The "War on Cops" is Propaganda, Lies. The No. of Line-of-duty Deaths Declined Over the Past 5 Decades. 4X as Many Cops Killed Themselves than Were Killed in 2021, At Least 20 Jobs are More Dangerous
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Authority Falsely Attributes its Violence to Citizens to Transform its Evil Into Positive Images
The "War on Cops" is propaganda. Contrary to authoritarian propaganda designed to control thought and manufacture false relations, multiple studies reveal that it is safer than ever to be a police officer! The number of line-of-duty deaths has declined dramatically over the last five decades. Policing is a much safer profession now than it was 50 years ago.
POLICING NOT EVEN IN THE TOP 20 MOST DANGEROUS JOBS
Yahoo observes, America loses a lot of working people every year due to occupational hazards. According to the U.S. Bureau of labor statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 5,333 fatal workplace injuries were reported in America in 2019. This was up 2% from number of work-related fatalities witnessed in 2018 and the largest annual fatality number since 2007. The fatal work injury rate was recorded to be 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers for 2019, the same as that of 2018.
One would think that becoming a police officer or a firefighter would be the most daring thing to do, data shows otherwise. The most dangerous job in America is being a truck driver. The number of deaths for firefighters in 2019 was only 8, and for police officers, the number was 86. Driver/sales workers and truck drivers accounted for a major chunk of the total number of fatalities in 2019, having recorded 1005 fatal injuries. 732 people died from coming into contact with objects and equipment in 2019. The leading players in the power tools, industrial, and household tools are Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE: SWK), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), and Hitachi, Ltd. (TYO: HTHIY). These companies have to up their manufacturing game by making "safer" tools. The alarming number of deaths caused by coming in contact with objects and equipment malfunction can be significantly reduced if tools with enhanced safety features are available in the market. The most common cause for the deaths recorded in 2019 was transportation incidents, registering a count of 2,122, followed by falls, slips, and trips that accounted for 880 of the 5,333 total fatalities. [MORE]
WAR ON COPS IS A BELIEF SYSTEM OF MINDLESS DOGMA
TechDirt explained, Evidence abounds that it's safer to be a cop now than it's ever been, and yet, officers still claim they're being targeted and use these unfounded fears to obtain military equipment and qualified immunity rulings.
We've covered how safe police work is before. But the narrative coming from the law enforcement community refuses to change, despite evidence to the contrary. Research is piling up, exposing law enforcement agencies' claims of cops being targeted by a vengeful populace as a self-serving lie. At best, these claims are merely wrong. But given the easy access to law enforcement officer death data, a refusal to see the stats for what they are is incredibly disingenuous at best.
Adding yet more documentation to the pile is a study released by researchers from three American universities. The study [PDF] shows policing just keeps getting safer.
The number of line-of-duty deaths has declined dramatically over the last five decades. Policing is a much safer profession now than it was 50 years ago. Despite a 75% drop in deaths, however, there has been remarkable stability in geographic-, temporal-, and incident-level characteristics. Also, several notable changes over time reflect favorably on improved safety in policing, such as declines in deaths resulting from aircraft crashes and accidental gunfire. Other trends are troubling, though, such as the stability in deaths during auto pursuits and a two-fold increase in deaths from vehicular assaults. Currently, the “war on cops” thesis is not supported by any evidence, and we apply the 50-year lens in this study to provide important context for understanding recent trends in officer deaths.
The number of deaths continues to drop despite a few high-profile incidents in which cops were targeted and killed. What's interesting is officers' lack of concern for their own safety, as is evidenced by the numbers of deaths related to vehicle pursuits.
Interestingly, deaths occurring during automobile pursuits remained stable over time (5% to 6%) despite policy changes adopted by departments to restrict and control pursuits (Alpert, 1997).
In addition, significant shifts in cause of death occurred among nonfelonious cases. The most common cause was automobile/motorcycle accidents, and the proportion increased significantly over time from 37.9% in 1970–1979 to 52.0% in 2000–2016.
There's nothing "interesting" about this. Departments have regularly enacted policies meant to curb the use of high-speed pursuits to capture criminal suspects. Just as regularly, officers have ignored these policies. There is also an observed tendency for officers to drive aggressively when responding to calls, increasing the chance of accidents, injuries, and death.
Aggressive action by officers -- not just in terms of driving, but also in terms of interactions with the public -- appears to be greeted in kind.
Researchers have also documented an association between aggressive patrol style and greater rates of assault (Kaminski et al., 2003; Morrison & Meyer, 1974; Regens et al., 1974; but see Wilson & Zhao, 2008). Fridell et al. (2009: 550) concluded that “agencies that have a culture of aggressiveness will likely ‘produce,’ not just more force against subjects, but also violence against police.”
Escalation remains a problem. De-escalation could save lives, as could simply treating the suspects like human beings, rather than punching bags or bullet receptacles. Aggressive tactics are making cops less safe in an era of unprecedented officer safety. [MORE]
COPS KILL THEMSELVES
In reality cops are more like to kill themselves than to be killed by citizens. As the number of officers killed in the line of duty decreased, the number of cops taking their own lives has increased. The website Blue H.E.L.P. (Honor. Educate. Lead. Prevent.) has been tracking these numbers for years in an attempt to prevent police officer suicides.
Cops are killing themselves at a rate nearly equal to 4 times the rate they are dying in the line of duty and this subject seems entirely taboo. Last year, it was nearly five times higher.
A report commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation showed that officers’ highest risk of death is by suicide with most deaths in California and Texas. [MORE]
