I've been pulled over several times for being cutoff ("You didn't signal for a full 5 seconds when you changed lanes" "I was taking evasive action to not hit the guy...!") while driving a vehicle with out-of-state plates. I am 2 degrees of separation away from at least 2 people killed by police for having medical conditions that interfered with immediate compliance.
Per the US department of justice[0], in 2018, about 2% of all police interactions involve threats of or actual violence. About half of the time, the member of the public who experienced the (threats of) violence said that it was excessive, but it would take a fairer, more rational person than me to get justifiably tazed, then say "yeah, I had that coming". I wasn't able to find statistics on how justified that violence is.
The punchline is that every time you have a police interaction, its betting odds that it ends in violence for you. Based on the 2018 data, 0.5% of the overall adult population experienced (threats of) violence from police. That's when police are able to gin up probable cause. The courts have a complicated opinion about whether or not algorithmically derived probable cause is in fact probable cause [1,2]. Anything that increases public/police interactions is going to increase police-on-public violence if the police don't also experience significant non-violent de-escalation training.
I think one of the key things that needs to be determined before we cry havoc and let slip the dogs of surveillance is to come to a real conclusion about what level of crime allows the police officer to initiate contact with only a positive ID from e.g. a bodycam. I'd argue that, if nothing else, non-violent misdemeanors that carry no mandatory jail time are not cause to initiate contact.
Per the US department of justice[0], in 2018, about 2% of all police interactions involve threats of or actual violence. About half of the time, the member of the public who experienced the (threats of) violence said that it was excessive, but it would take a fairer, more rational person than me to get justifiably tazed, then say "yeah, I had that coming". I wasn't able to find statistics on how justified that violence is.
The punchline is that every time you have a police interaction, its betting odds that it ends in violence for you. Based on the 2018 data, 0.5% of the overall adult population experienced (threats of) violence from police. That's when police are able to gin up probable cause. The courts have a complicated opinion about whether or not algorithmically derived probable cause is in fact probable cause [1,2]. Anything that increases public/police interactions is going to increase police-on-public violence if the police don't also experience significant non-violent de-escalation training.
I think one of the key things that needs to be determined before we cry havoc and let slip the dogs of surveillance is to come to a real conclusion about what level of crime allows the police officer to initiate contact with only a positive ID from e.g. a bodycam. I'd argue that, if nothing else, non-violent misdemeanors that carry no mandatory jail time are not cause to initiate contact.
0. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/cbpp18st.pdf
1. https://newjerseymonitor.com/2023/05/30/n-j-supreme-court-ru...
2. https://supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-556_e1pf.pdf