The Imaginary War On Cops

An ongoing war on cops continues to be waged. The situation has become so dire that Obama himself has signed a law to established a special warning system for threats against cops, which will allow cops to drop everything and give themselves the utmost priority. There’s just one problem: the war on cops isn’t real.

With all of the media, blog, and social media coverage of the supposed war on cops you might not realize that this year is looking to be one of the safest years to be a law enforcer:

Despite urgent warnings from police and others about a “war on cops” allegedly linked to the Black Lives Matter protest movement, statistics show 2015 is in fact shaping up to be one of the safest years for law enforcement in a generation.

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP), which keeps data on officer deaths going back over 100 years, 24 officers have been shot and killed by suspects this year. This puts the US on pace for 36 non-accidental, firearm-related police fatalities in 2015. Each one of such deaths is a tragedy for the officers killed, their families and the communities they serve, but this would be the lowest total in 25 years, aside from 2013 which saw 31 such deaths.

Considering all of the terrible deeds cops have been caught doing this year this statistic may seem surprising. But it just goes to show that most people prefer nonviolent solutions to societal problems. Instead of forming lynch mobs and hanging random police officers the vast majority of people have been demanding law enforcers be made to wear body cameras when on duty, face consequences when they perform a misdeed, and be subjected to jury trails when there’s any question about their actions. The public wants accountability, not blood.

Why is there all this hubbub about a war on cops then? Because the State relies on having a powerful, unaccountable police force to maintain its power. Law enforcers today are primarily revenue generators. The more power they wield the more revenue they can generate.

Civil forfeiture is a classic example of this. Under civil forfeiture laws an officer can confiscate property by just saying they believe it’s related to a drug crime and the burden of proving its not falls onto the rightful owners. Since the expense of proving property stolen under civil forfeiture isn’t related to a drug crime is commonly higher than the value of the property the rightful owners seldom goes through the process. Such a scheme only works if officers remain unaccountable because the moment they are accountable they will refuse to confiscate property unless very real evidence exists implying it is tied to a drug crime.

And civil forfeiture laws aren’t the only example of this. Consider the lowly speeding ticket. If you send the municipality that issued it a check the matter goes away. Fighting it, on the other hand, is usually an expensive process because it requires a hearing and those can only be obtained during normal working hours, which means taking time off of work. In addition to that the process is generally one sided because it’s your word against the officer’s and the average judge is apt to side with his fellow over you.

With more people demanding police officers be held accountable the State is in a tough spot. Failing to act on the people’s demands will further raise questions about its legitimacy amongst the people. Expanding law enforcers power to make them even better revenue generators will raise such questions even faster. Therefore it must make it appear as though police officers are targets and need more power to protect themselves against those evil criminals that want them and everybody else dead.

Don’t fall for it. Look at the data and realize that law enforcers today are much safer than law enforcers were in the past.