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A Cop Is Killed Every 58 Hours
National Review ^ | 08/15/2014 | Michelle Malkin

Posted on 08/15/2014 5:05:16 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

If you’ve been watching cable news, reading Hollywood celebrities’ tweets, and listening to race-hustling opportunists, you might think that every police officer in America has a finger on the trigger, hunting for any excuse to gun down defenseless youths.

This hysterical nonsense must be stopped.

The Cirque du Cop-Bashing, with Al Sharpton as ringmaster, is working overtime to exploit the deadly incident in Ferguson, Mo. That means stoking anti–law enforcement fires at all costs.

Are there bad cops? Yes. Does the police state go overboard sometimes? Yes. Do the demagogues decrying systemic racism and braying about “assassinations” know what happened when teenager Mike Brown was tragically shot and killed last week? No.

Here’s a reality check. While narcissistic liberal journalists and college kids are all posting “hands up” selfies in hipster solidarity with Ferguson protesters, it’s law-enforcement officers who risk their lives in “war zones” every day across the country.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) reports that a total of 1,501 law-enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past ten years, an average of one death every 58 hours, or 150 per year. These include local and state police officers, federal officers, correctional officers, and military law-enforcement officers.

Fact: Last year, 100 law-enforcement officers were killed. On average, over the past decade, there have been 58,261 assaults against law enforcement each year, resulting in 15,658 injuries.

Fact: New York City has lost more officers in the line of duty than any other department, with 697 deaths. Texas has lost 1,675 officers, more than any other state.

Just this week, NLEOMF released preliminary fatality statistics from August 2013 to August 2014. Total fatalities are up 14 percent, from 63 last year to 72 this year.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cop; ferguson; leo; murder; nleomf; officerdown; police; policekilled
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To: no-to-illegals
We saw it in California during and after a bank robbery.

If that's the one I am thinking of, the police did better after they obtained some rifles--of the same sort there was a waiting period to obtain if you were an ordinary citizen (AR-15s).

121 posted on 08/16/2014 3:14:49 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: DoodleDawg
If someone 6'4" tall and 295 pounds is assaulting you and trying to get your gun, what would you do?

I am a pretty large fellow myself, but if I used that size and power as a weapon, someone smaller might just shoot me, and depending on the circumstances, that might be justifiable--not that I go around attacking smaller people.

Even without fighting over possession of the firearm, people are killed by being beaten to death with fists or feet, and classified that way in the crime stats. With malicious intent and trying to take the officer's firearm? You are going to get shot.

122 posted on 08/16/2014 3:21:38 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Neidermeyer
The good cops should be fighting to stop the whitewash because that makes them all look bad when they allow the corruption to continue.

Agreed!

Sadly, though, the media have a tendency to spin the prosecution of the bad elements against the good ones. I saw an article a while back that ranked the most corrupt states by the number of prosecutions of public servants caught pulling some crap.

No, not likely. The most corrupt ones are the ones where they all have each others' backs and no one gets prosecuted.

123 posted on 08/16/2014 3:25:41 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: redgolum
When the next generation of cops started (my cousins and others I grew up with), they changed focus. For starters, many have told me they would just follow orders, no matter what those orders would be. My uncle did not and would not do that. The other shift was the guys I knew all of my life began to seem themselves as above the ordinary people, or as equivalent to soldiers in Iraq (as in fighting a war). Never mind the Army and Marine cousins and friends of mine do not like that attitude. (In general, the regular guys HATED reserve forces made of from police officers. They got to many people killed).

Look at how the rhetoric changed in that era, though. It went from fighting crime to the "war on this" and the "war on that", as if that justified the extraConstitutional tweaks in tactics and shift in equipment.

When everything is a "War", you're going to get a Fort Apache attitude.

Movies were as responsible for the shift as the daily media rhetoric, but protect and serve went out the window in a lot of places on account of the 'war' and the 'us vs them' attitude (easy enough to get when you deal with dregs daily), and it became CYA and get home, put in 20 or 25 and collect your check.

I'm not saying all LEOs are that way, not by a long shot, but there are enclaves where the attitude seems to prevail.

124 posted on 08/16/2014 3:35:24 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: QT3.14
Remember the perps were practically in full combat gear, body armour, AK-47's?

