The US police officer 'who shot an Australian woman, 40, dead' in her pyjamas while his body camera was switched off

[IAMX 3,055]

55 minutes ago, bcking said:

Still not buying it.

http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/RCS-Annual/Report-Recorded-Crime-Statistics-2016-rcs2016.pdf

Page 7 lists the trend in "violent crime" for the NSW (The state that contains Sydney, I couldn't find Sydney specific data so that was as close as I could get). The number is roughly 85 per 100,000. 

 

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

Only 1 city comes below that number. The cities on the list total a population of about 60-65 million. 

 

That is also ignoring the fact that the violent crime data for NSW includes "indecent exposure" (Violent?)

 

Yes a visitor from Australia can stay away from the 82 cities on that list...but that is far from a "handful" of places, and it includes the vast majority of population centers in our country.

 

I guess if an Australian wants to come to see the fall foliage in Vermont they can feel quite safe. If they come for any regular tourist attraction outside our National Parks, they have good reason to see us as a "less safe" place.

This is also likely why non Americans have a tough time grasping the second amendment and the desire of protection against violent people. 

[smilesammich 10,727]

violent people, not including cops?

if this woman had been armed when approaching the police car - no way the cop would get charged with any wrongdoing, she'd have been at fault in her own death simply for carrying. but muh 2nd amendment rights! but the officer was scared for his life!

[bcking 3,157]

43 minutes ago, IAMX said:

This is also likely why non Americans have a tough time grasping the second amendment and the desire of protection against violent people. 

Likely true.

 

I'm not at all arguing that Australia's low crime rate is because they have strict gun enforcement, or our high crime rate is because we don't. Correlation doesn't equal causation. There are a lot of factors at play and there isn't one reason why it is true. The fact remains though that the perception is travelling/moving to the US from a number of other countries is seen as a move to a "more dangerous place". That perception isn't just based on media attention, it is partly based in reality. 

 

My wife absolutely moved from an area with a significantly lower crime rate to a place with a much higher one. Yes she moved to a large city (Houston), but the crime rate would have still been higher than where she was living even if we moved to Durham, North Carolina or any number of other towns of 100-200k people in the US. People moving to the US from Sydney have to significantly decrease the size of the city they are living in to find one with a similar crime rate. The only city in the US larger than Sydney is NYC and the violent crime rate there is >6 times higher than Sydney (based on NSW data). Cities 1/10th the size of Sydney have crime rates that are double, triple and beyond.

Edited July 19, 2017 by bcking

[IAMX 3,055]

5 minutes ago, bcking said:

Likely true.

 

I'm not at all arguing that Australia's low crime rate is because they have strict gun enforcement, or our high crime rate is because we don't. Correlation doesn't equal causation. There are a lot of factors at play and there isn't one reason why it is true. The fact remains though that the perception is travelling/moving to the US from a number of other countries is seen as a move to a "more dangerous place". That perception isn't just based on media attention, it is partly based in reality. 

 

My wife absolutely moved from an area with a significantly lower crime rate to a place with a much higher one. Yes she moved to a large city (Houston), but the crime rate would have still been higher than where she was living even if we moved to Durham, North Carolina or any number of other towns of 100-200k people in the US. People moving to the US from Sydney have to significantly decrease the size of the city they are living in to find one with a similar crime rate. The only city in the US larger than Sydney is NYC and the violent crime rate there is >6 times higher than Sydney (based on NSW data). Cities 1/10th the size of Sydney have crime rates that are double, triple and beyond.

For me the gun thing is more reactive..

 

In moving to Canada I saw less reasons to own a gun mainly because the physical threat of violence here (even when acting smart and saying away from bad areas at bad times) is so substantially less. Nonetheless, when I get the time I'm still going to renew my RPAL.

[bcking 3,157]

4 minutes ago, IAMX said:

For me the gun thing is more reactive..

 

In moving to Canada I saw less reasons to own a gun mainly because the physical threat of violence here (even when acting smart and saying away from bad areas at bad times) is so substantially less. Nonetheless, when I get the time I'm still going to renew my RPAL.

That likely plays a roll.

 

When I first moved to Houston everyone I met kept asking "So when are you getting your gun?" or "I recommend you get this gun" etc... (even people are barely knew....random electrician etc...). The explanation was always "Well there are a lot of people out there with guns, so you need one also.". If everyone uses that rationale, it is a self-fulfilling statement. 

