Texas Cop, "Police Brutality", Black kids.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

 

 

 

 

 

 

This thread makes me sad.

This entire country and what it's coming to is making me sad! It's a shell of its former great self unfortunately.............

I get so tired of this "back in my day" cane waving "let's make America great again" crap.

Good for you, you pretty much disagree with everything I say anyways so this is nothing new.

And just so you know, the below link is just one example of an area where this country is falling apart on some level and society is taking a huge step backwards. This was on the front page of msn.com so I certainly didn't have to search for it. But I guess that's a "crap" way to think.

 

Another area is how society is acting towards its police and how neither side is getting along at all at this point. Notice how I said "police" meaning all police. If an officer does something bad, they should answer for those actions, simple as that. But to constantly search for any story to make us look bad, then label us all as bad officers and that law enforcement needs sweeping reform is not only unfair, but just plain wrong.

 

These are just two examples of how this country is headed in the wrong direction there are several others.

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/waco-columbine-aurora-and-newtown-20-years-of-mass-shootings-that-changed-and-didnt-change-america/ar-AAdtKqh

[zoogs]

When were those golden "former great self" days of which the present is now only a shell?

[teachercd]

This thread!

[BIGREDIOWAN]

You tell me zoogs, 20, 30 years, longer? Maybe the days where I don't have to worry about taking my kids to a movie theatre because some crazy guy is having an emotional breakdown and decides he wants to come kill us to bring us into his situation. Maybe the days where every time you turn around someone is offended by something someone else is doing or saying. Maybe the days where I can do my job and if I need help from someone because I'm in a fight they'll help me and not grab their cellphone and film the whole situation instead while I get my a$$ kicked. Maybe the days where people didn't ask for handouts and act like this country owes them something and instead went out and earned it. The people that deserve something are our veterans as an example. That's just a few examples.....

[zoogs]

~20 years: the days of Columbine, Jonesboro, Garden City, San Francisco, Olivehurst? The days when you couldn't take your kids to a restaurant without worrying about some crazy guy having an emotional breakdown rampaging in and killing 22 people? Jacksonville, Florida, because what had the world come to by 1990? The days when a black man's beating death by police was caught on tape by some guy with a camera and angry riots broke out across LA?

 

~30 years: Stockton, Edmond, San Ysidro, the crack epidemic of the 1980s?

 

More? Kent State, Vietnam, the days when many of the nation's best schools -- and opportunities in general compared to today -- were inaccessible to women, the still-nascent age of the Civil Rights Act? The peak crime era in the United States from the 1970s to the early 1990s, those 20-30+ years ago?

 

That's not to say these are perfect times by any means -- no times ever are, or were. But we are hardly falling apart!

[The Dude]

People were yearning for the "good ol' days" 20-30 years ago as well. People will be yearning for the "good ol' days" 20-30 years from now.

 

It's a made-up concept.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hundreds-bid-farewell-to-woman-who-died-in-texas-jail-cell/ar-AAduFH9

 

The last paragraph in this article says it all. They are bound and determined for her death to have been caused by the police. It's the media train and their going to do their damnest to keep it rolling. That doesn't say, "stand up against the corrupt few in law enforcement" it basically says, "stand up against the police." It makes it appear we beat or kill most people we come across. Lies....

 

If some can't see that or won't see that, well, there's nothing I can do about that.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

~20 years: the days of Columbine, Jonesboro, Garden City, San Francisco, Olivehurst? The days when you couldn't take your kids to a restaurant without worrying about some crazy guy having an emotional breakdown rampaging in and killing 22 people? Jacksonville, Florida, because what had the world come to by 1990? The days when a black man's beating death by police was caught on tape by some guy with a camera and angry riots broke out across LA?

 

~30 years: Stockton, Edmond, San Ysidro, the crack epidemic of the 1980s?

 

More? Kent State, Vietnam, the days when many of the nation's best schools -- and opportunities in general compared to today -- were inaccessible to women, the still-nascent age of the Civil Rights Act? The peak crime era in the United States from the 1970s to the early 1990s, those 20-30+ years ago?

 

That's not to say these are perfect times by any means -- no times ever are, or were. But we are hardly falling apart!

Congratulations, you can use google. You can't deny that the frequency of active shooter events are increasing at an alarming rate each day that goes by though can you? What's the reasoning? Is it the joke of a mental health care system that we have in place? Is it the argument that "guns are easy to get" even though they've always been fairly easy to get. Is it due to societal changes? What is it then?

[Moiraine]

 

~20 years: the days of Columbine, Jonesboro, Garden City, San Francisco, Olivehurst? The days when you couldn't take your kids to a restaurant without worrying about some crazy guy having an emotional breakdown rampaging in and killing 22 people? Jacksonville, Florida, because what had the world come to by 1990? The days when a black man's beating death by police was caught on tape by some guy with a camera and angry riots broke out across LA?

 

~30 years: Stockton, Edmond, San Ysidro, the crack epidemic of the 1980s?

