Thursday, December 29, 2011

Update for Police Death Statistics

The previous post on this topic covered statistics for the first half of 2011; this addresses most of the second half, although we have a few more days where, God willing, there won't be any more additions to these numbers.  My emphasis added - DG
From MSNBC.com;

Police deaths rise sharply again

Tim O'Briant / The Standard via AP
Aiken, S.C., police investigated Dec. 20 after two officers were shot during a traffic stop. Master Officer Scotty Richardson, 33, died later.
For the second straight year, the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty rose sharply in 2011, according to statistics released Wednesday.
Preliminary data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund showed that 173 federal, state and local officers have been killed on the job so far this year, 13 percent more than the 153 who died in 2010 — and 42 percent more than the 122 officers who were killed in 2009.
The memorial fund, a nonprofit group that runs the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, attributed the steep rise to "drastic budget cuts" that "have put our officers at grave risk."
Police "are facing a more cold-blooded criminal element and fighting a war on terror," but "we are cutting vital resources necessary to ensure their safety," said Craig Floyd, the fund's chairman.
The leading cause of death was gunfire, which has killed 68 officers this year, just one short of the decade-long high of 69 in 2007.
One of them was Scotty Richardson, 33, a master officer with the Aiken, S.C., police, who was buried Tuesday in a flag-draped coffin. Richardson died after he was shot in the head Dec. 20 during a nighttime traffic stop. His partner was also shot and survived, NBC station WAGT of Augusta, Ga., reported.
WAGT-TV: Life of Officer Scotty Richardson celebrated

Aiken Department of Public Safety
Aiken, S.C., Master Public Safety Officer Scotty Richardson
Police charged Stephon Carter, 19, with murder and attempted murder.
Aiken Public Safety Director Pete Frommer said Richardson held the title "master officer" because of his diligence and sheer hard work.
"He had an additional 1,460 hours of advanced training," Frommer said. "Everybody can't do that."
Aiken Mayor Fred Cavanaugh said the ceremony was first time in a long while that a tragedy of such magnitude had hit his community.
"We're going to move forward, and it's sad that this happened, and we never want it to happen again," Cavanaugh said.
This is the first time in 13 years that shootings outpaced traffic incidents as the leading cause of officers' deaths, the police fund reported, which Linda Moon Gregory, president of Concerns of Police Survivors, a nonprofit interest group, blamed on inadequate training and equipment.
"At a time when criminals have the latest technology and weapons, we must ensure that our peace officers are adequately equipped and protected," Gregory said in a statement.
The most officers were killed in large states, such as Texas and California, and states in the South, seven of which were in the top 13:
  • Florida 14
  • Texas 13
  • New York 11
  • California 10
  • Georgia 10
  • Tennessee 7
  • North Carolina 7
  • Missouri 6
  • Ohio 6
  • Arizona 5
  • Louisiana 5
  • New Jersey 5
  • Michigan 5
  • Virginia 5

10 comments:

  1. Again, more deaths in the more populated states--I wonder why that could be. You did note that the non-profit group attributes the rise in deaths to budget cuts, no?

    ReplyDelete
  2. "You did note that the non-profit group attributes the rise in deaths to budget cuts, no?"

    Every publicly funded agency I've ever dealt with claims "budget shortfalls" as a reason for everything that's negative.

    Apparently the budgets for gunz used to kill cops were adequate, firearms deaths are up around 8% from last year. I do wish that they would break out suicides separately, but I know that they don't like that sort of ink.

    ReplyDelete
  3. They do cite specifically the quality of their equipment not keeping pace with those used by criminals, as well as training.

    On the flip side of that is the use of spy drone remote controlled planes like those used against terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan now being used in domestic surveillance by police out in the Dakotas.

    If it is possible to supply the cops with better body armor, more training, better communication equipment that would help prevent loss of life I'm all for it.

    I read in Forbes, for example, that first responder problems with communications haven't improved despite being identified as part of went wrong in the response to 9/11.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/investor/2011/09/08/911-safety-update-why-first-responder-communications-hasnt-improved-in-10-years/

    That article was from September 8 of this year.

    So, is democommie correct, and this is just complaining about money? In some cases maybe so. But clearly the result of the disastrous conservative economic policies that led up to our economic crisis of 2007-8-9 HAS resulted in some pretty sever budget cuts to all first responders, not just police.

    Camden NJ cut police numbers by half, and crime rates shot up. The same has been true in other locations, reversing the long term declines in crime rates.

    Not surprising that would include law enforcement deaths.

    ReplyDelete
  4. dog gone:

    Sorry, perhaps I was not clear in my comment.

    My remark was equal parts life experience and snark. Your explanation is similar to my take on the situation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice stat padding half of Florida's 14 deaths were not firearm related, only three of Texas' thirteen were firearm related.

    7 of NY 11 were not firearm related
    7 of CA 10 were not firearm related
    6 of GA 10 were not firearm related
    half of TN were not firearm related
    5 of NC 7 were not firearm related

    What a bunch of grave dancing fuckers you all are.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thomas, Did you miss this part?

    Firearms-related
    2011 - 68
    2010 - 59
    +15%

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mikeb302000,

    Don't you see that with numbers this small, a tiny change is a huge percentage? Of course, as a percentage of total law enforcement officers in this country, both numbers are vanishingly small when it comes to social policy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thomas, Did you miss this part?

    Firearms-related
    2011 - 68
    2010 - 59
    +15%


    No and I did not miss this little bit of yellow journalism......

    The most officers were killed in large states, such as Texas and California, and states in the South, seven of which were in the top 13:

    Florida 14 7
    Texas 13 3
    New York 11 4
    California 10 3
    Georgia 10 4
    Tennessee 7 3
    North Carolina 7 2
    Missouri 6 1
    Ohio 6 3
    Arizona 5 2
    Louisiana 5 1
    New Jersey 5 2
    Michigan 5 2
    Virginia 5 3


    And again, fuck you you grave dancing whore......

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thomas, Did you miss this part?

    Firearms-related
    2011 - 68
    2010 - 59
    +15%

    and if you did just a little work you would see at the website

    http://www.odmp.org/search?name=&agency=&state=&from=2010&to=2010&cause=Gunfire

    the numbers are 66 / 61..... 8.1%

    since they do not count suicides.

    Again fuck you grave dancer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yeah, I'm a blood dancer and a grave digging whore, but you're the one who supports lax gun laws that are part of the problem here.

    ReplyDelete