... Because Feds Finally Put Some Effort Into Counting Them
Now, if they'd just count them ALL, we'd have a solid starting point.
http://reason.com/blog/2016/12/21/number-of-killings-by-police-doubles-becThe "Arrested Related Death (ARD) [sic]" program "reviews open information sources, including news outlets and official agency documents, to identify potential arrest-related deaths". (Yep, you read that right, "'potential' arrest-related deaths", not even 'actual'.) Can police agencies nationwide not be trusted to report their own killings for statistical records? If not, why not? "Arrest-Related Death". Dying should be the last thing you worry about when encountering a law enforcement officer; "To protect and serve", and all that. Unfortunately, it happens about 3 times a day, and that's according to the 'official' numbers, garnered from newspaper reports, no less. Maybe the reports being used to generate these egregiously high numbers are all 'fake news' designed to scare us... Well, I don't feel very 'protected' knowing that, in the presence of such heavily-armed law enforcement officers, should I make a move that they don't like, or possibly 'feel' threatened by, I might be killed or seriously wounded, because 'qualified immunity', you know:
"Qualified immunity is a doctrine in U.S. federal law that arises in cases brought against state officials under 42 U.S.C Section 1983 and against federal officials under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). Qualified immunity, when applicable, shields government officials from liability, unless their actions are found to violate an individual's federal constitutional rights." Nice. Apparently there is no constitutional right to 'life'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualified_immunityGiven the known numbers (the real numbers are assuredly much higher), is it any wonder that certain individuals are targeting police officers sitting at traffic lights and such? If I was a cop, I'd be nervous too.
http://abc13.com/news/las-vegas-officer-shot-while-stopped-at-traffic-light/972559/I couldn't be a cop. Not that law enforcement is against any personal value or anything, just that I wouldn't last very long. I'd be out looking for 'real' criminals, not enforcing punitive 'victimless' crimes and harassing people for money because they fail to wear seat belts, etc.. That wouldn't fly with the higher-ups in law enforcement. I'd be looking for work in a month. No, I really couldn't be a cop.