"At the same time the number of police officers has increased in the US. There are a quarter of a million more police officers working today than there were three decades ago."
"So when you consider the number of officers killed per 100,000, there has been a dramatic decrease. The annual per capita number of officers killed has dropped from 24 per 100,000 in the 10 years to 1980 to 7.3 per 100,000 in the 10 years to 2013 (the last year for which there is good data)."
"This chimes with a bigger trend, which is a steady reduction in crime, including homicides."
I think the City of Minnesota could have handled the negligent shooting death of Philando Castile much better. Rather then criminally charge a hardworking policeman for a rather bad on-duty mistake, the City Attorney should have sought to settle with the family out of court, and provided their estate with prompt justice in the form of a civil settlement payment for the loss of his life.
State Court of Claims are the best agency to remedy a loss of life on behalf of the state. Judges in the court of claims are familiar with the value of a life — both economically and emotionally. They can offer a fair payment that will ensure the estate of person whose life was incorrectly taken on the behalf of state will receive a significant payment. While a large cash payment can not bring back a loved one, it can be used for taking care of the children, providing them housing and food, and pay for their college. It can make sure widow isn’t evicted or goes hungry. Monetary compensation can actually help to remedy the financial harm done.
Now, with any civil suit or out of court settlement, it’s ultimately the taxpayers rather then the incompetent government officialΒ that gets socked with the bill. That’s unfortunate, but that’s why any employer in a risky business should have insurance or have a self-insurance reserve, and take steps to minimize future liability. A $5 million payment means that local leaders can no longer afford to repave a road, have as many police officers on the beat, or offer tax relief.Β This alone should encourage government to improve employee training, and teach their employees not to engageΒ in risky behavior.Β And certainly, any employee who makes a serious mistake that costs their employers millions of dollars should be fired and forced to reconsider their career options.
That’s my take on the issue. Employee mistakes should be resolved by the employer in civil, not criminal court.Β
"Body cameras are spreading fast through American policing, and they're generating an ocean of video. Axon, a company that provides secure cloud storage for police departments, says it's received more than 4 million hours' worth of video uploads from its clients."
"Almost without exception, those videos are controlled by the law enforcement agencies that created them. Some are now challenging that practice and proposing alternatives."
"ο»Ώ When lawyers rushed to airports this winter to protect our friends, our neighbors, and our Constitution, people cheered. The Trump administration took offense, and now those lawyers are in their cross hairs. The president is taking a sledgehammer to the pillars of our government: the FBI, the Justice Department, the federal courts. America, we are under attack."
"It was a familiar story in Troy β where, over the last six years, at least seven black residents have been acquitted of resisting arrest and then paid by the city over claims of police brutality β and evidence of a nationwide trend driven by demographic shifts shaking the country. As black and brown people leave major cities to raise families in areas that were once predominantly white, theyβre encountering police departments that are slow to reflect those population shifts and all too eager to placate longtime white residents who equate change with rising crime. To those white residents, the officers serve as a final line of defense against the outsiders marching onto their land, uniformed allies paid to protect them from the dangers they feel closing in around them."
I don't understand the controversy. In 2016, roughly 2.65 million Americans died due to wide variety of factors. Traffic lights sometimes malfunction and tie rods sometimes fail while driving on expressways but we don't require Supreme Court approval to install a traffic light or buy a car. We do take common sense steps to ensure circuit breakers in traffic lights and quality control at automobile factories but we don't get ourselves into years of needless delays. In cases of wrongful death, we give estates the ability to receive financial compensation. Governments should be bonded against wrongful executions to discourage bad court proceedings and protect families but as long as protections exist, I don't think their should be unnecessary delays.