Whoa! A criminal with an authority problem? Whatever happened to those cheeky lads who used to say “Oh dear! Looks like I’ve been nicked! Oh well, it’s a fair cop.” msnbc.com is, once again, making shit up. This time they’re decided that the rise in the number of police shootings indicates a “War on Cops.” Yes, well, the American military’s predilection for “police actions” aside, you need a formal declaration of war for there to be an actual war. What we have here is the same old, same old in terms of violent crime; only a bit more so. For example . . .
In just 24 hours, at least 11 officers were shot. The shootings included Sunday attacks at traffic stops in Indiana and Oregon, a Detroit police station shooting that wounded four officers, and a shootout at a Port Orchard, Wash., Wal-Mart that injured two deputies. On Monday morning, two officers were shot dead and a U.S. Marshal was wounded by a gunman in St. Petersburg, Fla.
On Thursday, two Miami-Dade, Fla., detectives were killed by a murder suspect they were trying to arrest.
“It’s not a fluke,” said Richard Roberts, spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations. “There’s a perception among officers in the field that there’s a war on cops going on.”
Perception can be a dangerous thing (or so I believe). Truth be told, the absolute number of murdered cops is relatively small. msnbc should know this. Here’s an excerpt from last month’s article Police fatalities jump 37 percent in 2010; the last time the jobbing journos used misleading percentages to bolster the cop’s case for more money.
There also was a spike in shooting deaths. Fifty-nine federal, state and local officers were killed by gunfire in 2010, a 20 percent jump from last year’s figures when 49 were killed. And 73 officers died in traffic incidents, a rise from the 51 killed in 2009, according to the data . . .
We’re asking our officers to do more with less. We’re asking them to fight conventional crime, and we’re asking them to serve on the front lines in the war against terror,” [a rep from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund] said.
Too bad they couldn’t recycle Craig Floyd’s comments. ‘Cause the new chicken little (Roberts) sounds a lot less credible.
Law enforcement advocates worry that cuts in police budgets could exacerbate the danger.
“We don’t have any data, but there seems to be a type of criminal out there looking to thwart authority,” he said.
He cited the example of Jared Loughner, accused of killing six and wounding 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, on Jan. 8 in Tucson, Ariz. “People with this mentality feel the need to eliminate those in position of authority,” he said.
Roberts said the recent shootings are reminders that officers must constantly stay on alert.
“The bad guys are not afraid of cops,” Roberts said. “They’re rarely rational. You get that combination, when you ID yourself as a cop, it does not scare them away; it makes it more dangerous for you.”
Who knew? Now can someone please raise my taxes so we can sort this out?
Summer of the Shark, meet Winter of the Police Shootings.
They could just as easily (and nonsensically) have stated; ” We don’t have any data, but there seems to be a type of criminal out there [with a complete disregard for the law.]” … really?
For more newsworthy revelation; tune in at 11.
I’ve already run the numbers, and am fully ready to dump another 2% of my pay in taxes to make sure this is stopped! Clearly, something must be done to make sure these criminals are obeying the law.
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