Cops Shoots Unarmed Woman Motorist To Death For Rolling Up He

[Brigandier]

The British have it right by having a majority of unarmed police. Guns make it too easy to escalate the situation to irreparable consequences.

 

[woolfe9998]

The British have it right by having a majority of unarmed police. Guns make it too easy to escalate the situation to irreparable consequences.

Yes, but the British don't allow their populace to be armed either. You can't have an armed populace and an unarmed police force.

 

[Oldgamer]

I just have to ask, why is the op pulling out these old news items? Not enough current events on the subject?

I have no idea. In fact, I'm not sure that they haven't compiled such statistics. I just haven't seen them.

Either way, you have zero proof of an upward trend in police brutality. The fact that you can find plenty of incidents by Googling around is meaningless. With 2 million cops in this country, it would be shocking indeed if you had any trouble supplying this message board with constant anecdotes. The question I posed to you, however, is what precisely do you think these anecdotes prove?

First off I wasn't aware that this was something that happend a year or so ago, as I was browsing various sites I read everyday. Secondly, I have been seeing a lot, more than usual news reports on some pretty heinous conduct by various police departments. This is P&N is it not? Where we can post news and various political topics. I find it interesting that this bothers you. If I see a news report on something related to cop abuse, I will post it.

Just like anything else I find that looks interesting and post worthy for P&N. I let the readers of this forum draw their own conclusions, and do their own research, it seems to balance out, so why does this bother you?

 

[woolfe9998]

First off I wasn't aware that this was something that happend a year or so ago, as I was browsing various sites I read everyday. Secondly, I have been seeing a lot, more than usual news reports on some pretty heinous conduct by various police departments. This is P&N is it not? Where we can post news and various political topics. I find it interesting that this bothers you. If I see a news report on something related to cop abuse, I will post it.

Just like anything else I find that looks interesting and post worthy for P&N. I let the readers of this forum draw their own conclusions, and do their own research, it seems to balance out, so why does this bother you?

I don't know that your posting of these stories does bother me per se. Any of them individually is of legitimate interest. I do think there's a reason you're posting so many stories about cops doing bad things when there are stories about all sorts of people doing bad things every day. I doubt it's a random choice on your part, and I highly doubt that if you're reading mainstream news that police brutality stories outnumber other types of stories. I think there's a bias at work here. However, the unknown reason for the bias is of less concern to me than many of the reactions that these stories get.

It seems to me that many people around here have trouble understanding that anecdotal evidence proves nothing, not when the statistical domain is this large. This is true of all kinds of issues: black people doing bad things, white people doing bad things, Christians doing bad things, Muslims doing bad things, liberals doing bad things, conservatives doing bad things, etc. etc. "Bad cop" stories are just a more recent manifestation of the fallacy which seem to be growing because of these threads you're starting. Which is why I asked if you too adhere to the fallacy. Often you say very little after your original post so I can't really tell.

I don't have any particular interest in defending police BTW. I am defending a rational standard of proof here. People can finds tons of stories about anything on the internet these days. Such stories may be compelling drama or get people riled up but they don't tell us much beyond their particular facts. We seem to have a number of people here with a negative emotional outlook toward police, be it because of ideology or bad personal experiences, and these stories seem to confirm to these people the correctness of their emotions when in reality they confirm very little.

 

[Oldgamer]

I don't know that your posting of these stories does bother me per se. Any of them individually is of legitimate interest. I do think there's a reason you're posting so many stories about cops doing bad things when there are stories about all sorts of people doing bad things ever day. I doubt it's a random choice on your part, and I highly doubt that if you're reading mainstream news that police brutality stories outnumber other types of stories. I think there's a bias at work here. However, the unknown reason for the bias is of less concern to me than many of the reactions that these stories get.

It seems to me that many people around here have trouble understanding that anecdotal evidence proves nothing, not when the statistical domain is this large. This is true of all kinds of issues: black people doing bad things, white people doing bad things, Christians doing bad things, Muslims doing bad things, liberals doing bad things, conservatives doing bad things, etc. etc. "Bad cop" stories are just a more recent manifestation of the fallacy which seem to be growing because of these threads you're starting. Which is why I asked if you too adhere to the fallacy. Often you say very little after your original post so I can't really tell.

I don't have any particular interest in defending police BTW. I am defending a rational standard of proof here. People can finds tons of stories about anything on the internet these days. Such stories may be compelling drama or get people riled up but they don't tell us much beyond their particular facts. We seem to have a number of people here with a negative emotional outlook toward police, be it because of ideology or bad personal experiences, and these stories seem to confirm to these people the correctness of their emotions when in reality they confirm very little.

Your making a lot of assumptions here.. and your a bit off base. Have I posted a lot lately that happened to be about police abuse? Sure. Looking at my postings I guess I have. I really didn't think much of it, except they were news articles that caught my attention. Again, your making some assumptions about me that are unfounded.

I post my opinions on these articles just like everyone else. I think you are being incredibly scrutinizing and maybe a little paranoid about my posts. Again, it makes me wonder why you would feel defensive about these posts? Maybe the one with the bias might be you? I will just let that be my last post to you on this.

Have a good day.

 

[woolfe9998]

Your making a lot of assumptions here.. and your a bit off base. Have I posted a lot lately that happened to be about police abuse? Sure. Looking at my postings I guess I have. I really didn't think much of it, except they were news articles that caught my attention. Again, your making some assumptions about me that are unfounded.

I post my opinions on these articles just like everyone else. I think you are being incredibly scrutinizing and maybe a little paranoid about my posts. Again, it makes me wonder why you would feel defensive about these posts? Maybe the one with the bias might be you? I will just let that be my last post to you on this.

Have a good day.

If you read the entirety of my post, I said that your reasons for posting these articles are of less interest to me than the reactions I've seen to them. I think you're the one being defensive here, as my comments were in no way exclusive to you.

There is a question pending here about whether anecdotal evidence proves a broad trend. It's still being ignored.

 

[Brigandier]

Yes, but the British don't allow their populace to be armed either. You can't have an armed populace and an unarmed police force.

Sporting rifles/shotguns are obtainable there , no? I thought England made premier big game rifles.

 

[woolfe9998]

Sporting rifles/shotguns are obtainable there , no? I thought England made premier big game rifles.

I think that's true but even those require very careful background checks and can be difficult to get. IIRC of course.

Also, I should mention that some police in the UK do carry firearms. I think they have armed rapid response teams for situations where violence is in progress. It's the ordinary patrol officers who do not carry them.

 

[Nintendesert]

3 years only? Does anyone have a news article detailing the conviction? Sorry if I missed it amidst woolfe antagonizing the OP.

 

[woolfe9998]

3 years only? Does anyone have a news article detailing the conviction? Sorry if I missed it amidst woolfe antagonizing the OP.

Yeah, by pointing out the obvious - that anecdotal evidence proves nothing, I'm "antagonizing the OP."

There are tons of articles about the trial and conviction, as well as the civil lawsuit. Google "Patricia Cook." Example:

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/l...uilty-Involuntary-Manslaughter-188842921.html