Those who watch TV news, see more and more "gun crimes." Newspapers carry more and more crime stories.
We "hear" about more assaults with long guns, most commonly being referred to as "assault weapons."
Therefore, "common wisdom" would conclude that violent crimes are on the upswing.
Yet, at the end of the day, the actual reports are collated and we find that crimes, of all kinds, are on the downward slide. We also should note that usage of so-called assault weapons has remained at between 1% and 2% of all firearms related crimes.
"Common wisdom," isn't!
The same thing is happening with respect to police brutality stories. More and more are being reported, yet statistically, these incidents have either remained stable or are dropping... Depends upon whose stats we are reading. They are most certainly not on the rise.
Perception is the appearance of something happening that may not be the actual reality of the thing perceived.
We have gotten off topic. End of Chase syndrome is real. but we are not discussing this aspect of police work now, are we?
What happens with almost any subject dealing with the police, is a general slide into general police bashing. I would ask you all to go back and re-read this thread, with the specific intent of watching the slide.
It's there, and I can point to (if I have to) where it started.
I'm off to work now. If this thread hasn't gotten back on track when I get home, it will be closed.