Indian grandfather badly hurt in encounter in Alabama

[PNGMK]

Re Gun laws... the use of guns by criminal gangs in Australia is quite a serious problem. It was not this way AFAIK prior to Howard's buy back program.

[rajagainstthemachine]

you do think the US can afford to execute 50k people without human rights groups and amnesty international go berserk?

I'm all for human rights and everything but AI and others are as effective as the UN. What will they do, release a sternly-worded letter?

True and thats what you can expect mostly and people walking about with placards and banners and creating petitions and whatnot.

[CaptainBullus]

Because people do own guns and one wrong move, it can cost the cops their lives. But still it leaves a lot to be desired. The way they are trained...........the preemptive strike mentality.

I don't really think it's a preemptive strike mentality, but more of a "I've seen too many of my colleagues walk up to a car for a traffic citation and get blown away by a crackhead behind the wheel" type of thing. I'd love to see the US enact Singapore's drug laws AND follow it thru. After hanging 50K or so the first year, you'd see the drug problem abate enormously (obviously not all though), the prisons empty out and then we'd only have to worry about illegal immigrants running guns on the border with our southern neighbours. Amnesty my arse. Treat them the same way illegal immigrants are treated here in Singapore. Draconian measures? Sure they are, but the problem is out of hand and I reckon nothing else will work at this juncture.

And the proof the death penalty reduces drug trafficking/selling/taking is where?

Or the proof the death penalty actually reduces crime full stop?
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issu ... deterrence" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How about looking at the problem the opposite way and de-criminalising drugs. Proof it works? See the figures from Portugal (de-criminalised ALL drugs in small amounts 12 years ago), or many of the Scandinavian countries where possession is classified as a misdemeanour. http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/drug-decrim ... d-straight" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Want to reduce the prison population? See above, spend less on locking the small time/first offenders up and use that saved cash on increasing Customs and Border patrols to stop the real criminal gangs bringing the stuff in.

Look at Colorado, 1 year after legalizing weed they have made $40Million in Tax revenue, $8Million of which goes back into education and prevention efforts. http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2015/01/ ... tus-report" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Perhaps it's time to look at Actual Solutions and ditch the "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" attitude.

[CaptainBullus]

Re Gun laws... the use of guns by criminal gangs in Australia is quite a serious problem. It was not this way AFAIK prior to Howard's buy back program.

Facts and figures man, not hard to find...http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/quest ... ntrol-laws" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[x9200]

Because people do own guns and one wrong move, it can cost the cops their lives. But still it leaves a lot to be desired. The way they are trained...........the preemptive strike mentality.

I don't really think it's a preemptive strike mentality, but more of a "I've seen too many of my colleagues walk up to a car for a traffic citation and get blown away by a crackhead behind the wheel" type of thing. I'd love to see the US enact Singapore's drug laws AND follow it thru. After hanging 50K or so the first year, you'd see the drug problem abate enormously (obviously not all though), the prisons empty out and then we'd only have to worry about illegal immigrants running guns on the border with our southern neighbours. Amnesty my arse. Treat them the same way illegal immigrants are treated here in Singapore. Draconian measures? Sure they are, but the problem is out of hand and I reckon nothing else will work at this juncture.

They say it's not the severity of the punishment that makes the difference but it's inevitability. I don't entirely agree with this statement but there is more than a grain of truth in it. Can the US police system, being a part of the Western type democracy, be compared to this of Singapore? I also think the society is a major factor, both of them being very different, what would make such draconian measures implemented in the US far less successful than it is in Singapore.

[Brah]

I don't really think it's a preemptive strike mentality, but more of a "I've seen too many of my colleagues walk up to a car for a traffic citation and get blown away by a crackhead behind the wheel" type of thing. I'd love to see the US enact Singapore's drug laws AND follow it thru. After hanging 50K or so the first year, you'd see the drug problem abate enormously (obviously not all though), the prisons empty out and then we'd only have to worry about illegal immigrants running guns on the border with our southern neighbours. Amnesty my arse. Treat them the same way illegal immigrants are treated here in Singapore. Draconian measures? Sure they are, but the problem is out of hand and I reckon nothing else will work at this juncture.

They say it's not the severity of the punishment that makes the difference but it's inevitability. I don't entirely agree with this statement but there is more than a grain of truth in it. Can the US police system, being a part of the Western type democracy, be compared to this of Singapore? I also think the society is a major factor, both of them being very different, what would make such draconian measures implemented in the US far less successful than it is in Singapore.

+1 on the cultural part and the two systems being too different to compare

but SMS's scenario I'm sure was tongue-in-cheek as it's preposterous to suggest

[sundaymorningstaple]

Sadly, Brah is correct. However, I'd love to see it happen and I would support it if it did. However, as noted, it hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of ever happening as too many fingers in the pot on both sides of the aisle in both houses on the hill.

[earthfriendly]

This is helpful.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/police-te ... 39293.html

[earthfriendly]

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/06/ ... ol/395144/

My points:

1. People who love themselves will never think of harming another.

2. Police officers who has to deal with the dark side of humanity day-in and day-out may soon lose their patience and become part of the cycle themselves. But then, I would revert to point 1.

3. These are still kids in their formative years. How the world treats them, they will reciprocate accordingly. Although I would like to revert back to point 1 again.

[JR8]

3. These are still kids in their formative years. How the world treats them, they will reciprocate accordingly.

Or not, if you execute them