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You're Eight Times More Likely to Be Killed by a Police Officer Than a Terrorist

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Re: You're Eight Times More Likely to Be Killed by a Police Officer Than a Terrorist

#51

Post by a3voices »

nkrisc wrote: post #15
a3voices wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a zero chance unless those police officers are also terrorists. Like I said in another comment, there is a zero chance it would happen from routine police activity.

Now you're just playing semantics. There is still some chance it could happen during routine police activity, if that's the game you want to play.

Well perhaps from quantum mechanics there's also a chance that the moon is made out of cheese, but it's not really worth thinking about. The chance that police will kill 10 million people from routine activity is like that. It's not realistic.

Re: You're Eight Times More Likely to Be Killed by a Police Officer Than a Terrorist

#52

Post by forgetsusername »

mgrennan wrote: post #35
chrisBob wrote: post #3

The problem is the people are going to look at this the wrong way. Its not that you should be scared of police; its that you shouldn't be scared of terrorists.

Correct - More people die in hospitals then anywhere else. So should you be scared of going to the hospital?

>So should you be scared of going to the hospital?

Ludicrous. Hospitals are where the sick and dying go for treatment. Police are there to Protect and Serve. Terrorists try to kill you. Why do the former do more damage than the latter?

I agree that the headline is sensationalist, but if you don't think we've got a real police problem, your head is in the sand. Fortunately, the solution isn't that difficult (body cams), and is essentially around the corner.

Re: You're Eight Times More Likely to Be Killed by a Police Officer Than a Terrorist

#54

Post by ctdonath »

dudul wrote: post #22
Zigurd wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, there isn't such a chance. The only WMDs with the ability to kill tens of thousands are nukes. Terrorists only have nukes on TV, the kind with big countdown displays on them. It's the difference between a black swan and the fantasy of a black swan. The is no real-world hypothesis of how such a black swan happens. That's why black powder bombs are the highest technology terrorists actually use, because it is the m…

There are other ways to kill tens of thousands of people other than nukes. Weaponized viruses is one. Other indirect ways such as triggering a large scale war, economic warfare, etc.

Another popular-meme way is knocking out the power grid. Take out enough of it and rapid recovery becomes very difficult, soon disrupting & stopping commerce, water, food, gas, etc distribution which some 99% of the US population critically relies on. That often postulated as prompting mass looting & starvation, which one could reasonably assume terminates 3% of the population.

Re: You're Eight Times More Likely to Be Killed by a Police Officer Than a Terrorist

#56

Post by catshirt »

_dark_matter_ wrote: post #46
delinka wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed it is sensationalism. And it highlights the fact that we're expending far too much effort and money on handwavy "solutions" to handwavy "terrorism."

They don't see it that way. Obviously our efforts have been so fruitful that terrorism has been wiped out.

of course. and we can't stop now- it's working! how convenient for them.

Re: You're Eight Times More Likely to Be Killed by a Police Officer Than a Terrorist

#57

Post by a3voices »

Retric wrote: post #34
a3voices wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well that would make him a terrorist. There is a zero chance it would happen from routine police activity.

If you’re talking about really low probability deaths then you need to consider really unusual cases. Fires gun at fleeing suspect, bullet hits _ -> deaths. Now, how does _ end up with 10 million deaths? Well, the US Air Force for example has accidently dropped nuclear warheads on several occasions. They are designed to be really tough, but there is probably a non-zero chance a bullet could end up setting a defective…

But it's far, far higher chance that terrorists would kill 10 million tomorrow than police. All it takes is for a terrorist group to get their hands on nukes.

Re: You're Eight Times More Likely to Be Killed by a Police Officer Than a Terrorist

#58

Post by jamesbrownuhh »

throwaway049 wrote: post #38

Being a middle income white person not involved in crime, I suspect my risk for being killed by the police is below average. As I live in London and travel on public transport my risk for being killed by a terrorist is above average.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Menez...

Re: You're Eight Times More Likely to Be Killed by a Police Officer Than a Terrorist

#59

Post by Zigurd »

dudul wrote: post #22
Zigurd wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, there isn't such a chance. The only WMDs with the ability to kill tens of thousands are nukes. Terrorists only have nukes on TV, the kind with big countdown displays on them. It's the difference between a black swan and the fantasy of a black swan. The is no real-world hypothesis of how such a black swan happens. That's why black powder bombs are the highest technology terrorists actually use, because it is the m…

There are other ways to kill tens of thousands of people other than nukes. Weaponized viruses is one. Other indirect ways such as triggering a large scale war, economic warfare, etc.

No, there isn't. It is incredibly difficult to make effective chem/bioweapons. Aum tried sarin gas and they would have killed more people with a $10 bomb.

Wars are caused by over-estimating the terrorist threat.

Re: You're Eight Times More Likely to Be Killed by a Police Officer Than a Terrorist

#60

Post by foxhedgehog »

lhorie wrote: post #41
a3voices wrote: post #5

This is ignoring black swan events. There is no chance that police officers will kill 10 million people tomorrow, but there is a non-zero chance that terrorists will.

Hmm, 10 million people is roughly a third of the population of Canada. AFAIK, nothing in recorded history ever killed that many people in a single day. (To give some perspective, the atomic bombs in WWII "only" killed in the range of a hundred thousand people) If you look at a major terrorist attack death toll, you'll probably find that it's within one order of magnitude of, say, a major riot death toll.

I don't think that this is true. The worst terrorist attacks look to be about an order of magnitude worse than the worst riots.
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