Oakland church preaches to Never Call Police

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She's correct.

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TJGaytor1215

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Many, including my colleagues and myself, have empirically documented the rise in the militarization of the American police institution (Kraska and Kappeler, 1997). This change in police began with the proliferation of isolated use of force tactical units, like SWAT teams, in the 1970s but has now spread to the everyday policing practice. The potential spread of police violence from tactical teams to mainstream policing was one of our initial concerns when we conducted the study nearly 20 years ago—violence would spread into the rank and file of the police and be normalized in police practice. Police now, perhaps more than ever, use both organized and disorganized violence far too often as a first choice for problem solving. Refuse to follow a verbal command, police will Taze you; refuse to remain still after you’re Tazed, police will beat you; refuse to turn off your car, police will shoot you. In far too many cases police are resorting to violence where simply retreating and regrouping or other less violent alternatives would have been more than sufficient.

Despite the fact that violent crime rates (Kappeler and Potter, 2005) and the killing of American police officers have both declined dramatically over the past 40 years (Kappeler, Alpert and Sluder, 1998) and policing is clearly less dangerous than ever, police seem less hesitant today to use force in relatively minor situations, sometimes with lethal consequences. Given the police propensity for violence, one wonders why anyone would call the police in the first place. In a state where the police have been empowered to use and rationalize away their use of violence against the very people they are charged with protecting, perhaps the “don’t snitch” movement had it right. Calling the police can have lethal consequences.

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As of Thursday, 128 officers have died in the line of duty this year, with 44 shot and killed. That's down 10% from 2016, when 143 officers died, with 66 gunned down, according to data released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a nonprofit aimed at honoring officers and improving safety.

The only other year with fewer deaths in the past five decades was 2013, when 116 officers were killed. 

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While shootings played a big role, traffic accidents caused the largest number of deaths. Crashes killed 47 officers this year, down 15% from 2016. A number of factors — including enhanced policies that limit vehicle pursuits and speeding and the "move-over law," which requires drivers to slow down and switch lanes when an officer is pulled over  — could be behind the drop, experts say.

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The number of people killed by officers increased slightly from 963 in 2016 to 971 this year, according to data compiled by The Washington Post. But the number of high-profile shootings that sparked protests was far lower than previous years, Floyd said. 

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