Rise in police deaths

[shesulsa]

Officials blame more violent criminals with deadlier guns after lapse of ban


By Alex Johnson
Reporter
MSNBC
Updated: 1:54 p.m. MT July 19, 2007


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Police officials and law enforcement groups Thursday blamed a sharp increase in the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty on more violent criminals who have access to deadlier weapons.


Statistics released Thursday showed that 101 local and federal law enforcement officers died on duty in the first half of the year, 31 more than had died at the same time last year. It was the first time in three decades that the toll had reached more than 100.


“Every assignment that a police officer is on is potentially life-threatening,” said Craig Floyd, chairman of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a nonprofit group that compiled the statistics with the police advocacy group Concerns of Police Survivors. “And unfortunately, for the first six months of this year, it’s been particularly deadly for our police officers.”

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I have a lot of feelings about this, but I'd like to defer to the LEOs on the board and others to discuss. I think this is a very important issue.

 

[Carol]

I'm a little bit startled by the Charlotte (NC) police chief's comment:

"What we’ve seen is people shifting from revolvers to automatic weapons,” Stephens said. “Rather than six shots or five, they have 14 or 20.”

I'm having a hard time believing that this is a new occurance. The Glock brand has been a hugely popular sidearm for the last 20 years or so. The gun shops around here are prolly 80% semis and 20% revolvers.

I'm having a hard time seeing this as a "shift" at a time where revolvers are almost obsolete, and if it wasn't for their jam-free mechanism, they prolly would be obsolete.

 

[theletch1]

Carol, I could not agree more. Heck, even back in the 20s and 30s crooks were already using the BAR and the Thompson sub-machine gun. I tend to think it's much more of a shift in the mindset of the criminal element on the streets today. Gangs are becoming more and more like para-military units that just a loose conglomeration of thugs running around. Our police officers seriously need counter terrorist and paramilitary training to augment their regular training. It's getting to a point where EVERY member of the police force is gonna have to be a SWAT member.

 

[Sukerkin]

This might sound a bit left-field but try not to scoff at me too much.

I think it's part and parcel of the 'lack of consequences' morass we've gotten ourselves into in our respective cultures.

Not too many decades ago, if you killed a policeman during a criminal act then that was pretty much it. They (the police) would never stop until you were found and if you made it to court to be sentenced to death then you were lucky.

In the present, that 'consequence' has been diluted by overly convoluted laws that allow the obviously guilty to go free on the flimsiest of pretexts.

I have to confess that I am proudly surprised that there hasn't been a huge increase in 'shot whilst resisting arrest' incidents to circumvent this sad truism.

That speaks volumes about the calibre (no pun intended for a change) of the officers :tup:.

 

[Mr. E]

This might sound a bit left-field but try not to scoff at me too much.

I think it's part and parcel of the 'lack of consequences' morass we've gotten ourselves into in our respective cultures.

Not too many decades ago, if you killed a policeman during a criminal act then that was pretty much it. They (the police) would never stop until you were found and if you made it to court to be sentenced to death then you were lucky.

In the present, that 'consequence' has been diluted by overly convoluted laws that allow the obviously guilty to go free on the flimsiest of pretexts.

Think of the above as you view the following clip.

The common opinion is that it is faked. But the idea that someone could show this much disrespect to a law officer in the open has a great deal of meaning.

I do not like being afraid of the police. But when the common scum that infests society shows the same lack of fear as these guys show, how can we not expect the results we have seen in recent years?

 

[Grenadier]

A very shoddy work of journalism, to say the least.

The violence stems from a cultural issue, not a firearms issue.

As Carol stated, firearms that have had 7+ rounds of ammo in their capacities have been around for over a century, and those with 13+ rounds of capacity have been in circulation for almost that amount of time as well (Browning Hi-Power, for example).

Handguns with 15+ capacity have been around for at least 2+ decades (Beretta 92, Glock 17, HK VP70).

Also, the so-called TEC-9 firearm is pretty much a non-issue, since it's a horribly inferior firearm that combines shoddy construction with miserable accuracy and awful reliability. It was also never really banned, since Intratec simply came out with a cosmetically different version that was functionally identical, during the so-called Assault Weapons Ban.

The so-called ban never actually banned the weapons in possession, and that the only thing it banned were the construction of new 11+ magazines, and certain cosmetic differences that made no differences in functionality at all (showing the ignorance of those who crafted the legislation).

When talking about weapons that can defeat soft body armor, the author fails to mention that almost any centerfire rifle cartridge will defeat soft body armor. Such cartridges have been around since the 19th century, along with the rifles that fired such things. Even the old Enfield .303 bolt action rifles used a long time ago, would easily penetrate soft body armor, since soft body armor was designed to stop handgun calibers.

The author is an anti-gun person, who shows profound ignorance.

 

[Blotan Hunka]

Id believe what a patrolman said over any chief, commish, politician in the making, regarding gun control. My family is LE heavy and most of them are as NRA as you will find.

 

[Drac]

A very shoddy work of journalism, to say the least.

Yes..

The violence stems from a cultural issue, not a firearms issue.

Well said...

As Carol stated, firearms that have had 7+ rounds of ammo in their capacities have been around for over a century, and those with 13+ rounds of capacity have been in circulation for almost that amount of time as well (Browning Hi-Power, for example).

She speaks the truth...

Also, the so-called TEC-9 firearm is pretty much a non-issue, since it's a
When talking about weapons that can defeat soft body armor, the author fails to mention that almost any centerfire rifle cartridge will defeat soft body armor. Such cartridges have been around since the 19th century, along with the rifles that fired such things. Even the old Enfield .303 bolt action rifles used a long time ago, would easily penetrate soft body armor, since soft body armor was designed to stop handgun calibers.

The author also forgot to mention that KNIVES can also defeat a vest....

 

[Big Don]

It amazes me how many people forget that body armor is just that, armor for the body and NONE of it protects from a head shot.

 

[terryl965]

I agree cops are a target by alot of folks, it is a shame that people do not have the respect toward officers anymore.