Are Cops Really Killing Us Or Are We Killing Them?

Why fear of the police is irrational.

Moncton, New Brunswick

I bet you assume more people are killed by police a year than the other way around. Of course police are people, too. They are victims of crime like anyone else, but they endure risk others don’t have the courage to address. They fight a daily war in every neighbourhood. All so the rest of us can enjoy the relative safety they provide. They take the bullets and we place the blame. Well lets look at some facts, shall we. So we’re better prepared to argue the next time some “cause-head” group intent on policide tries to make money exploiting public perception against the police.

For officers who read this it might be helpful to know which province is safest and which are most dangerous to work in. Fun facts like only 22 cities have seen police casualties. Or that 83 of the 131 murders occurred in Montreal and Toronto.

47 Year Period Of Good Measurements In Canada (1962–2009)

77 Killed By Police. 131 Police Killed. In my humble opinion, those who try to make political hay of law enforcement treatment of citizens can suck it! They’re living in a delusion where our heroes are villainized and the criminals are romanticized!

77/47 = 1.63 people killed by police each year.

22 of the 47 year period had no deaths by cop.

16 were arguably suicide by cop (deliberately brandishing a weapon such as knife, or fake gun, and advancing on police) additional 4 were aggressive mental illness, sort of suicide.

7 died while struggling to avoid arrest

Only 5 arguable accidents/misunderstandings

11 incidents involved charges for officers. 1 officer was found guilty of manslaughter, all others were acquitted or charges dismissed upon internal review.

131/47 = 2.78 police killed per year in the line of duty.

23% during robberies

17% during traffic related incidents

13% during domestic dispute

Only 5 years of the 47 year period didn’t see a dead officer.

Which province is the most dangerous for police to work? Ontario? Quebec? Why is Quebec twice as bad as Ontario with just above half the population? Quebec has a rate of 1 dead cop per 200,365 people policed. Ontario has 1 per 323, 809 people. Now don’t be misled. Although it only has 7 dead police, Saskatchewan’s death rate is 1 per 159,000 which is more than twice as bad as Ontario. New Brunswick is 1 per 150,782 making it the worst of all other than the “weird ones”. NWT and Nunavut with 1 and 2 dead at such low population levels.

The safest province for police that had any deaths at all would seem to be Newfoundland and Labrador. While noting the odd relationship to violence we see in the wild territories it would seem an average population of about 300 thousand people is required before we see a dead officer which correlates with what we see in the averages over larger populations. Perhaps it’s the remoteness of the wild territories that make them so dangerous for police. Ontario is actually pretty close to the average per capita though it has the highest actual death toll.

Police Homicides By Province From 1962–2009

Notice that 2 of the 3 smallest regions have 10 times the average death rate

I’m gonna say this just once. Go out and find a cop. Shake her hand and say thank you.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_Canada