# Do the police ever kill some of those "battle-ready" private citizens standing in a group? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 6, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199 "2015-08-06T23:39:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gent)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/121 "2015-08-24T01:54:09Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I don’t appreciate your insinuations. I’ve lived in college towns all my life. What’s wrong with them? Too many smart people in some sort of “cabal” gonna put one over on you and the other real Americans? Of course you did. Most people like you do. Disconnected for diversity or gang violence. ---
**Author:** ![Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gent)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/122 "2015-08-24T01:55:14Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It seemed a logical conclusion given the conditions you specified. I’ll keep that in mind. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/123 "2015-08-24T01:55:52Z")
I have my doubts. ---
**Author:** ![Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gent)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/124 "2015-08-24T01:57:58Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > In response to a statement that he lived in Norway, you asserted that he lived in a U.S. university town. That is an accusation of lying and while I will let this post pass, I will note that your posts are doing nothing to encourage us to allow you to continue. > > [/Moderating] Eat a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gent)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/125 "2015-08-24T01:59:00Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I have my doubts. Good one? ---
**Author:** ![Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gent)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/126 "2015-08-24T02:00:11Z")
Notice how all the people blaming cops, disconnected from the reality of gang violence, live in college towns or other lilly-white areas. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/127 "2015-08-24T02:07:51Z")
> [@Gent](#): > > Eat a dick. Are you making an offer;) ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/128 "2015-08-24T02:08:24Z")
> [@Gent](#): > > Notice how all the people blaming cops, disconnected from the reality of gang violence, live in college towns or other lilly-white areas. No. That is what YOU notice. Confirmation bias. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/129 "2015-08-24T02:09:33Z")
> [@Gent](#): > > Notice how all the people blaming cops, disconnected from the reality of gang violence, live in college towns or other lilly-white areas. No, how do you know that? May I ask were you live that gives you such insight? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2015, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/130 "2015-08-24T02:21:53Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > No, how do you know that? > > May I ask were you live that gives you such insight? If you want an answer, you may want to get Gent’s e-mail address, and soon. ---
**Author:** ![Construct](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Construct](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Construct)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/131 "2015-08-24T02:32:39Z")
> [@Gent](#): > > Eat a dick. Suicide by mod. If only we had better mental health services. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/132 "2015-08-24T02:33:16Z")
> [@Gent](#): > > \*Blacks are responsible for 38% of the violent crime, despite accounting for only 12% of the population. Blacks are also, proportionally speaking, overly poor and undereducated. Which has nothing whatsoever to do with their genetics and very much to do with the society they live in and its historical baggage. > [@](#): > > \*Whites account for just 10% of the gang population, despite accounting for 60% of the population (Latinos 44%; Black 37%). Most criminal gangs trace their roots to ethnic neighbourhood watches that sprung up organically to protect their “ghettos” from racist violence (often at the hands of the police, too) back in the day ; as well as your more strong-handed civil rights activist organizations (e.g. the Black Panthers and the US Organization became the Bloods & Crips after a long, deliberate campaign of subversion and decapitation by the FBI) As such, it’s not exactly surprising that most of them are made up of minorities. > [@](#): > > \*When a black person is murdered, there’s an over 90% chance that it’s at the hands of another black person. Which is more of an indictment of US demographic repartitions than anything. Criminals rarely operate far from home (particularly street criminals - your much dreaded gangs). This statistic - to the extent that it is, yanno, factual - simply states that blacks mostly still exist segregated from whites, on the “wrong” side of the tracks if you prefer. > [@](#): > > \*Police precincts do keep detailed reports of shooting (get your facts straight). You misunderstand me. Of course each individual precinct keeps records of every day to day incident. But unlike, say, murders, there is no official & public state-wide or nation-wide statistical reporting of police-caused fatalities or their superficial details (such as the skin colour of the victims or their shooters, or the nature of the incident that prompted the killing). It all stays in-house, which makes data sorting (and policy evaluation) difficult. Cynics might muse it is by design. > [@](#): > > Over 85% of police shooting involve gang activity. Considering what I just said, I would ask for a cite. But I don’t expect one, since you’ve just committed suicide-by-mod. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/133 "2015-08-24T02:41:07Z")
> [@Gent](#): > > Of course you did. Most people like you do. Disconnected for diversity or gang violence. Poor watchamacallit He was intolerant of tolerance and he got intolerated. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/134 "2015-08-24T03:02:47Z")
> [@Gent](#): > > Eat a dick. Bye. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/135 "2015-08-24T03:16:49Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Are you making an offer;) Not appropriate. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/136 "2015-08-24T03:30:44Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Not appropriate. > > [/Moderating] Fair enough, I shouldn’t have done so. My only defense is I was drinking, watching the Rock lip-sync to Taylor Swift and couldn’t help myself. On a more serious note, I think the federal authorities who decided not to start WWIII over Cliven Bundy’s antics behaved responsibly and I think it’s really noxious to hear people claiming they should have reenacted Waco because they’re upset over what local police departments have done. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/137 "2015-08-24T03:57:20Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Fair enough, I shouldn’t have done so. My only defense is I was drinking, watching the Rock lip-sync to Taylor Swift and couldn’t help myself. > > On a more serious note, I think the federal authorities who decided not to start WWIII over Cliven Bundy’s antics behaved responsibly and I think it’s really noxious to hear people claiming they should have reenacted Waco because they’re upset over what local police departments have done. “Committing antics while white” Why is it called “antics” for some people and for others it’s: “He was reaching for something” or “He refused to obey a lawful order” (to explain why they are dead)? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/138 "2015-08-24T18:31:37Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Cliven Bundy was breaking the law. > > Many people that were not breaking the law **and not even armed** have been shot. > > You are incorrect. [bolding mine] I think the question is whether those unarmed people that weren’t breaking the law would have been shot if they were in fact armed. Especially if they were armed in larger numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/139 "2015-08-24T18:51:47Z")
> [@Grim\_Render](#): > > There seems to be some questionable assumptions at work here. > > Do you believe other countries do not have “bad guys”? That violent gang members are unique to the US? Or that the number of bad guys in the US are just so insanely high that a shoorting rate of more than 18 000 times other nations is justified? > > I wouldn’t use the word “remarkable” about a 1/100 interactions ending in a shooting. “Monstrously high” seems more accurate. > > Perhaps some of our international members can give us rates for a few other western nations? I had a bunch of responses for all the wrongness in Gent’s posts but I see he has been banned without anyone repeating his wrongness so I will just point out youa re wrong. You are only 1800 times more likely to be shot during an arrest in the USA than in Norway. I assume its because your cops are just really bad shots 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199/140 "2015-08-24T18:56:44Z")
> [@Gent](#): > > Settle down, overzealous Mod. That’s a feature, not a bug. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-police-ever-kill-some-of-those-battle-ready-private-citizens-standing-in-a-group/727199.md?page=8)