Saturday, November 19, 2005
Police Deaths Work Both Ways.
Two unarmed female police officers in Bradford, England, were shot yesterday by armed robbers while answering a call. Sadly, one officer died from her wounds, while the other was seriously wounded.
Within hours of the shooting, the predictable howls for all police to be armed has started.
We were immediately treated by the BBC to the unedifying spectacle of Michael Winner, that rather weird and unpleasant film director, or food writer or whatever he is, screeching in posh accented outrage because every bobby in the land has not been armed to the teeth for years.
The Saturday Sun tabloid headlines scream "Police Girl Shot Dead. Rookie and WPC Pal Gunned Down by Gang".
She wasn't a girl, she was a police officer. She happened to be a 38 years old, a mother, tragically killed on the birthday of one of her children, but that is of no relevance to the debate on the arming of cops. She was a police officer and she was doing her job.
Regrettable that any death is, very few police officers are killed in the line of duty, even in these violent times. Since 1975 in England and Wales, the number is 89.
In the past year, 106 people have died during or after contact with the police, up 24 from the year before, and each of these deaths is every bit as tragic and just as unacceptable as the death of a police officer.
I hear no howls of outrage about deaths of members of the public from Winner the Weird.
Within hours of the shooting, the predictable howls for all police to be armed has started.
We were immediately treated by the BBC to the unedifying spectacle of Michael Winner, that rather weird and unpleasant film director, or food writer or whatever he is, screeching in posh accented outrage because every bobby in the land has not been armed to the teeth for years.
The Saturday Sun tabloid headlines scream "Police Girl Shot Dead. Rookie and WPC Pal Gunned Down by Gang".
She wasn't a girl, she was a police officer. She happened to be a 38 years old, a mother, tragically killed on the birthday of one of her children, but that is of no relevance to the debate on the arming of cops. She was a police officer and she was doing her job.
Regrettable that any death is, very few police officers are killed in the line of duty, even in these violent times. Since 1975 in England and Wales, the number is 89.
In the past year, 106 people have died during or after contact with the police, up 24 from the year before, and each of these deaths is every bit as tragic and just as unacceptable as the death of a police officer.
I hear no howls of outrage about deaths of members of the public from Winner the Weird.
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It gets me how everyone loves to pretend that policework is the most dangerous job out there. No. Try Alaskan king crab fisherman. For mainstream jobs, farmer comes well before police officer. In the city, sewage worker is a much more dangerous job, but when those guys get killed, no one cares, and they receive no spectacular state funeral like a police officer does.
As an aside, it also fascinates me how the right always comes out against government, but always supports two huge branches that regularly kill: the police and the military.
As an aside, it also fascinates me how the right always comes out against government, but always supports two huge branches that regularly kill: the police and the military.
djeb, thanks, and you're right. So many people doing vital work, who get no recognition and no thanks - dead or alive.
An interesting observation about the right. I hadn't really thought about it, but again, you're righ.......rephrase that, you're correct.
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An interesting observation about the right. I hadn't really thought about it, but again, you're righ.......rephrase that, you're correct.
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