US police killed a record number of people in 2023 ( thehill.com )

  • In 2023, police in the U.S. Killed over 1,300 people, marking a steady increase in police killings, as reported by Mapping Police Violence.
  • There were only 14 days without a police killing, and on average, a person was killed by law enforcement every 6.6 hours.
  • While the number of people killed by gunfire and officers killed in the line of duty declined, this data highlights the need for significant changes in policing in the country.
agitatedpotato ,

Annually they kill more people than mass shooters and steal more than burglars though 'asset forfeiture', they also have no duty to protect you if bodily harm could possibly come to them. Weakest most scared people in America by a country mile. Getting rid of police would end more crime than the cops end.

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

That, and all the gun control restrictions constantly being floated are meaningless when the police have an exception carved out for themselves every. single. fucking. time.

If 10+ round magazines, full autos, SBR's, AR-15's, switchblades, etc., etc., etc. are supposed to be this big problem, I have never once had anyone be able to answer be constructively on why the police need these things when regular people don't.

andyburke ,
@andyburke@fedia.io avatar

Because they don't and it has become a gang.

I was one of those people that thought maybe it was good people in a bad system, but now I'm convinced too few actual good people want to go into policing to keep the corruption out.

I'm not sure how we fix it. Probably needs to be set up more like the military with civilian leadership and oversight.

RunawayFixer ,

Good people do want to go into policing, but the bad people don't want them in their gang, because decent people are a threat to their way of operating and might land them in prison.

If a group of people is too rotten, then it just perpetuates itself. People that are too smart or have too many principles, won't even get a chance of joining. People who have started on the job will soon be presented with a moral dilemma, if they make the wrong choice, then the rotten group will start bullying them to force them out.

If it gets to the point that acab is true, then a clean start is the only fast way. Hire outside mercenaries to temporarily take over police tasks and start a new police force from scratch, with better rules, regulations and indepedent oversight. And without allowing the old cops to rejoin, unless it's in specialized technical roles.

chiliedogg ,

First thing they need is rules of engagement.

Soldiers sent into combat zones interacting with armed enemy militaries don't get to shoot people just because they feel nervous.

tired_n_bored ,

Other countries need a police diploma equivalent to a bachelor's degree, or higher. Background check, psychological check, more oversight by people and by federals would also help.

aniki ,

officers killed in the line of duty declined

In other words -- violence continues to drop while the pigs get more and more violent.

rivermonster OP ,

https://www.facilities.udel.edu/safety/4689/

Cops are 22nd most dangerous career in America. They don't even cut it in the TOP 20. This according to the University of Delaware. Good thing we LITERALLY give them military hardware and equipment to use on the citizens.

aniki ,
  1. Logging workers
  2. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
  3. Derrick operators in oil, gas, and mining
  4. Roofers
  5. Garbage collectors
  6. Ironworkers
  7. Delivery drivers
  8. Farmers
  9. Firefighting supervisors
  10. Power linemen
  11. Agricultural workers
  12. Crossing guards
  13. Crane operators
  14. Construction helpers
  15. Landscaping supervisors
  16. Highway maintenance workers
  17. Cement masons
  18. Small engine mechanics
  19. Supervisors of mechanics
  20. Heavy vehicle mechanics
  21. Grounds maintenance workers
  22. Police officers
  23. Maintenance workers
  24. Construction workers
  25. Mining machine operators
rivermonster OP ,

And police are tied with grounds maintenance, and maintenance workers. But only one of the three gets military hardware. ><

Semi-Hemi-Demigod ,
@Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social avatar

Imagine if a janitor had a Bradley with a mop on the front

aniki ,

hold on -- this is perfect for chatgpt and dalle

aniki ,

https://lemm.ee/pictrs/image/2f331b24-1812-4c4d-ba39-b95aa9105bb1.jpeg
https://lemm.ee/pictrs/image/67c29098-ef69-4c02-a3cc-2284180edae4.jpeg
https://lemm.ee/pictrs/image/7362df86-93dc-4111-bccf-7932843b922b.jpeg

Sagifurius ,

I've read often that if you account for automotive accidents, they drop out of the top 500, and out of the top 100 if you start including dangerous niche jobs.

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

Delivery drivers

Confirm. Before the advent of the current doordash-uber-postmates fiasco, I worked delivery for four different restaurants. I went to neighborhoods where cops eating at our restaurant(s) flat out told me they won't go. With a pocket full of cash, no backup, in my regular old not bulletproof personal vehicle.

I was strapped as fuck, of course, but still.

Cops are pussies.

RememberTheApollo_ ,

18 - small engine mechanics?

