[chrisjs96]

Police killings are a lot like fear of letting kids walk to school, fear of planes, fear of skydiving. I think there is a term for it but I'll just say it's common misconceptions that have been painted wrongly by news and word of mouth.

Murder rates have gone down since 70's and at their lowest point, but with the introduction of national and world news it makes people think murders have gone up, so they don't let their kids walk to school. Some people have an irrational fear of flying because of news. People have fear of skydiving because they watch too many movies and think a parachute will fail, when the data shows the exact opposite. 99% of are deaths not related to parachute failing.

So I see the police killings as a world that has gotten smaller, video camera's in everyones pocket and social media that has painted a picture of world that doesn't exist. It strikes fear into people and the psychological issues will be felt for decades.

[waon]

> Murder rates have gone down since 70's and at their lowest point

You’re conveniently forgetting the fact that most police killings doesn’t officially count as “murder,” and is effectively deemed legal by the courts.

[augustt]

Except deaths resulting from your examples are generally not state-sponsored and then covered up by the very same people that are supposed to protect us.

[B4CKlash]

Except there's a huge difference between malfeasance and state-sponsored racism. The former can look like the latter if you ignore statistics and you focus only on emotion.

[augustt]

No, it doesn't work to pull a Facts Don't Care About Your Feelings™ on this. It's not just that they murder, it's that they get away with murder. Once that happens the entire police dept is enabling terrible behavior.

I don't get how people don't understand the distinction. If one airplane crashes that doesn't mean there is an institutional airline safety problem. But if you don't even bother to do an honest investigation about what happened, then we absolutely have an institutional problem.

[B4CKlash]

I think we're having two different conversations here. 1). Are police killings worthy of worrying about? and 2). Do we have a problem with police killings; at large, in the in the ethnic communities, and are police held accountable?

In regards to point 1). The parent comment is expressing worry about a statistically insignificant event (framed properly (unarmed, non-justified, non-suicide)) and the following response frames the fear as statistically insignificant. I think this is undeniable and the reason why data is important. Again, this isn't a conversation about whether this is an institutional problem; it's about whether we should live in constant fear of airlines because one airline crashes.

While 2). is a bit more difficult to breakdown. Yes, I think an easy case can be made about cops needing more accountability (for the sake of police generally and society). but do we need institutional change broadly (accountability +) because the police system is racist against people of color? ....Well, that's a claim. That's where data is important and feelings are no longer relevant.