The police are one of the most powerful institutions in American society. The police can detain us, search and seize our property, issue fines, arrest us, lock us in jail, and, most significantly, use deadly force against us. I think that we deserve – at the absolute, very least – to know just how many have been killed by these people whose salaries we pay and who claim to protect us.

Who is us? Colquhoun, who was one of the most important figures in setting up the modern UK police force, said that "the public interest requires that the person who is accepted as a deputy, should possess all the qualifications necessary to guarantee to the community, an able, faithful, and prudent discharge of the duty assigned him. He ought (as the law requires), to be idoneus homo, possessing the three qualifications which are indispensably necessary [honesty, knowledge, and ability]". It may be bad that the government cannot keep an accurate tally on who is being killed by the police. At least one of these reports, however, is measuring legal homicides. Ignoring some of the others which are measuring everything up to naturally caused death during arrest, it is the police force's job to protect society at large and not individuals. His statement here ignores that some of these deaths may very well have protected his community.

I'm speaking very broadly as someone unfamiliar with US law and order. I don't feel that it is the average armed policeman's job to ensure the survival of someone who poses an immediate threat to the peace. Does this not stand up so well in the US?