Police Shootings Are the New “Stranger Danger”

Mainstream media has choked on their collective feet so much recently that it almost feels unfair to continue to criticize their faults. Unfortunately, tens of millions of Americans still listen to them, so it is important to stay informed. There is no doubt that the media is largely responsible for the recent narrative that police in this country are excessively violent. They regularly talk about militarized police forces and brutal actions.

Yet, if you study the path of this narrative, you will see how it mirrors another story they got wrong to the detriment of society. Let’s compare police violence to the concept of stranger danger and learn a few surprising lessons.

The Problem of Stranger Danger

The movement first started in the 70s and 80s. A handful of tragic stories involved children being abducted by strangers. These stories were sensationalized by the mainstream media and the citizens of the country banded together to solve the problem. Only, there wasn’t a major problem. Less than 0.02 percent of missing child cases involve strangers. Of 58,000 annual cases, roughly 100 are a result of stranger danger.

This was just as true in the 70s as it is today. When you consider that well over 99 percent of child abuse and abduction cases are perpetrated by people who already know the child, stranger danger pushes them away from a group that is statistically safer.

The narrative also makes it more likely that children will not talk about dangerous scenarios or cases of abuse. It isn’t surprising when you really think about it, but a movement based on fear mongering has actually contributed to the likelihood that American children will be victims. Most importantly, the stranger danger movement taught us all bad lessons. Instead of teaching children how to safely interact in society, we vilified a group that is extremely unlikely to be a source of danger.

The Police Danger Narrative

Did any of that last section sound familiar? The mainstream media sensationalized a handful of exceptional stories and the public responded with a fear-based movement that is causing harm in the name of good. It has happened again with police shootings. The Black Lives Matter movement helmed the efforts, but the truth is that public trust of the police is at an all-time low.

Once again, we are avoiding constructive conversations about how to safely interact with the police and are instead vilifying them. The worst part is that a prejudiced distrust of police makes people far more likely to suffer a violent response. Distrust has been shown to foster non-compliance, and if the police are pushed far enough, they are expected and required to eventually use force.

The Statistics

The problem is far worse than you think. Nationwide, only about 1 percent of police officers ever fire their guns in the line of duty (excluding training such as at the firing range). That’s right. As many as 99 percent of police officers will never even have the chance to mistakenly kill an innocent or unarmed citizen because they will never fire their gun. Of the 1 percent who do use their gun, 95 percent will only fire it the one time. That means only 0.05 percent of police officers shoot their gun 2 or more times. Seeing a pattern yet?

There are roughly a dozen sensational stories of potentially wrongful death every year. The culmination of those events can be chalked up to the decisions and actions of fewer than 20 individuals. Out of the million plus members of law enforcement, fewer than 20 are the problem. That’s an impressive number when you consider that there are more than a million active, armed law enforcement personnel in the country.

The tragedy is that the narrative tries to say that this is a problem beyond a few bad eggs slipping through the cracks of the system. Enough of the country buys into the false narrative that violence against police is up by 30 percent in 2017. Out of that violence, 100 percent of the attacked officers were uninvolved in violence against citizens.

The police violence narrative is incredibly destructive. It makes citizens more likely to suffer at the hands of a police force that is overwhelmingly dedicated to protecting and serving them. It also has incited massive violence against officers who are entirely undeserving. If we don’t push the narrative back towards constructive interactions between civilians and police, we will force the violence to escalate on both sides.

~ American Liberty Report


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