The Status Quo is not an option
A senior [Police] Federation source told the Daily Express:It seems there is a choice between re-introducing the death penalty and arming the officers who patrol our streets.
There is of course another choice, which is to do neither. I'm not saying it is the right choice, but certainly it is a choice.
Is the problem getting worse? Did the abolition of capital punishment make it worse? The data is not supportive. The following chart shows murders of serving police officers in each decade, and the % of those on duty who were murdered. Data has been collected, rather hurriedly, from here for the number murdered and here for serving police officers (hard data is available back to the 1970s, before then I have read it off the chart). There was a leap in the 1980s, but it has not been sustained, and in % terms the numbers have been falling. There clearly are other factors, notably Police Officers go to much greater lengths to protect themselves nowadays, and medical care is better, but conversely overall crime is vastly higher, so I think it shows this is not a new or worsening issue (unless I've made a mistake in my interpretation, comments welcome). After all Dixon of Dock Green (in the film) was murdered.
posted by Matthew @ 11/22/2005 09:42:00 AM
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