable, not anything political. ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-killers-disproportionate-response/574638/24 "2011-03-14T22:54:02Z")
Here in New York City there are signs in subways and buses announcing that it is a felony to assault a bus driver/conductor – don’t recall the exact wording and I’m no expert about law, but it seems the penalties are higher than for assaulting a regular person(?). Maybe in the same vein as police, they are representatives of we the people, and providing a government service to vast numbers of transit riders, so an attack on them negatively affects the government’s ability to serve the people? (Or maybe they just can’t get enough people who want to drive trains and buses partly because of the possibility of assault, and this helps.) ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_Luongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Chris\_Luongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chris_Luongo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-killers-disproportionate-response/574638/25 "2011-03-14T23:57:34Z")
What about the [Felony Murder Rule?](http://criminal.lawyers.com/Criminal-Law-Basics/Murder-During-the-Commission-of-a-Felony.html) > [@](#): > > Most forms of murder require an intent to commit death. Felony murder only requires the intent to commit the felony. During the course of the felony, any homicide will be considered murder, whether it’s intentional or accidental. This is called the felony murder rule. I’m doing a bit of guessing here, but I’d imagine that in the act of committing a serious crime like a prison escape, armed robbery, or a high-speed car chase, the actor is likely to encounter the police, and may injure or kill the police officer(s), whether intentionally or by accident. And then could be automatically charged with Felony Murder, On the other hand, things like lover’s quarrels, bar fights, road rage incidents, and the like might be less likely to have the police present when they occur, and therefore fewer officers get attacked in such cases. Or, if I may simplify: Person A becomes angry in a road-rage incident, gets out of the car and begins to fight with the other driver, who dies. The homicide wasn’t premeditated. He only wanted to break the other driver’s nose, not kill him. Maybe he gets convicted of second-degree murder or even manslaughter. Person B arms himself, decides to rob a bank (a felony), but doesn’t plan on shooting anyone; he figures he’s got the perfect plan and won’t encounter any resistance. Then the police show up, he tries to run away, and shoots at the police and kills one of them. Now he’s in big trouble. So there’s a possible GQ answer for you. Random motorist gets beaten to death, and the killer does some prison time. When the police officer got killed, the killer was already committing a felony, and therefore faces more serious charges. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-killers-disproportionate-response/574638.md?page=1)