[8bit_Theatre 64]

3 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

Yeah I saw that article as well from the Dailymail and I thought WOW this guy is screwed for a number of different reasons. He is screwed because he was using bad trigger control by having his finger actually on the trigger and not straight like your supposed to do, he fired across his partner like he is in the Wild West or something like that, and now he is being uncooperative with investigators. He is royally screwed and will be charged, which he rightfully should be. I don't care what color/race you if your cop you have to be a fair and decent one no matter what. 

I think the lawyer is probably going to keep him from second degree murder charges hence not talking to the department. We can expect a manslaughter charge soon.

[OriZ 3,165]

17 minutes ago, bcking said:

That likely plays a roll.

 

When I first moved to Houston everyone I met kept asking "So when are you getting your gun?" or "I recommend you get this gun" etc... (even people are barely knew....random electrician etc...). The explanation was always "Well there are a lot of people out there with guns, so you need one also.". If everyone uses that rationale, it is a self-fulfilling statement. 

My wife, coming from Milwaukee, was shocked when in Israel she realized she could walk alone at night. 

[smilesammich 10,727]

9 minutes ago, OriZ said:

My wife, coming from Milwaukee, was shocked when in Israel she realized she could walk alone at night. 

as a woman, its just ingrained in me not to walk alone at night anywhere..not that it can't be done it's just stressful.

[OriZ 3,165]

33 minutes ago, smilesammich said:

as a woman, its just ingrained in me not to walk alone at night anywhere..not that it can't be done it's just stressful.

Same with her, it took her a while to get used to it. If I came running from behind her she would freak, because over there that's always a bad sign. everybody knows you just don't run behind somebody if you don't want them to punch or shoot you. In Haifa people would be out jogging so she had to get used to that.

Edited July 19, 2017 by OriZ

[smilesammich 10,727]

Just now, OriZ said:

Same with her, it took her a while to get used to it. If I came running from behind her she would freak, because over there that's always a bad sign. everybody knows you just don't run behind somebody if you don't want them to punch or shoot you. There people would be out jogging so she had to get used to that.

i'm saying, i don't think its a smart thing to get used to. as a woman. i remember as a little kid, my mom telling me how to hold your car keys as you walk through a store parking lot to your car - day or night. and to always check the back seat before you get in. we lived right outside of dc at the time, but she only ever had someone come up on her in a parking lot at night here..a city with less than 30,000 people.

[IAMX 3,055]

19 minutes ago, OriZ said:

Same with her, it took her a while to get used to it. If I came running from behind her she would freak, because over there that's always a bad sign. everybody knows you just don't run behind somebody if you don't want them to punch or shoot you. In Haifa people would be out jogging so she had to get used to that.

Note to self, if scaring random people while wearing a pig mask from Saw, as a prank, make sure to wear bulletproof vest.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

1 hour ago, smilesammich said:

i'm saying, i don't think its a smart thing to get used to. as a woman. i remember as a little kid, my mom telling me how to hold your car keys as you walk through a store parking lot to your car - day or night. and to always check the back seat before you get in. we lived right outside of dc at the time, but she only ever had someone come up on her in a parking lot at night here..a city with less than 30,000 people.

My mom always told me don't wear drawers with skid marks case you get in an accident 

[smilesammich 10,727]

2 minutes ago, Nature Boy Flair said:

My mom always told me don't wear drawers with skid marks case you get in an accident 

good call.

[IAMX 3,055]

Just now, Nature Boy Flair said:

My mom always told me don't wear drawers with skid marks case you get in an accident 

[OriZ 3,165]

4 hours ago, smilesammich said:

i'm saying, i don't think its a smart thing to get used to. as a woman. i remember as a little kid, my mom telling me how to hold your car keys as you walk through a store parking lot to your car - day or night. and to always check the back seat before you get in. we lived right outside of dc at the time, but she only ever had someone come up on her in a parking lot at night here..a city with less than 30,000 people.

I think it really depends where you're at. I don't think one should constantly be paranoid even when in a relatively safe place. lol you mention holding your car keys but I honestly can't tell you the last time we even locked our car. And when we pop into DD or into a convenience store or something we always leave it running, alot of people here do. So every place is different. Do you need to be extra careful where you're at or where she lived before? Absolutely. But it was a different story in Haifa(although we wouldn't leave the car unlocked there) as well as here. Every time we go back to Milwaukee to visit which we're due again next month, we adjust back accordingly. Especially when we're in Chicago