Actually, the perps were wearing more than full combat gear. When they were finally brought down, it was a shot to the ankle that found a gap in the armor. Those guys had vests wrapped around their legs, padded, etc.

The police had handguns against that, and need something with more penetration and precision.

Simply put, though, those were city police, and a more rural Sheriff's deputy would likely have had the firepower to end that more quickly. One good shooter with a scoped rifle and a little standoff capability would have been able to make short work of that situation.

125 posted on 08/16/2014 3:44:31 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: SeekAndFind

What exactly is a “police state?” A state under the rule of law? I thought that’s what conservatives valued.

Rule of law without law ENFORCEMENT is a farce.


126 posted on 08/16/2014 5:42:22 AM PDT by fwdude (The last time the GOP ran an "extremist," Reagan won 44 states.)
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To: no-to-illegals

As you pointed out, the way to stop bad guys with full-auto weapons is a good rifle.

Domestic law enforcement should NEVER UNDER ANY IRCUMSTANCES have full-auto weapons.


127 posted on 08/16/2014 5:46:29 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: fwdude

The U.S. Postal Service Sniper Team is a good place to start looking if you are trying to find the police state.


128 posted on 08/16/2014 5:47:45 AM PDT by The Toll
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To: fwdude

A police state is where the individual is presumed guilty at all times.

Limited government orders the State to declare that individuals are innocent until proven guilty.

Both under “rules of law” but the context is different.


129 posted on 08/16/2014 5:56:25 AM PDT by rollo tomasi (Working hard to pay for deadbeats and corrupt politicians.)
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To: fwdude
What exactly is a “police state?” A state under the rule of law? I thought that’s what conservatives valued.

Rule of law without law ENFORCEMENT is a farce.

I would submit that your assumptions are wrong. First, your definition of a police state is wrong. And no, it's not at all what conservatives value. One major point that some are missing is that former "law and order" type conservatives now no longer assume that cops are lawful or orderly. Many, like myself, no longer give cops the benefit of the doubt - even though for most of my life I certainly did. -- And your final fatal flaw is the assumption that enforcement is really enforcing LAW. Sometimes enforcement is just raw brute power.

130 posted on 08/16/2014 7:11:26 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright (www.FireKarlRove.com NOW)
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To: Smokin' Joe; QT3.14

That was also an outlier fluke freak one time event. To make law, to equip, and to form tactics on such a basis is exactly how liberals grow government power…..use a single event to trample everyone’s rights.

And another thing: cops in classic blues - the cruiser - the hat, the pistol, maybe a club, and the badge - evokes a certain kind of image, thought process and emotion.

A cop who looks just like our special forces from Iraq or Afghanistan, right down to the pseudo nazi style helmets and Humvee - evokes an entirely different image, thought process, and emotion. Both for LEO and citizen.


131 posted on 08/16/2014 7:14:59 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright (www.FireKarlRove.com NOW)
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To: Smokin' Joe
I'm not saying all LEOs are that way, not by a long shot, but there are enclaves where the attitude seems to prevail.

True, and I would also add that to be completely accurate, it is important to add that this attitude is growing rapidly and that many LEO's now only "protect and serve" themselves and their unions. They get that macho "we're better than everybody else" from the absurd Horatio character on CSI Miami, for example….

132 posted on 08/16/2014 7:17:23 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright (www.FireKarlRove.com NOW)
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To: oh8eleven
Don't be afraid to let Jim know your feelings. At the least, haters calling cops "pigs," do not deserve to be here. This is FR, not DU

I'm no cop hater, and never used the word pig in that context:

HOWEVER: Perhaps it has escaped your notice that cops of today are NOT THE COPS of our childhood. Perhaps it has escaped your notice that many cops today ARE THE ENEMY OF A FREE REPUBLIC. Seems you have anger towards us conservatives who have that figured out. I would suggest you learn from us, and not insult us.

133 posted on 08/16/2014 7:21:06 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright (www.FireKarlRove.com NOW)
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To: DoodleDawg

Protect and serve is a quaint, pollyannish and outdated notion…..SADLY!

I bet cops “laugh” at that now. I know for a fact many totally reject the notion that “they work for us.” Totally reject it…..and that’s a dangerous situation.


