Philadelphia police shoot people at a rate far higher than much larger cities, opening fire roughly once a week, with black residents disproportionately impacted by such violence, a damning new investigation (pdf) by the Department of Justice finds.
Some perspective given that another article was on Common Dreams a few days ago regarding the killing of the disabled.
In The United Kingdom last year 1 person was killed at the hands of the police.
In Iceland 1 person was killed at the hands of the police in the past 60 years . The nation went into mourning.
In Germany last year no one was killed at the hands of the Police.
In China. home to 1.2 billion, the police killed 12 people last year.
Canada saw 14 people killed by the police.
The USA is one of the few countries that does not keep such records. The official FBI number is some 548 but reporting of people “Killed by police” is voluntary and if a Police Department chooses not to submit such data to the FBI it is not counted.
An independent website used newspaper accounts to determine a more accurate number and came up with some 1100 people killed by the Police.
All of these other nations to some extent deal with different races and religions. They deal with the mentally ill and people whose medical alert bracelet goes off. How do those police forces manage it where the Cops in the USA can not seem to do so without shooting them dead?
The whole point is for them to be unarmed! Duh! Why would a cop have a gun if it wasn’t for his protection? You all should go on a ride along and see how white cops are treated by blacks!!
Police have become a sub-culture of society. They are authoritarian extremists recruited for their penchant for violence and marginal educations. American police live and function within their own peculiar image of society as a threat to the ruling order. Their ranks are dominated by sociopaths. The most disturbing aspect of American police is their wall of silence and deceit in protecting each other from each others misconduct. Even well intentioned police are intimidated.
The most important thing to remember is that they are the Pretorian Guards of the ruling political establishment. Paramilitary troops that are, by design, hostile towards “civilians”. Constitutional violations are committed with impunity and the injustice system, dominated by perverted prosecutors and corrupt judges, run cover for them. They are a threat to civil order.
The problem police pose for society in general cannot be tinkered with. Their historic role is to suppress and brutalize people and institutions that threaten the ruling political order. In short, if American citizens want a better life under a Constitutional Republic policing will have to be restructured from the ground up.
