So far in 2003, 128 police officers have died in the USA. Last year the total was 153, and the year before 237 (quite a few in NYC). (Source: ODMP)
It's time we admitted that the USA is a quagmire and got out.
Well, now, come on. How many police officers are there in the U.S.? How many troops are in Iraq?
I suspect the former number far exceeds the latter.
Posted by: Patterico at November 28, 2003 06:21 PMAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistice, there are 834,000 police and detectives at all levels of government. About 4 times the number of troops in Iraq, with non-combatant personnel ratios being assumed equal. And there are about 3 times the number of deaths in Iraq, so the chance of dying as a soldier in Iraq is about 10-15 times that of a policeman dying.
That *is* a big difference. But not so big a difference that the two cannot be compared, especially since the rate has gone up considerably in the past month, but people were screaming quagmire before we even got to Baghdad.
The point I'm trying to make is one of perspective. This isn't Viet-Nam, this is police action in a crappy neighborhood.
Posted by: Kevin Murphy at November 28, 2003 07:49 PMHey, I have been wanting to do a blog posting just like this - thanks for beating me to the punch.
Another statistic I like to point out is that there are 18,000 murders in the U.S., or about two per minute - better send in the UN.
Posted by: Director Mitch at November 30, 2003 03:23 PMYeah, except Iraq is a country the size of California (they keep saying this, so it must be true!), with its own police force and security etc plus our troops.
Now, if you confine your search to a single state, does it match up now, or do you still have to pull in the data from the other fifty?
Posted by: Crissa at December 1, 2003 01:29 PM