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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

#31

Post by JoeAltmaier »

DiffEq wrote: post #28
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #12

...and twice as likely to commit suicide, than be killed by anybody.

So this is the problem with statistics; these statistics apply to the average person. But there is no such thing as an average "real person". For instance MY chances of suicide are zero; and the chances of me being killed by a terrorist are far below the average person because of where I live and where I spend my time; the same goes for being killed by a police officer. This applies to MOST people for at least the "b…

Agree in principle. But the chance that each of us will die by suicide is not actually zero. Its more closely related to the chance we will experience debilitating depression. Its a disease issue; no one is immune.

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

#33

Post by bmm6o »

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.

There is a non-zero chance that an asteroid will slam into the Earth next month, ending life as we know it. There is a non-zero chance that the LHC will create a black hole that will swallow us all. Etc.

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

#34

Post by Retric »

a3voices wrote: post #9
Retric wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a non zero chance a police officer will kill 10 million people tomorrow.

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 one off.

Of course reality can be far stranger than fiction so I am unlikely to think of the most likely risk.

PS: The odds of terrorists being able to kill 10 million people tomorrow is so low it's really not worth considering.

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

#35

Post by mgrennan »

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?

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

#36

Post by tempodox »

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.

“In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act” — George Orwell

Billions of dollars of yearly agency budgets are justified with terrorist scare narratives. Saying that we shouldn't be scared of terrorists is a good beginning. I just wonder if anybody will listen.

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

#37

Post by morley »

xacaxulu wrote: post #30
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.

I'm scared of police and I'm basically a WASP. If I were black or latino, I'd be even more scared. Civil asset forfeiture, drug dogs that always indicate presence of drugs, camera/drone tracking of movements of people, illegal phone searches, militarized police departments with special forces type weapons and vehicles, etc. I'm a former US Marine and the police are basically becoming a domestic occupying military for…

I'm sure there are plenty of people scared of terrorists for the same statistically unlikely reasons. It doesn't make that fear necessarily a net positive on society.

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

#38

Post by throwaway049 »

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.

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

#39

Post by GFischer »

notliketherest wrote: post #16

You're eight times more likely to be a terrorist if you get shot by a police officer.

Unfortunately funny but containing a kernel of truth.

In my country, police tries to make killings look less bad by ascribing as many crimes as possible to "gang killings" ("ajuste de cuentas" in Spanish). In one case I knew of, a guy was killed when he resisted robbery, and the police told the press he must have been involved in something !!

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

#40

Post by delinka »

philipkuklis wrote: post #27

"[...]one should ask why police officers are such a significant source of danger." The statements are based on data from 2011. 155 people were killed by police officers in US, total population was about 311.7 million back then. That's roughly 0,00005% and we don't even know the circumstances in which they got killed. Saying you're 8 times more likely to [insert extremely unlikely event] than [insert exceptionally unl…

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."
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