134 posted on 08/16/2014 7:24:05 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright (www.FireKarlRove.com NOW)
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To: CodeToad

Hey don’t fog up the thread with facts dang it ....:o)

Hope yer well...Stay safe !


135 posted on 08/16/2014 7:30:13 AM PDT by Squantos ( Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet ...)
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To: C. Edmund Wright
A cop who looks just like our special forces from Iraq or Afghanistan, right down to the pseudo nazi style helmets and Humvee - evokes an entirely different image, thought process, and emotion. Both for LEO and citizen.

That's what a lot of people don't understand. There is a psychological impact both on the police and on the citizens when wearing military style gear. I wish I could find the study, but a famous one was done where they showed a strong correlation between types of equipment and aggression.
136 posted on 08/16/2014 7:48:59 AM PDT by DarkSavant
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To: WayneS
Of course, they don’t say how many of the officers killed by gunfire are actually shot by a perpetrator, while on duty. I suspect they bury suicides in there somewhere


And friendly fire. Some departments seem pretty good at throwing a lot of indiscriminate lead in a "shoot out"

I try to keep a respectful mind frame towards cops, they are on the job 24/7 and put do risk life and limb to keep us safe. However there is no limit on their authority if they want to go too far. I am supposed to submit to whatever they want and if I don't I'm risking my life. I can only submit and then hope I can redress my grievances later. That gives an enormous potential for abuses of power.

I was watching an old episode of Hawaii 5-0; forget the name of the episode but it was season 1. Danny shoots a punk who was breaking into a car after a long chase. The whole episode was about having to find the punks gun or Danny was going to be in big trouble. Ha! Who cares, now a days, the revenuers have every right to fill you full of holes. Ask Randy Weaver. We shouldn't feel lucky that a boy scout troop escaped with their lives after an encounter with border patrol. As citizens of a constitutional republic we ought to have the right to tell the authorities to stop if they are violating our rights. I'm also not above thinking that some swat teams might carry a baggie of evidence to “discover” should they get the wrong house.

I shouldn't have to worry that the police will kick in my door in the dead of night with more authorization to kill than Marines hunting terrorists. As decent law abiding citizens we are figured to be guilty until proven innocent. What good are rights if all you can do is beg for justice after the fact?

137 posted on 08/16/2014 7:55:03 AM PDT by Idaho_Cowboy (Ride for the Brand. Joshua 24:15)
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To: QT3.14
Put yourself out there. What would you want at your disposal to deal with these kind of situations?


If you going to armed there is no point in carrying something that won't do the job. That doesn't explain why the “city of podunk” police need to use the stuff in routine situations. At some point it gets to be swatting flies with a sledge hammer and we are all potential flies.
138 posted on 08/16/2014 8:12:48 AM PDT by Idaho_Cowboy (Ride for the Brand. Joshua 24:15)
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To: DarkSavant
That's what a lot of people don't understand. There is a psychological impact both on the police and on the citizens when wearing military style gear. I wish I could find the study, but a famous one was done where they showed a strong correlation between types of equipment and aggression.

I'm sure the cops know this. There's a lot of info out there about how "neighborhood cops" walking a beat in their blues is a comfort emotionally and intellectually - so they have to know that when every podunk little berg has some unit that makes the original LA SWAT team look like little league baseball squad is simply a way of enforcing brute government power unchecked.

I am stunned how many Freepers are stuck in the 1980s or heck, the 1960s about how conservatives should view cops. This is an entirely new world of LEOs and it ain't good….

139 posted on 08/16/2014 8:25:11 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright (www.FireKarlRove.com NOW)
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To: Idaho_Cowboy; QT3.14

That “put yourself out there” argument is just a straw liberal infantile talking point….you know, if you aren’t gay, you can’t comment on gay - if you aren’t a woman, you can’t comment on abortion, if you aren’t a veteran, you can’t be pro military and a hawk - blah blah blah……it’s just infantile bullsh-t.

As citizens, we can, and have the responsibility, to comment on cops. Not doing enough of it has helped pervert the whole notion of what it means to be a cop. This is relatively new.


140 posted on 08/16/2014 8:27:37 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright (www.FireKarlRove.com NOW)
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