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[AtheistCrusader]

26. It's not the gun. Period.

In the Netherlands, the police all carry guns just like US cops do. If you scale up the fatalities from gunshot by police officers in the Netherlands to the same population level as the US, that's 58 deaths in NE, to 210 deaths in the US.

Something is wrong, and it's not specifically the presence of a firearm. It is critical we identify the actual reason why.

(On the same population scale, the UK has 13.5 police shooting fatalities/year.)

There are a host of potential factors here. Obviously the racial selective enforcement problem, which can be clearly demonstrated from stop/arrest/incarceration/sentencing/death row, regardless of crime. There are cultural issues such as our 'thin blue line'. There are training investments in the police that are made (unnecessary over-militarization) or not made (under-trained for de-escalation, etc). Investments in police staffing.

I couldn't even begin to guess all the factors that set us apart from other nations, but the singular fact that our officers carry guns, isn't the prime mover. NE isn't the only nation that demonstrates it.

I could point you to a single data point, the domestic violence rate for police officers, and say 'we got a fucking problem here, folks'.


Police Family Violence Fact Sheet

Two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, (1, 2) in contrast to 10% of families in the general population.(3) A third study of older and more experienced officers found a rate of 24% (4), indicating that domestic violence is 2-4 times more common among police families than American families in general. A police department that has domestic violence offenders among its ranks will not effectively serve and protect victims in the community.5, 6, 7, 8 Moreover, when officers know of domestic violence committed by their colleagues and seek to protect them by covering it up, they expose the department to civil liability.7

This is an example of civilian infrastructure that is broken. This is a bridge that has long since fallen down and sunk to the bottom.