# the solution to 90% of police shootings **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324 "2016-07-07T18:54:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/1 "2016-07-07T18:54:57Z")
IMHO there needs to be a massive PSA Campaign nationwide entitled . Dont fight the police! Barring a handful of unfortunate or outright criminal incidents one of the common threads is altercations or refusal to comply with lawful orders. Why does anyone think fighting the cops is a good idea? What is their “end game”? Why do they think fighting is in any way going to improve the outcome? Sure people are drunk/impaired/mentally ill, which creates some of the unfortunate outcomes, but lots of these situations involve people who are stone cold sober and even have experienced being arrested before. I am not saying resisting arrest justifies summary execution, but why force the situation? #stopfighting ---
**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:** [July 7, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/2 "2016-07-07T18:58:12Z")
The gentleman killed in Minnesota was sitting his his goddamn car with his goddamn girlfriend and her kid, reaching for his wallet, when the fucking cop killed him. Nobody was fighting but the cop. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/3 "2016-07-07T19:02:10Z")
Each side distrusts the other. Why? And once you know why, and you figure out a solution, good luck calling that simple and easy, or good luck describing how to rectify the whole problem in a few sentences. . ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/4 "2016-07-07T19:03:20Z")
The solution is to stop shooting people based on minimum level of justification, which should be much higher in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/5 "2016-07-07T19:06:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The gentleman killed in Minnesota was sitting his his goddamn car with his goddamn girlfriend and her kid, reaching for his wallet, when the fucking cop killed him. Nobody was fighting but the cop. He did say 90%. If you coupled that advice and “don’ be black”, you might get to 99%. Any other response I might have regarding the OP is inappropriate in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/6 "2016-07-07T19:11:06Z")
Take away their guns and you stop 100% of them. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/7 "2016-07-07T19:11:45Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The gentleman killed in Minnesota was sitting his his goddamn car with his goddamn girlfriend and her kid, reaching for his wallet, when the fucking cop killed him. Nobody was fighting but the cop. I am normally one of the cop apologists around here, i am pretty sure barring some very dramatic contradictory evidence, that this cop fucked up bad, and will be doing time. As long as cops are armed, there will be questionable use of force some percentage of the time. I would just like to see that number be less than 100 which if people stop fighting the cops is totally doable. Thousands of people are arrested every day without a gun being drawn let alone fired. The way to join that majority, shut up, comply with arrest, sort it out later. As i read recently, fight your case, not the officer. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/8 "2016-07-07T19:13:46Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Take away their guns and you stop 100% of them. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/9 "2016-07-07T19:14:21Z")
A certain percentage are “suicide by cop” which is sad, especially for the cop that has to retaliate when somebody points a gun at him, or rushes with a knife. Others are because somebody is so stoned he (she?) has no logical reason to fight back or point a weapon, other than it seemed like a good idea at the time as **drachllix** pointed out. Others are the result of an overabundance of machismo. I fear that all the PSA campaigns in the world will not cure stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/10 "2016-07-07T19:15:47Z")
The biggest problem is cops putting themselves in vulnerable positions where they feel the only safe recourse is to shoot. Cops need to approach stops in a more defensive mode where they won’t be caught off guard by an unexpected movement. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/11 "2016-07-07T19:19:45Z")
We’re doing this question in some depth [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=797710&page=3). ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/12 "2016-07-07T19:44:27Z")
Make sure you leave a few seconds at the end of your PSA to tell women to stop dressing provocatively if they don’t want to be sexually assaulted, while you’re at it. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/13 "2016-07-07T19:49:06Z")
Since this is a general thread, allow me to suggest that senior police officers need to be held to account. In the case of an unlawful killing by a junior officer, the senior officer responsible for those officers better have a very good reason for not resigning. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/14 "2016-07-07T20:03:42Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#): > > Make sure you leave a few seconds at the end of your PSA to tell women to stop dressing provocatively if they don’t want to be sexually assaulted, while you’re at it. Yes because resisting arrest and rape are totally the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/15 "2016-07-07T20:18:05Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Yes because resisting arrest and rape are totally the same thing. Death to analogies! ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/16 "2016-07-07T20:50:50Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > IMHO there needs to be a massive PSA Campaign nationwide entitled . > > Dont fight the police! That’s a bit too wordy, isn’t it. You need something simpler and catchier. Like- like… Wait! [I’ve got it!](http://youfail.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/they-live-alien.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/17 "2016-07-07T21:03:27Z")
Or we could train and require our police to DE-escalate situations instead of waving their dicks around, threatening and beating people over the smallest provocation. We could prosecute more incidents of unjustified shootings. We could prosecute physical use of force that crosses the line into criminality. We could change police contracts to make it easier to fire people with a history of excessive force and anger management issues. In short, we could expect our police to serve their communities and be rational assistants of the common good rather than angry assholes who get to kill or injure anyone who looks at them funny. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/18 "2016-07-07T21:07:31Z")
I agree with this 100%! Tamir Rice really should have listened to the police. Instead he pulled out a gun, pointed it directly at the cop, yelled 'I’m doing this of Obama! Fuck the police" when the police were forced to kill the child. Why can’t black people just act correctly? If they didn’t allow their nigerdom to get in the way then maybe, maybe the police won’t be forced to kill them. You know those black people. They’re like animals. Demons, really. Like when Walter Scott was running away. Michael Slager thought Scott was so fast he’d run around the world and end up behind him, taking Slager’s gun. His only recourse was to shoot Scott in the back. Why didn’t Scott just stay still? If he wouldn’t have run he’d still be alive today. Bad things never happen to black people while in police custody. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/19 "2016-07-07T21:18:42Z")
I am amazed that anyone would want to be in that profession. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324/20 "2016-07-07T21:24:05Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Bad things never happen to black people while in police custody. I meant everyone not just black people, nor did i even imply it, but thank you for projecting 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-solution-to-90-of-police-shootings/759324.md?page=2)