- Feb 12, 2007
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In another thread, some soon to be forgotten moonbat claimed that rightwingers want to interpret the horrors of Ferguson to the militarization of police forces. (Their agenda is to keep the flame of racism alive, but that's another topic).
I offer the following as proof the militarization is real, and a growing threat to all citizens. It's not just that our cops fire their guns far more often, it's that they shoot to kill, often at unarmed people.
Eighty-five shots: That’s the total number of bullets German police used in all of 2011, Der Spiegel reports. But what does it say when US cops use as much ammo to bring down one man as German cops need to keep the peace nationwide?
The rate at which German police discharged their firearms is further underscored by how rarely they shot with fatal intent. Of the 85 bullets used in 2011, 49 were warnings shots, 36 were aimed at criminal suspects, 15 people were injured, and 6 were killed, the German daily continues.
The statistics prove "our police officers are not thugs in uniform,”Christian Democratic insider Lorenz Caffier said.
And when comparing Germany with the United States, another story altogether appears. Although police in the United States have to file a report every time they use their firearm in the line of duty, either through sheer volume or disinterest, no statistics are readily available on the amount of ammunition used annually. But though the number of shell casings spent by the boys in blue has not been tallied, there are other indicators that something is amiss when it comes to state-sponsored violence in the US. The US population is almost four times that of Germany's, yet its level of police violence is exponentially higher.
The trigger-happy nature of US cops was perhaps best epitomized in the controversial 2001 Bruce Springsteen song "American Skin (41 Shots)." The song recounts the 1999 shooting death of an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean immigrant in New York City. The victim, Amadou Diallo, as the song title alludes, was shot 41 times by four plain-clothed police officers outside of his apartment. And Diallo's case is anything but anomalous in today's America.
Last month, Los Angeles Police killed a 19-year-old man after unloading over 90 shots on him following a high-speed chase down an area freeway. The same month, New York police fired at a suspected murderer 84 times. While the man was wounded, “the punk incredibly survived,” the New York Post reports....
http://rt.com/usa/us-germany-85-shots-022/
I offer the following as proof the militarization is real, and a growing threat to all citizens. It's not just that our cops fire their guns far more often, it's that they shoot to kill, often at unarmed people.
Eighty-five shots: That’s the total number of bullets German police used in all of 2011, Der Spiegel reports. But what does it say when US cops use as much ammo to bring down one man as German cops need to keep the peace nationwide?
The rate at which German police discharged their firearms is further underscored by how rarely they shot with fatal intent. Of the 85 bullets used in 2011, 49 were warnings shots, 36 were aimed at criminal suspects, 15 people were injured, and 6 were killed, the German daily continues.
The statistics prove "our police officers are not thugs in uniform,”Christian Democratic insider Lorenz Caffier said.
And when comparing Germany with the United States, another story altogether appears. Although police in the United States have to file a report every time they use their firearm in the line of duty, either through sheer volume or disinterest, no statistics are readily available on the amount of ammunition used annually. But though the number of shell casings spent by the boys in blue has not been tallied, there are other indicators that something is amiss when it comes to state-sponsored violence in the US. The US population is almost four times that of Germany's, yet its level of police violence is exponentially higher.
The trigger-happy nature of US cops was perhaps best epitomized in the controversial 2001 Bruce Springsteen song "American Skin (41 Shots)." The song recounts the 1999 shooting death of an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean immigrant in New York City. The victim, Amadou Diallo, as the song title alludes, was shot 41 times by four plain-clothed police officers outside of his apartment. And Diallo's case is anything but anomalous in today's America.
Last month, Los Angeles Police killed a 19-year-old man after unloading over 90 shots on him following a high-speed chase down an area freeway. The same month, New York police fired at a suspected murderer 84 times. While the man was wounded, “the punk incredibly survived,” the New York Post reports....
http://rt.com/usa/us-germany-85-shots-022/