Why on earth are they dying from their job?

Fester ,

Imagine you’re working on a small engine, and then out of nowhere a black woman exists, asleep in her bed, and you didn’t have a gun to shoot her with. Bam, you’re dead.

JayDee ,

There's probably not as many small engine mechanics out there so that'll accentuate a smaller number of injuries and deaths.

but also, as a small engine mechanic you're working with an explosive device. It's controlled explosion, but it's been designed to be compact and lightweight while still providing a decent power output. I imagine that if anything goes wrong, that thing turns into an IED pretty quick.

Not to mention that some small engines use fancy fuel that can fuck you up pretty quick, and all engines are prone to catching fire.

jak ,

They make trips to service boat engines, and transportation accidents and falls are the most common killer here. My brain supplied an additional theory when it mentioned lawnmower repair, but hopefully there’s a foolproof way to temporarily disable the blades, no matter how old or damaged the lawnmower

CADmonkey ,

hopefully there’s a foolproof way to temporarily disable the blades,

Unplug the spark plug and tuck the wire out of the way.

jak ,

Can you do that without going near the blades?

CADmonkey ,

Yes. You can do that without even turning the lawnmower over.

jak ,

Thank you so much, that’s a relief.

AngryCommieKender ,

Lawnmower Man wasn't an historical document.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

The nation's legal street gang.

Reverendender ,
@Reverendender@sh.itjust.works avatar

We broke the record!! USA!!! USA!!!

(I am crying in the inside)

rivermonster OP ,

I feel you, and don't have a good coping mechanism for this one, plus it's hard as shit to not have an emotional take on it, hence the difference of the title in my community. https://lemmy.world/post/10842873

Reverendender ,
@Reverendender@sh.itjust.works avatar

I’m sure it would be terribly difficult, but my first thought is that we need federal oversight of law enforcement.

rivermonster OP ,

Even legitimately tracking law enforcement federally is difficult and half ass'd, and always opposed by some of the worst criminals in our country the Police Unions (they misspell "organized crime ring" as "union"). There's always bullshit like "voluntary compliance", and failure to follow up on no compliance at all, it's god-damed ridiculous.

rivermonster OP ,

Also this:

https://archive.ph/Oy144

Reverendender ,
@Reverendender@sh.itjust.works avatar

This is like asking the oil companies to pinky swear they are doing right by the environment.

thefartographer ,

Lemme make sure I get the facts straight:

  • Police are killing people in increasing numbers
  • Police are killing police in fewer numbers
  • Police receive indoctrinating training which teaches them that they are a supreme individual entity while civilians are dangerous and the "other"
  • Police are easily identified by their shield (badge) and their weapons, all of which are required as part of their duty within the police
  • Police officers' strongest weapon is their union
  • Police frequently and harshly punish civilians for their "resistance"

Regarding the first two points: the most efficient way, in our federation, to avoid being killed or brutalized by the police is to join them?

TIL Police are the Borg.

Paddzr ,

Imagine if we all had a union like that!

Klear ,

Gotta take down the Police Queen then.

tacosanonymous ,

Overall, crime is down. It feels like should lead to less extrajudicial killings.

When can we get some fucking police reform?

Masterblaster ,

here's the spoiler: meaningful legislation for literally anything will never come until the tug of war between right and left is settled.

rivermonster OP ,

Correction, until we have a tug from the right. There's just the current tug between center-right dems and fascist, racist GOP. Both capitalist parties, thereby both requiring a fascist force.

grue ,

Republicans are the ratchet; Democrats are the pawl.

rivermonster OP ,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/1db8c9d7-a08a-4c64-bf12-77273d098d33.jpeg

ExLisper ,

It's not just the killings, the entire system is completely fucked up. Bail system, warrants, jails, plea deals, public defenders, judges, expert witnesses... absolutely everything is just wrong.

lntl ,

USA! USA! USA!

TheJims ,

We’re Number One!!!
Pew Pew

Mr_Blott ,

I looked it up, you can't even win at that. Venezuela wiped the floor with your stats 😂

breadsmasher ,
@breadsmasher@lemmy.world avatar

Heres some data for the UK to compare.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/319287/deaths-during-or-following-police-contact-causes-england-and-wales/

