Most of you have no doubt been subjected in the last few days to right-wing pundits or friends droning on about the supposed "dangers" of policing. That we have to understand that the officer may have thought he was in danger when he executed Michael Brown. Well here is a controversial statement: I don't care how dangerous your job is. It was the trade-off you willingly entered into when you were given a lethal weapon to use at your discretion and the power to assert complete authority over a citizen at your will. In 2009, the Census of Fatal Occupational Industries compiled a list of the most dangerous jobs in the country. Numbers are deaths/100,000.
Fishermen: 128.9
Logging workers: 116.7
Aircraft pilots: 72.4
Iron and steelworkers: 46.4
Farmers and ranchers: 39.5
Garbage collectors: 36.8
Roofers: 34.4
Electrical power line installation/repair: 29.8
Truck drivers: 22.8
Oil and gas extraction: 21.9
Taxi drivers: 19.3
Drinking establishment employees: 17.0
Construction workers: 16.0
Police and deputies: 15.6
That's right, bartenders and taxi drivers have more dangerous jobs than cops. Furthermore, the same study showed that the VAST majority of the deaths came from the large amount of time spent on the roadways of our country, as a full 2/3 of the deaths of police officers in the state of Texas resulted from traffic accidents. It's time to dispense with some myths. Cops aren't any more at risk at any given time than millions of other hard-working people who aren't given a gun and practically complete autonomy to compensate for the dangers.