Ten things less likely to kill you than the cops
1,208[i] people were killed by the cops in America in 2015. The number was 1,111[ii] in 2014. With 624[iii] killed so far in 2016, we're on track for 1,168 by the end of the year. Based on an average of 1,160 people killed by police per year in America, let's look at your odds of being killed by a cop relative to some other common (and not-so-common) things that might kill you.
Living in America...
- You're 1.8 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by the heat.[iv]
- You're 20 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by a bee, wasp, or hornet.[v]
- You're 24 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by lightning.[vi]
- You're 41 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by a dog.[v]
- You're 53 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by a terrorist attack.[vii]
- You're 166 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by a spider.[v]
- You're 166 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by fireworks.[viii]
- You're 193 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by a venomous snake.[v]
- You're 264 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by an amusement park ride.[ix]
- You're 387 times more likely to be killed by a cop than by a shark, bear, or alligator.[v]
Click here to learn about 10 Ways to Fix the American Injustice System that will help reduce the number of Americans killed by police each year.
[i] http://www.killedbypolice.net/kbp2015.html
[ii] http://www.killedbypolice.net/kbp2014.html
[iii] http://www.killedbypolice.net
[iv] http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6222a1.htm#fig
[v] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/16/chart-the-animals-that-are-most-likely-to-kill-you-this-summer/
[vi] https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/lightning-deaths-by-state-2005-2014
[vii] Based on the record of 319 Americans killed by terrorist attacks between 2002 and mid-2016. The list and specifics of the chronicled attacks are available here: http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/wrjp255a.html
[viii] http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/07/03/how-america-celebrates-4th-july-numbers/86602246/
[ix] https://www.cpsc.gov//PageFiles/108559/amus2005.pdf (Page 7)