More Police Officers Were Shot Dead In 1955 When U.S. Population Was Half What It Is Now

Alan: One killed cop is one too many. 

One killed civilian (who did not represent a mortal threat to anyone) is one too many.

But facts are intractable things and both civilian killings -- and cop killings -- are way down.

Right-wing alarmism tells us otherwise.

But it isn't so.

Harvard's Steve Pinker Notes Slight Uptick In Violence In A Much More Peaceful World

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/09/harvard-prof-steven-pinker-on-slight.html

America's Real Criminal Element: Lead

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/10/americas-real-criminal-element-lead.html

Lists Of Americans Killed By Cops In 2013, 2014, 2015
http://www.killedbypolice.net/kbp2014.html

American Cops Fire More Bullets At One NYC Man Than All German Cops Fire In A Year

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/09/85-shots-us-cops-use-more-ammo-per-man.html

1 Small Town's Cops Have Killed More People Than Combined Police Of Germany And U.K.

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/02/1-small-towns-cops-have-killed-more.html

Why Police Don't Pull Guns In Many Countries Whereas U.S. Cops Are Trained To Kill

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/07/why-police-dont-pull-guns-in-many.html

There's Never Been A Safer Time For Cops Nor A More Dangerous Time For Criminals
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/11/theres-never-been-safer-time-to-be-cop.html

50 Police Officers Shot & Killed In 2014. Huge, Steady Decline Since 1970s

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/12/50-police-officers-shot-killed-in-2014.html

Diane Rehm Guest Gets To The Nub Of Police Violence And How Easily It's Prevented

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/12/diane-rehm-guest-gets-to-nub-of-police.html

"After My Mugging C. 1970, The Police Pressured Me To Give False Testimony"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/07/after-my-mugging-in-1970-police.html

Compendium Of Pax Posts: What's Wrong With Race Relations?
Hatred, Cops And The Law
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/04/compendium-of-pax-posts-whats-wrong.html

We Coddle Bad Cops And Vilify Good Teachers

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/09/we-coddle-bad-cops-and-vilify-good.html

Compendium Of Pax Posts On Violent Criminals And Violent Police

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/12/compendium-of-pax-posts-on-violent.html

Officers Shot: Data Analysis Of How Often It Happens

By Jonathon Berlin, Alex Bordens, Ryan Marx, Kori Rumore

The shooting death Monday of police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz in Fox Lake brings increased attention to the safety of law enforcement and comes at a time when the national discussion of police tactics and treatment of minorities has spawned sometimes violent protests. The tragedy in Lake County comes on the heels of an officer who was killed in Houston in late August. From 2005 through 2014, gunfire was the top cause of death for law enforcement, accounting for nearly 40 percent of more than 1,400 deaths. The second leading cause is car accidents, which account for 26 percent of fatalities.

The data show that shootings in the U.S. and Illinois have remained relatively stable since 2000. In Illinois, the large majority of slain law enforcement officers were from the Chicago Police Department. According to Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim, Gliniewicz's death was the first case of an officer fatally shot in Lake County since 1980.

Richard Beary, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said an uptick in violence can be attributed to a combination of reasons including anti-government rhetoric, unfettered access to firearms and unaddressed mental illness issues.

"None of these things need new legislation," Beary said. "They just need focus and understanding."

What can be done? To start, Beary said, enforce the gun laws that are already in place. "Unfortunately, these are not being followed. There's ambiguity from state to state on how mental health data is collected and made available for firearms purchasing decisions. We don't need to pass new legislation, we need to enforce what we have," Beary said. Also, he said, mental health problems need to be addressed as a medical issue. "Why is it law enforcement's job to deal with medical issues? You don't call police when you have a brain tumor. It's time we as a community say, 'We shouldn't be sending cops to deal with people who are sick.'" Beary said.

As far as an officer's perspective, training is important, he said. "Our message to our people is that they have to be ready to react at any time. You have to go from being Officer Friendly to Superman in a split second," he said. "What I'm worried about are extended periods of hypervigilance taking their toll on the law enforcement officers and their families emotionally."

U.S. law enforcement shooting deaths since 1950

Nationwide the number of law enforcement officers killed by gunfire peaked in the 1970s and has been slowly declining since. The total has remained around 30 killed in the last 15 years, a similar level to the decades leading up to the spike in the 1970s and early 1980s.

80

2015, through

Sept.1: 26

60

40

20

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

2015

Illinois law enforcement shooting deaths since 1985

Of the 58 officers in Illinois killed by gunfire since 1985, nearly two thirds of the victims are Chicago Police Department. In two years since 2005, there have been four Chicago officers killed in a single year, while in the same time period there have been three years in which no officers were shot to death in the entire year.

5

Chicago

Other Illinois departments

4

3

2

2015: 1

1

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015