• In 2023, police in the U.S. Killed over 1,300 people, marking a steady increase in police killings, as reported by Mapping Police Violence.
  • There were only 14 days without a police killing, and on average, a person was killed by law enforcement every 6.6 hours.
  • While the number of people killed by gunfire and officers killed in the line of duty declined, this data highlights the need for significant changes in policing in the country.
  • agitatedpotato@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Annually they kill more people than mass shooters and steal more than burglars though ‘asset forfeiture’, they also have no duty to protect you if bodily harm could possibly come to them. Weakest most scared people in America by a country mile. Getting rid of police would end more crime than the cops end.

    • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That, and all the gun control restrictions constantly being floated are meaningless when the police have an exception carved out for themselves every. single. fucking. time.

      If 10+ round magazines, full autos, SBR’s, AR-15’s, switchblades, etc., etc., etc. are supposed to be this big problem, I have never once had anyone be able to answer be constructively on why the police need these things when regular people don’t.

  • breadsmasher@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Heres some data for the UK to compare.

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/319287/deaths-during-or-following-police-contact-causes-england-and-wales/

    America has some serious problems

    
    | Characteristic | Road traffic fatalities | Fatal shootings | Deaths in or following police custody | Apparent suicides following custody | Other deaths during or following police contact\* |
    | -------------- | ----------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
    | 2010/11        | 26                      | 2               | 21                                    | 46                                  | 57                                                |
    | 2011/12        | 19                      | 2               | 15                                    | 39                                  | 47                                                |
    | 2012/13        | 31                      | 0               | 15                                    | 65                                  | 22                                                |
    | 2013/14        | 12                      | 0               | 11                                    | 70                                  | 44                                                |
    | 2014/15        | 14                      | 1               | 18                                    | 71                                  | 43                                                |
    | 2015/16        | 21                      | 3               | 14                                    | 61                                  | 106                                               |
    | 2016/17        | 32                      | 6               | 14                                    | 56                                  | 131                                               |
    | 2017/18        | 29                      | 4               | 23                                    | 57                                  | 177                                               |
    | 2018/19        | 42                      | 3               | 17                                    | 63                                  | 156                                               |
    | 2019/20        | 24                      | 3               | 18                                    | 54                                  | 107                                               |
    | 2020/21        | 25                      | 1               | 19                                    | 54                                  | 92                                                |
    | 2021/22        | 40                      | 2               | 11                                    | 57                                  | 111                                               |
    | 2022/23        | 28                      | 3               | 23                                    | 52                                  | 90                                                |
    
    • Omega@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      So, if I’m reading this right, the US had 6.6 times more fatalities by police (1,300 vs 196), with only 5 times more population (332 million vs 67 million).

      Population equalized, 1,300 US vs 980 UK. Unless I’m reading this wrong.

      • Magikjak@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        This source is including many more causes of death not included in the US number. The average annual direct killings by the US police is 1096 (33.1 per 10 million), while the UK is 3 (0.5 per 10 million), about 66 times worse per capita.

        • Omega@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          It seems like that’s just shootings. I’m really curious what the “other” category is for the UK. That seems like that might be direct killings that aren’t shootings. That would inflate the number to 93.

          But even if all of the others are murders (since unattributed deaths in custody is its own category), that would still make the US police 3 times as likely to murder you.

      • breadsmasher@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I don’t have the info to clarify this either way, but the data Ive shared isn’t only “directly killed by police action” but includes suicide and other deaths related to police contact but not necessarily directly caused by police

        e. interpreting the US statistics as “directly killed by police, with their hands” then I would count only “fatal shootings” and possibly “deaths in and following police custody”.

        Here’s another slice of UK people killed by shootings https://www.statista.com/statistics/319246/police-fatal-shootings-england-wales/

        2023 there were 3 police shootings resulting in death

        In USA there were 1153 fatal shootings by police

        https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/

        • Omega@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          There’s an “other” category for the UK link. Since “in police custody” seems to be for unattributed deaths, I’m assuming “other” is for attributed murder that isn’t shootings.

  • BlanketsWithSmallpox@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The Mapping Police Violence project, which has been tracking police killings in the country since 2013, reported that officers killed 1,329 people last year, representing nearly a 19-percent increase over the 11-year span.

    The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks shootings throughout the U.S., reported that 2023 saw a decrease in shooting deaths overall. More than 800 suspects were injured in officer involved shootings last year, according to the organization.

    So shooting deaths across the board both police and civilian have increased since COVID ‘ended’. Blame the full moon. 🌝

  • wildcardology@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m assuming most of the victims are unarmed. US police don’t like to shoot people that shoot back.

    • licherally@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Probably not, but it’s kind of irrelevant either way. The real issue is the lack of functional de-escalation training and the incredibly low standards that need to be passed to be a cop (6 months or less of fuck all training, mostly only in offensive techniques.)

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        its also just the sheer number of problems police are expected to solve but all the training is how to shoot and handcuff people. The actual roles of police need to be split between several groups- you don’t need guns to write parking tickets, answer mental health calls and direct traffic. You don’t need patrol cars to have neighborhood peace keeping. Like the US needs to narrow what policing is and systematically reform the way policing is done.