> I think you're wrong... in NYC, there has been a huge spike in crime and shootings... number of people murdered this way dwarfs the number of people shot by the police

1. I talked about police violence in general, not just shooting. Shooting is the more extreme case of violence.

2. There are crime problems elsewhere in the world - like that Netherlands issue in the story - and yet, the police essentially never shoot people unless shot at first. Or, you know what, maybe it's once every few years in the entire country.

3. Even if shootings were rare, the fact that the police _may_ just shoot you, means you are in danger of your life whenever you are in contact with the police. And the police - in many/most places - expect to be treated as those who have the power to decide whether you live or die. This is especially true since these killings are often arbitrary, i.e. it is not the most dangerous and violent people in the most suspicious of situations that get shot, or otherwise killed by police.

4. I don't live in NYC. Can you give some citation for the "dwarfing" part?

> When people are in actual fear of their lives, it's not the police they are worried about.

> And this has manifested itself in the election.

You mean the mayor elections in NYC? I don't live in the US, so I'm not well-versed at city-level politics at all. I basically know Yang ran and failed...

Anyway, from my experience and knowledge, that's usually/very often not true - depending on the level of social consciousness of course. In neighborhoods or cities where the state is perceived as being controlled by a rich and powerful minority, especially if it's mostly of a different color or ethnicity; and when the state is uncaring and oppressive towards you and your surrounding society - crime is perceived being to a great extent the result neglect and even active encouragement and collusion of the state and the regular and political police with criminal elements. In the US the political police would be some of the three-letter agencies I suppose.

This is actually a crisis faced by Palestinian society in Israel these days, which would merit an article of its own, but this is just a comment.

> I am curious your perspective? Are you actually someone who lives in the hood and has a fear of your life on daily basis, and fear cops more than criminals?

Well, first of all, I'm afraid of cops because of what they do to me and other people during popular protests or just demonstrations. I was standing next to a person when this cop grabbed his head and banged it against the curb. Cops stole my coat once as they were hauling me to be detained/arrested (although I'm not sure whether one of them took it or whether they just threw it away). Cops almost ran me over a few times, with motorcycles and with horses. Cops fired a stun grenade into a crowd right next to me just a couple of months ago. etc. etc.

I lived in a "semi-hood" for a few years; I was never fearful for my life, because the society I live in is much less violent than in the US, but I was still sometimes fearful. I was always more afraid of the cops than of groups of young men on a street corner. Of course, if I were not from the privileged ethnic group, i.e. if I were of Arab/Middle-Eastern rather than European descent, I would have been _really_ afraid of cops and probably even less worried about people in my neighborhood.