This is already tracked by a number of different agencies. Municipalities and states track it, as well as groups like the National Law Enforcement Officers Fund, which reported that 2013 had the fewest officer fatalities in 54 years.

Unlike civilian deaths by cop, death in the line of duty are tracked by several groups . (odmp.org)

More like SMUGshot, right you guys?

FIFA will host a conference on sporting ethics, and, simultaneously and unadvertised, a conference on sporting irony.

"So we figured, hey, let's draw attention to racial inequalities in America by walking hand-in-hand out from this inflatable thing with a purple injun on it."

The tear gas element of the tribute, however, seems a bit too on-the-nose for me.

The Patriot Act certainly accelerated the process, but the modern militarization of police really started during the Nixon administration's war on crime with the authorization of no-knock warrants, the creation of SWAT teams (who are admittedly necessary in rare circumstances, but are now used for everything, all the…

Greg Howard wrote a really insightful article about this on The Concourse:

If by sniper, you mean a guy that can make a head shot from 100 yards or more, then no.

Happened WAY before that. See '92 LA riots. And those riots didn't even cause them to become a street militia with protection from the law - they were a response to it.

This. CBC Radio One had an interesting segment on this exact question this morning. Whereas SWAT teams were once used only in situations of utmost emergency (eg.: active shooters), they now get called in to do house raids (mostly on drugs, often for small amounts of drugs). It seems like the sense of "proportionality"…

There are serious issues up there, just consider that St Louis County PD handles police services for neighboring Jennings, MO since 2011 do to corruption in that city. Throw in an almost all white government and police force (because black kids don't want to be cops, actual quote) in a mostly black town, and this was…

"Well, the police clearly are looking at this as an "us versus them" situation," and that is exactly what is fucked about them. I don't think we should contribute our rhetoric to reify their world view. I just feel like whenever "both sides" is used you get into tricky territory that starts erasing actual facts and…

Imagine if all of the resources spent on this military materiel (either donated to the town by the Pentagon, which is what happens to "excess" supplies, or bought through federal funds) had been spent on education or otherwise alleviating poverty and racial injustice in the region.

Yeah, a lot of the blame for this falls squarely on Clinton's doorstep. Also of note: in the latest defense appropriation bill, Alan Grayson introduced an amendment to block the distribution of surplus military hardware to police departments. It was defeated 355 - 62, with a relatively even mix of Democrats and…