Thread: Not All Cops Are Trigger-Happy Rednecks

Originally Posted by ivan astikov

There you go; a bit more personal information, for those who like to use such things as ammo.

I'll forgo any fish-in-a-barrel comments and instead commend you for tossing an admission like that in a thread such as this. Gutsy.

Just to muddy these waters a bit further, if you want to look at a truly dangerous profession, look up the statistics on injury and death for construction workers. In North America, where we have OSHA and OHS, never mind in countries where life is cheap.

Across the United States, construction ranks as the most dangerous industry, representing about 20 percent of all work-related fatalities, according to federal statistics.

Deaths rose from 1,131 in 2003 to 1,226 in 2006. By comparison, 836 workers died in mining accidents last year, and 447 died in manufacturing. The government reports between six and seven construction deaths per 1,000 workers.

(From this site.)

I always think of statistics like this when people talk about how dangerous it is to be a cop, and make excuses based on that. Which is worse - killed by a criminal or killed because your project was behind schedule?

Originally Posted by Cat Whisperer

Just to muddy these waters a bit further, if you want to look at a truly dangerous profession, look up the statistics on injury and death for construction workers. In North America, where we have OSHA and OHS, never mind in countries where life is cheap.

Across the United States, construction ranks as the most dangerous industry, representing about 20 percent of all work-related fatalities, according to federal statistics.

Deaths rose from 1,131 in 2003 to 1,226 in 2006. By comparison, 836 workers died in mining accidents last year, and 447 died in manufacturing. The government reports between six and seven construction deaths per 1,000 workers.

(From this site.)

I always think of statistics like this when people talk about how dangerous it is to be a cop, and make excuses based on that. Which is worse - killed by a criminal or killed because your project was behind schedule?

Playing devils advocate, Construction workers make up 20% of work related fatalities, yes -- how many do cops make up?

What is the ratio of cops to construction workers?

I think there are probably more construction workers than their are cops (maybe 2, maybe 5 times as many), and I doubt that cops make up 10%, or even 2% of the total on the job fatalities, to give it an even stat by weight... I'm just curious, as you cited one out of four numbers needed to get an accurate understanding of the situation.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleri...angerous-jobs/ Here are the top 20 occupations for injury. Cops are no.12.

Originally Posted by gonzomax

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleri...angerous-jobs/ Here are the top 20 occupations for injury. Cops are no.12.

Hm, no window washers on that list. Thought for sure they'd be on there.

Originally Posted by FoieGrasIsEvil

Originally Posted by gonzomax

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleri...angerous-jobs/ Here are the top 20 occupations for injury. Cops are no.12.

Hm, no window washers on that list. Thought for sure they'd be on there.

I was about to ask if you meant squeegee kids, but then realized you meant the people who wash windows on high rises.

Originally Posted by Todderbob

Originally Posted by Cat Whisperer

Just to muddy these waters a bit further, if you want to look at a truly dangerous profession, look up the statistics on injury and death for construction workers. In North America, where we have OSHA and OHS, never mind in countries where life is cheap.

Across the United States, construction ranks as the most dangerous industry, representing about 20 percent of all work-related fatalities, according to federal statistics.

Deaths rose from 1,131 in 2003 to 1,226 in 2006. By comparison, 836 workers died in mining accidents last year, and 447 died in manufacturing. The government reports between six and seven construction deaths per 1,000 workers.

(From this site.)

I always think of statistics like this when people talk about how dangerous it is to be a cop, and make excuses based on that. Which is worse - killed by a criminal or killed because your project was behind schedule?

Playing devils advocate, Construction workers make up 20% of work related fatalities, yes -- how many do cops make up?

What is the ratio of cops to construction workers?

I think there are probably more construction workers than their are cops (maybe 2, maybe 5 times as many), and I doubt that cops make up 10%, or even 2% of the total on the job fatalities, to give it an even stat by weight... I'm just curious, as you cited one out of four numbers needed to get an accurate understanding of the situation.

That's a good question; I suppose you'd need to know construction workers per capita, cops per capita, and deaths in each field. Or look at gonzo's link.

My point is more general, though - we think of cops as having a very dangerous job and give them a lot of leeway for it, when in fact there are many other jobs that are as or more dangerous.

Cop stories have proven to be good TV. You don't get wrapped up in programs about the work of a garbage collector . That is why people think cops have such a dangerous profession. But cop shows are dramatizations. they are not the truth. It is not nearly as dangerous as it is portrayed. But after 50 years we think they can solve any crime in an hour.
Doctor shows are the same. They have had incredible TV press for decades. That is part of the reason we think they are so special. People have been trained to believe it.

Originally Posted by gonzomax

Cop stories have proven to be good TV. You don't get wrapped up in programs about the work of a garbage collector . That is why people think cops have such a dangerous profession. But cop shows are dramatizations. they are not the truth. It is not nearly as dangerous as it is portrayed. But after 50 years we think they can solve any crime in an hour.
Doctor shows are the same. They have had incredible TV press for decades. That is part of the reason we think they are so special. People have been trained to believe it.

What's really weird is that almost all of the time the camera footage is from the cop's own cruiser...and rarely does it catch him being the abusive jerk many say he is!

And when it does..."you're fired"

Amazing how that works.

Originally Posted by Lord Ashtar

Originally Posted by gonzomax

Actually saying they do a job they like because they like helping other people makes no sense.

Why is a person enjoying their job such a silly notion to you?

Originally Posted by ivan astikov

Helping someone is its own reward and if those people were really in their profession to help others, not set yourself up as being so important that you need better financial recognition, then they too should be happy on a minimum wage.

Out of sheer curiosity, what do you do for a living?

A person enjoying a job? I have no problem with that.
It is a sentence that with 2 likes in it that is annoying. If you said they do the job because they like helping people .i would be OK.
I are a retired design engineer. I often was a liaison between engineering and manufacture.I kind of liked it ,except it was a life of endless deadlines that were nearly impossible to make. There was never enough time .