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Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

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Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#141

Post by microtherion »

downandout wrote: post #107

As a person that makes decisions based on data, rather than emotions, it would be interesting to see a comparison of the volume of such incidents on both sides. Is there a similar repo of the looting and violence committed by protesters? I think that would give a more accurate picture of all of this. We would then know if the police brutality incidents paled in comparison to violence/looting by the public, or vice ve…

One difference being that the public does not, to my knowledge, pay six figure pensions to protestors (If they do, I might consider a change of career).

And, if caught, protestors are being held legally accountable (as well they should), while police officers, even after egregious misconduct, often get reinstated:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/police-in-misconduct-cases...

Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#142

Post by oh_sigh »

triceratops wrote: post #132
oh_sigh wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when is hero defined as "the person who does the most dangerous profession"? Also, there is a world of difference between professions where accidents are common, and a profession where humans may be actively trying to kill you. A hero might be a person who knowingly risks life and limb for the safety and wellbeing of others. Even more heroic when those others are strangers (ie it is more heroic to rescue a stra…

A commonly accepted definition of hero is "performing a duty and/or serving others, even at great danger to oneself, often for little or no reward". So "how dangerous is the job?" seems relevant to me. > there is a world of difference between professions where accidents are common, and a profession where humans may be actively trying to kill you. A large fraction of police deaths on the job are traffic accidents.

> So "how dangerous is the job?" seems relevant to me.

How does the comparative danger of fields change how dangerous something is? If someone said "Shaq is really tall", would a reasonable response be "No he isn't. Yao Ming is taller"?

> A large fraction of police deaths on the job are traffic accidents.

Yes, that is one way cops die. But this seems decidedly different contextually than the dangers faced by, say, pizza delivery drivers, who also frequently die in car accidents. Presumably, police officers die in car accidents because they are rushing to the scene of a crime or to a place where someone needs help. Pizza delivery drivers die in car accidents commonly because they are rushing to improve the tip they might get, or to be able to deliver more pizzas and get more tips.

Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#143

Post by fzeroracer »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #113
throwawaysea wrote: post #75

From what I saw on Twitter, most of the videos alleging police using force without reason were misleading, and leaving out all the footage preceding police action. In cases where others uploaded longer videos or different angles, it was clear that protesters were acting illegally, or ignoring clear verbal warnings, or refusing lawful orders to disperse, and so on. By leaving those crucial additional bits out, activis…

I don't like this US attitude where people think that once police has given an order to do something you have to comply immediately or you can be shot or run over no matter the situation. I just saw a video where protesters were crowding a police and suddenly the car sped up and ran over people because the cops felt "threatened". Thats just not OK.

For all of the arguments I've seen from people claiming we need to be free from government tyranny, that small government is good and that we should defend ourselves from corruption, all of that seems to go out the window when the discussion changes from government to police. Suddenly the state deciding to execute people is perfectly acceptable, destroying property is fine (they were probably criminals anyways) and locking people up without due process should be expected if you question authority.

Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#144

Post by cvlasdkv »

oh_sigh wrote: post #129
triceratops wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The vast majority of police are heroes. Define "hero". As has been noted many, many times across HN these past few weeks, "police officer" isn't even among the top 15 most dangerous professions in America. And even then police aren't legally required to do their job[1]. Most police are never called upon to do anything heroic, so we can't say if they are heroes or not. This type of blind veneration for police is wei…

Since when is hero defined as "the person who does the most dangerous profession"? Also, there is a world of difference between professions where accidents are common, and a profession where humans may be actively trying to kill you. A hero might be a person who knowingly risks life and limb for the safety and wellbeing of others. Even more heroic when those others are strangers (ie it is more heroic to rescue a stra…

Your comment does not directly contradict anything GP says yet your tone makes it seems like it does. If you are not sure what the percentages are your argument adds nothing to the conversation and in facts misleads readers into thinking that a significant amount of police can be considered heroes.

Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#145

Post by monocasa »

zaroth wrote: post #136
triceratops wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The vast majority of police are heroes. Define "hero". As has been noted many, many times across HN these past few weeks, "police officer" isn't even among the top 15 most dangerous professions in America. And even then police aren't legally required to do their job[1]. Most police are never called upon to do anything heroic, so we can't say if they are heroes or not. This type of blind veneration for police is wei…

USA Today says that policing is the 18th most dangerous job in the US. What makes police injuries and deaths notable from other occupations is that “The most common cause of workplace fatalities among police officers is direct violence from other people”. It is not just a risky job in general, it is a risky job due to people that would intentionally do them harm, done in service of their community. Everyone is a regu…

I'd love to see where they got their data. Everything I've seen is that they're most likely to be killed in a self inflicted car accident.

Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#146

Post by oh_sigh »

cvlasdkv wrote: post #144
oh_sigh wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when is hero defined as "the person who does the most dangerous profession"? Also, there is a world of difference between professions where accidents are common, and a profession where humans may be actively trying to kill you. A hero might be a person who knowingly risks life and limb for the safety and wellbeing of others. Even more heroic when those others are strangers (ie it is more heroic to rescue a stra…

Your comment does not directly contradict anything GP says yet your tone makes it seems like it does. If you are not sure what the percentages are your argument adds nothing to the conversation and in facts misleads readers into thinking that a significant amount of police can be considered heroes.

Your GP says "Define 'hero'", and I tried to show behavior which may make someone heroic.

Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#147

Post by triceratops »

zaroth wrote: post #136
triceratops wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The vast majority of police are heroes. Define "hero". As has been noted many, many times across HN these past few weeks, "police officer" isn't even among the top 15 most dangerous professions in America. And even then police aren't legally required to do their job[1]. Most police are never called upon to do anything heroic, so we can't say if they are heroes or not. This type of blind veneration for police is wei…

USA Today says that policing is the 18th most dangerous job in the US. What makes police injuries and deaths notable from other occupations is that “The most common cause of workplace fatalities among police officers is direct violence from other people”. It is not just a risky job in general, it is a risky job due to people that would intentionally do them harm, done in service of their community. Everyone is a regu…

> The Parkland officer who didn’t enter the school during the shooting...was rightly condemned as not fit for duty.

But then got his job and pension back with the full backing of his union[1][2]. This is what I mean by the system propping up bad cops. If the "vast majority" of cops are heroes, why are they supporting someone who has demonstrated a distinct lack of heroism? Isn't he making the rest of them look bad? Don't they care?

1. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/05/15/fac...

2. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/art...

Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#148

Post by mothsonasloth »

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I will watch this repository, but I think it will be another showman piece which will join the many other repositories that are forgotten about and left to go stale on Github.

Why? Well if you look at some of the contributors, they all have new accounts generated around June, and some have a history of creating fad'ish repositories, probably to massage their ego online.

This repository has some good content but also a lot of "weak" to "non-existent" examples.

Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#149

Post by cvlasdkv »

mothsonasloth wrote: post #148

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I will watch this repository, but I think it will be another showman piece which will join the many other repositories that are forgotten about and left to go stale on Github. Why? Well if you look at some of the contributors, they all have new accounts generated around June, and some have a history of creating fad'ish repositories, probably to massage their ego online.…

Ultimately there is enough evidence to make a decision already--the case of police brutality is nothing as invisible or insidious as something like the sexual assault or harassment revealed by the #MeToo movement. I am not sure this repository accomplishes anything, especially as reports do not seem to be well vetted, but it would be nice if cleaned up to have a list of examples.

Re: Git Repo of Police Brutality During the 2020 George Floyd Protests

#150

Post by tdeck »

mothsonasloth wrote: post #148

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I will watch this repository, but I think it will be another showman piece which will join the many other repositories that are forgotten about and left to go stale on Github. Why? Well if you look at some of the contributors, they all have new accounts generated around June, and some have a history of creating fad'ish repositories, probably to massage their ego online.…

So the implication is what - people created this to get stars on GitHub? I expect it's more likely people just used GitHub because it's an easy way to compile and host content. As for the new accounts, it makes sense that the audience of potential contributors to this would be larger than the audience of people who already have a GitHub account.
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