From: [r--s] at [cbnewsc.cb.att.com] (Morris the Cat) Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns Subject: Anti-Gun Police Chiefs Cause Brutality Date: 8 Jun 93 18:06:02 GMT Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[0245]) Release Date: February 12, 1993 TRIGGER-HAPPY POLICE CHIEFS By James W. Crawford It would be comforting to think that the infamous encounter between Rodney King and four Los Angeles police officers was just an aberration rather than a sign of a trend. Unfortunately, there is evidence that the nation's cops are being pushed by their bosses to become more violent. While there is no national reporting system on cases of police brutality, the FBI attempts to track the number of people who are killed by the police through its Supplementary Homicide Reports program. The number of killings has risen by 20% in the last five years (from 299 in 1986 to 366 in 1991). A disproportionate number of the people who are killed by police officers are minorities, particularly black males. Over 40% of the people who died at the hands of police in 1991 were black. The FBI does not attempt to estimate how many of these killings by the police might have been unjustified. Private researchers who studied 1,500 incidents concluded that the use of deadly force was not justified in 40% of the cases and very questionable in another 20%. While simple racism is often blamed for police misconduct, paranoia may be the real culprit. Portland, Oregon recently witnessed a dramatic increase in shootings by the police. In one incident, a 46 year-old grandfather was shot at least 28 times during a drug raid by narcotics officers wielding German MP-5 submachine guns. While the officers claimed the suspect pointed a gun at them, the physical evidence suggests that he was actually holding a cigarette lighter and had his hands raised when they opened fire. The autopsy revealed that the man had been shot sev- eral times in the front and side of the chest while he was standing, and over twenty times in the back after he collapsed face down over a chair. The police chief warned "the shooting was a sign of things to come as criminals become better armed and police try to match their fire- power." The ideas that the police are losing an arms race to criminals has recently become pervasive in police culture. Numerous articles that make this claim can be found in law enforcement trade publications. One article on gang violence reports that the traditional hispanic gangs armed with knives, clubs and "Saturday Night Specials" have been replaced by black gangs armed with semi- and fully automatic "assault rifles." One of the authors of this article was none other than former Los Angeles Chief Daryl Gates. It was published in the November 1990 issue of The Police Chief magazine, just a few months before the beating of Rodney King. Fortunately, however, the image of police officers being mowed down by gangsters is not an accurate reflection of reality. The number of cops murdered in the line of duty has been on a steep decline for the last two decades, falling 30% in the last decade. (104 officers were murdered in 1980 compared to 71 in 1991.) The FBI reports that 1990 saw the fewest number of cops slain since they started compiling statistics in 1961. The number of assaults against police officers did not increase during the 1980s. It is also clear from the statistics that criminals are not trading in their "Saturday Night Specials" for military style assault weapons. The use of these types of firearms by criminals actually decreased during the Eighties, according to reports from police firearms experts in Florida. Seventeen of the policemen slain in the 1980's were shot with so-called "semiautomatic assault rifles." Seven were killed with semiautomatic "assault pistols" such as the TEC- 9. An officer is more likely to be murdered with his own gun than with the attacker's weapon. The .38 caliber revolver continues to be the weapon of choice for cop killers. While the number of police officers being slain by criminals has fallen, incidents in which officers are shot and killed by their colleagues in cases of crossfire and mistaken identity have increased. Twenty-seven officers lost their lives in these types of situations in the last six years compared to only 19 in the previous six years. Police firearms training experts agree that excessive fear can warp an officer's judgment so that he does not recognize a fellow officer. The same kind of paranoia can cause him to shoot an innocent civilian when he sees an imaginary weapon. The nation's police officers have been victimized by a myth. The idea that there is a drug dealer armed with an Uzi or AK-47 hiding under every bed has been carefully nurtured and exploited by the gun control lobby to advance its agenda. The message is reinforced by movies such as Lethal Weapon III and television programs like Miami Vice. Unfortunately, some of the nation's top ranking law enforcement officials, including former L.A. Chief Daryl Gates, have endorsed this myth, since it furthers their gun- banning agenda. It is time to put a stop to this dishonesty, which is getting police officers and innocent citizens killed. James Crawford, a gun researcher living in Oregon, wrote this article for the Denver-based Independence Institute. This opinion piece was sent to 250 US newspaper editorial boards as part of the Independence Institute's Firearms Research Project. The project also publishes longer research papers, including: * Why Gun Waiting Periods Threaten Public Safety (62pp, stabled). $8.00 * Do Federal Gun Traces Accurately Reflect Street Crime? (11pp). $6.00 * Children and Guns: Sensible Solutions (90pp, GBC bound). $12.00 * The "Assault Weapon" Panic: Political Correctness Takes Aim at the Constitution (94 pp, GBC bound). $12.00. * The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies? $28.95 + $4.00 ship Membership in the Independence Institute starts at $25.00 per year. Members who join at the one hundred dollar level receive all of the above publications, plus all Independence Issue Papers published in the next twelve months. Membership at the 25 or 100 dollar level entitles the member to a year- long subscription to the monthly Indpendence Bulletin. The Independence Institute is a free-market think-tank, dedicated to the principles of individual liberty expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Independence Institute, 14142 Denver West Parkway, Suite 101, Golden, CO 80401-3134. (303) 279-6536. fax 279-4176. Visa/MC accepted. Quantity discounts available.