 

More? Kent State, Vietnam, the days when many of the nation's best schools -- and opportunities in general compared to today -- were inaccessible to women, the still-nascent age of the Civil Rights Act? The peak crime era in the United States from the 1970s to the early 1990s, those 20-30+ years ago?

 

That's not to say these are perfect times by any means -- no times ever are, or were. But we are hardly falling apart!

Congratulations, you can use google. You can't deny that the frequency of active shooter events are increasing at an alarming rate each day that goes by though can you? What's the reasoning? Is it the joke of a mental health care system that we have in place? Is it the argument that "guns are easy to get" even though they've always been fairly easy to get. Is it due to societal changes? What is it then?

 

 

 

Yes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above is per-capita. Pretty damn steady.

 

 

 

 

I would say the overall trend is that if it's increasing it's at a very miniscule and non-alarming, likely statistically insignificant rate.

 

Keep in mind mass shootings are a subset of homicides. The rate is still lower than it's been since 1964.

 

If you're worried about taking your kids to the theatre it's because you're paying too much attention to the media which sensationalizes and over-covers this stuff. You claim the media is out to get the police so maybe you shouldn't pay as much attention to them.

[zoogs]

Haha! Yes, I can use Google

 

I would certainly agree that we've seen a recent uptick in mass public shootings. I do wonder when we're going to do something about that, or even be able to have that conversation.

 

Plenty of issues still plague us. Ten years ago the level of national stigma against gays in this country was night and day compared to present. Our understanding of mental health is another good one that you bring up. Incarceration levels, too. The war on drugs is still ongoing and marijuana is still, largely, such a big deal. How about the extent to which maternity leave policy in the United States lags stunningly behind much of the rest of the first world? Etc, etc, etc. I saw a piece recently that I'll link to if I can find it again about how the partisan divide in conversations about race today is far greater than it used to be, and that is such a shame -- even as we see hopefully positive developments for the future, like the recent (mostly united) movement to finally repudiate the Confederate flag.

 

There are always issues of the day, even as we move forward. My point was hopefully to illustrate why pining for our mythical, halcyon glory days is likely to earn a fair measure of disagreement.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I can post graphs too...........

 

[rawhide]

My son has been a sworn officer for 9 years. He knows and all the other deputies I've met or know realize the responsibility they have every day they pin the badge on their shirt. They also have a responsibility to

 

assist fellow officers to ensure their own safety as well as the public. They also have to deal with the fact that many times their contact with John Q has negative connotations by nature.

 

Many other professions are entrusted with the public well-being, not just the sheepdogs.

 

I've been an RN for 16 years. In that time, I've worked with a multitude of doctors and nurses who were outstanding. And conversely, a small minority that I wouldn't let treat my dogs, cause I love my dogs.

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/09/20/224507654/how-many-die-from-medical-mistakes-in-u-s-hospitals

This study is a few years old.

 

 

Seems like much is being made about deaths by police and yet the amount of medical error deaths are staggering. I've been fortunate to have never witnessed an actual medical error death but have known nurses who did and surrendered their license because of errors. Granted, taking care of patients is a different stress than doing a felony traffic stop at 0 dark thirty. There is usually time for patient assessment even during a cardiac or respiratory code situation.

 

I think this analogy is appropriate but the statistics are considerably different. From some study's the rate of medical error deaths is only surpassed by cardiac and cancer related deaths.

 

Police don't always have that luxury. Split second judgements are needed to assess a situation. So considering the amount of bad press LEO's garner; the vast majority perform a difficult job admirably.

 

https://apbweb.com/video-split-second-judgement-call/

 

I'm proud of my son. And I am proud to call many of his co-workers my friends. They do a job most citizens would refuse to accept or are unable to perform.

[Moiraine]

I can post graphs too...........

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sorry but you are awful at this. If you want to compare how things have changed over a period of several years, which is what you are claiming, you can't just ignore the population change. Per-capita is what matters when it comes to the number of killings in a year. You should know this since yesterday you yourself posted a stat about the number of deaths by cop per capita.

[Moiraine]

For example, here you go. Number of people killed by the police, per capita:

 

 

The take away here is that while both things need improvement (the incidence of mass shootings and incidence of police shootings), they have not been increasing. They're just covered more. You can't just accept the data you want to (the number of police shootings has gone down) and not accept the data you don't want to (mass shootings have held steady). The number of police shootings going down is another example that this country hasn't gone to sh#t.

[zoogs]

I've referenced the same graphs BRI posted in a gun control discussion. The distinction is in the definition of a "mass killing"; the Mother Jones data set filters out gang violence and selects specifically for public incidents, while the FBI standard definition of a mass killing is "4 or more casualties". Personally I find it a fair take, but of course people will disagree on what (if anything) can be done about it.

 

However, the presence of problems that exist now is not something I've ever argued against (nor would anyone, I imagine).

 

 

 

yet the amount of medical error deaths are staggering.

 

This is deserving of attention, too. This was a pretty stark contrast between how two hospitals operated: http://www.vox.com/2015/7/9/8905959/medical-harm-infection-prevention