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Comment by woodruffw | Hacker News Reader

I agree with you!

That being said: police work is dangerous, but not uniquely or disproportionately dangerous: it doesn't crack the top 20 most dangerous jobs in the US[1], nearly all of which pay less than the police do. Being a delivery driver is nearly twice as dangerous, for half the average pay.

When we talk about the dangers inherent to policing, it's maybe worth considering whether those dangers are our own fault: cops in the US employ lethal and "less-lethal" force far often than cops in other countries do, and public trust in the police (leading to panicked interactions) is correspondingly lower.

[1]: https://www.ishn.com/articles/112748-top-25-most-dangerous-j...

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The bulk of the danger of policing comes from the road.

You hear about when they get shot back at because in a nation of 300mil there's a lot of cops instigating violent situations with people who are inclined to shoot back so there's more than enough to total volume to fill the news (and it makes a great eyeball grabber for various demographics) but deaths on the clock basically all come from getting hit on the side of the road or getting in car crashes without wearing a seatbelt (lots of cops don't use belts because they wanna be able to get out of the car ASAP).

It's dangerous because police turn EVERY interaction into a warrant check. You have to treat a guy who is possibly holding a warrant for arrest for a crime with a 20+ year sentence different than you treat Bob who you pulled over because his stereo was too loud or his window tint to dark and that is all the stop is going to be about. Making community policing community policing not warrant enforcement and you just changed the ENTIRE dynamic and get back to actual community policing.

> different than you treat Bob who you pulled over because his stereo was too loud or his window tint to dark and that is all the stop is going to be about.

Is it really all the stop is going to be about? You can guarantee that?

Not every criminal is a fugitive with an outstanding warrant. Some of them are unlucky enough to get pulled over during the getaway from their first capital offense for minor violations as stupid as window tint or loud stereos. It's like cheating-- if you're willing to break one rule, you're willing to break others. This is why these nitpicky laws for stupid shit exist.

So it won't end well when a meter maid expecting to write a tint violation ticket notices banging and thumping coming from Bob's trunk on an empty road. Alice is armed with a ticket printer. Bob is armed with god knows what, because given the limousine tint Alice can't see into the car as well as Bob can see out of it.

(Besides, people assault-and-batter meter maids in less-dire situations all the time. Suspects are supposed to fear the enforcement officer, not size them up.)

We literally train kidnapping victims trapped in trunks to sabotage brake lights because it will attract police attention and sufficiently-armed-and-trained intervention. The Department of Motor Vehicles isn't going to be who saves your ass.

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