America has some serious problems


| Characteristic | Road traffic fatalities | Fatal shootings | Deaths in or following police custody | Apparent suicides following custody | Other deaths during or following police contact\* |
| -------------- | ----------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| 2010/11        | 26                      | 2               | 21                                    | 46                                  | 57                                                |
| 2011/12        | 19                      | 2               | 15                                    | 39                                  | 47                                                |
| 2012/13        | 31                      | 0               | 15                                    | 65                                  | 22                                                |
| 2013/14        | 12                      | 0               | 11                                    | 70                                  | 44                                                |
| 2014/15        | 14                      | 1               | 18                                    | 71                                  | 43                                                |
| 2015/16        | 21                      | 3               | 14                                    | 61                                  | 106                                               |
| 2016/17        | 32                      | 6               | 14                                    | 56                                  | 131                                               |
| 2017/18        | 29                      | 4               | 23                                    | 57                                  | 177                                               |
| 2018/19        | 42                      | 3               | 17                                    | 63                                  | 156                                               |
| 2019/20        | 24                      | 3               | 18                                    | 54                                  | 107                                               |
| 2020/21        | 25                      | 1               | 19                                    | 54                                  | 92                                                |
| 2021/22        | 40                      | 2               | 11                                    | 57                                  | 111                                               |
| 2022/23        | 28                      | 3               | 23                                    | 52                                  | 90                                                |
Omegamanthethird ,
@Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world avatar

So, if I'm reading this right, the US had 6.6 times more fatalities by police (1,300 vs 196), with only 5 times more population (332 million vs 67 million).

Population equalized, 1,300 US vs 980 UK. Unless I'm reading this wrong.

breadsmasher ,
@breadsmasher@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t have the info to clarify this either way, but the data Ive shared isn’t only “directly killed by police action” but includes suicide and other deaths related to police contact but not necessarily directly caused by police

e. interpreting the US statistics as “directly killed by police, with their hands” then I would count only “fatal shootings” and possibly “deaths in and following police custody”.

Here’s another slice of UK people killed by shootings https://www.statista.com/statistics/319246/police-fatal-shootings-england-wales/

2023 there were 3 police shootings resulting in death

In USA there were 1153 fatal shootings by police

https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/

Omegamanthethird ,
@Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world avatar

There's an "other" category for the UK link. Since "in police custody" seems to be for unattributed deaths, I'm assuming "other" is for attributed murder that isn't shootings.

Magikjak ,

This source is including many more causes of death not included in the US number. The average annual direct killings by the US police is 1096 (33.1 per 10 million), while the UK is 3 (0.5 per 10 million), about 66 times worse per capita.

Omegamanthethird ,
@Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world avatar

It seems like that's just shootings. I'm really curious what the "other" category is for the UK. That seems like that might be direct killings that aren't shootings. That would inflate the number to 93.

But even if all of the others are murders (since unattributed deaths in custody is its own category), that would still make the US police 3 times as likely to murder you.

dangblingus ,

The police are agents of the state. They exist to protect capital owner's interests. They will kill you if they think you threaten the ruling class' bag in any way. They are not obligated to protect you or your family and will shoot through you and your baby to get someone behind you that is holding a toy car.

rivermonster OP ,

Upvoted for FACT.

wildcardology ,

I'm assuming most of the victims are unarmed. US police don't like to shoot people that shoot back.

licherally ,

Probably not, but it's kind of irrelevant either way. The real issue is the lack of functional de-escalation training and the incredibly low standards that need to be passed to be a cop (6 months or less of fuck all training, mostly only in offensive techniques.)

Fedizen ,

its also just the sheer number of problems police are expected to solve but all the training is how to shoot and handcuff people. The actual roles of police need to be split between several groups- you don't need guns to write parking tickets, answer mental health calls and direct traffic. You don't need patrol cars to have neighborhood peace keeping. Like the US needs to narrow what policing is and systematically reform the way policing is done.

ExLisper ,

I took a closer look at a long list of police shootings some time ago and it looked like 50/50 between cops just shooting someone in the back and shooting back at someone trying to kill them.

SeaJ ,

2023 had the lowest violent crime rate in like 50 years.

Zorque ,

I assume cause they're not counting all police related shootings.

phoneymouse ,

Police are killing more people as violent crime goes down

Red_October ,

We oughtta point out to them that "Woo! High Score!" is inappropriate.

blanketswithsmallpox ,

The Mapping Police Violence project, which has been tracking police killings in the country since 2013, reported that officers killed 1,329 people last year, representing nearly a 19-percent increase over the 11-year span.

The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks shootings throughout the U.S., reported that 2023 saw a decrease in shooting deaths overall. More than 800 suspects were injured in officer involved shootings last year, according to the organization.

So shooting deaths across the board both police and civilian have increased since COVID 'ended'. Blame the full moon. 🌝

JoYo ,
@JoYo@lemmy.ml avatar

what number would be acceptable?

jaschen ,

None please.

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