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WHAT?!? I went to your link. Overall rape rate is 5% higher in Australia VS US, not 300%...and for VIOLENT rape, America has 1300% the amount Australia has. It makes no sense that they list 3 times the number of VICTIMS in Australia but 13 times the number of RAPES in America...hmmmm. Are we just raping the same people over and over?
Burglaries you have right.
Property crimes are listed as America has 13% MORE than Australia...again I don't get the 'victim' stat when compared to the number of crimes stat.
Robberies, 79% MORE in America.
Car thefts...OK, right on that one too.
But then murder...America by over 570% Gun murder (our strong suit), 15900% over Australia.

But you can use statistics to prove anything...47% of all people know that.

I would feel so safe in Australia. Except for twice as many assault victims as us, three times the rape victims, twice the burglaries, 40% more property crime victims, twice the robbery victims, 63% more car thefts. Yea, except for that I'd feel pretty safe.

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Australia/United-States/Crime

I don't know if the right's stance on gun control is the hypocrisy I'd point out about their so called "pro-life" stance, but I'll get to the hypocrisy in a moment.

It is odd how after every mass shooting here, which means we get to hear it a lot, the political right always jumps on the "oh no, they are trying to take our guns away", "if guns kill people, why don't they try to ban cars which kill more people" and other memes when nobody is talking about banning guns or forcing everyone to register all the guns they own, let alone take guns away. Closing the gun show loophole (and all such laws proposed that would close it still left open the ability to pass guns to family members without a license or registration), allow the CDC to track gun violence... these aren't unreasonable requests. Even exempting the gun industry from the same liability laws we hold nearly every other industry to (with a huge notable exception to fracking... hmm... another one the right loves) seems fairly reasonable, though I guess I can semi see the concerns... of course said concerns go back to the fact that nearly anyone can get a gun quickly and easily. 30+ homicides a day, 50+ gun related suicides every day, 40+ accidental deaths every day, hundreds treated for gun assault injuries every day, thousands of crimes committed at gun point from rape to robbery and burglary, and the list goes on and on... I support one's right to own guns, including hand guns, but we need to admit there is a gun violence problem. And it isn't a heart problem, if Cain had a gun he'd have used a gun, a rock is what was available to him at the supposed moment of action. And it isn't a lack of Jesus problem as over 78% of people in the US general population and other far more democratic, first word, advanced economy, fully free will, countries like the Netherlands have far more Atheists than us, but have far less gun violence... less violence overall. It's not a video game problem, as those games are popular outside the US, and again no correlative rise in violence. (And yes, the UK violence rate is higher, but it isn't an apples for apples correlation, they define far more things into their national violent crime rates than we do, when all things are equaled out, they have a much smaller one.) So it's time that the right just admit there is an issue with guns and violence in this country.

But as I said, we don't need to point to the rights stance on guns to prove they aren't actually pro-life. Just point to the fact they are the ones who are most in support of the death penalty. Just point to the fact they are the most pro-war and are the loudest war hawks, despite the fact Jesus said "blessed are the peacemakers" I guess they figure that means forcing everyone to the US's will, since somehow God anointed the US with special privilege above all other nations (after all the Bible mentions the eagle rising against the bear, which must be the US rising against the Soviets). Point out that they support stand your ground, somebody taking your nice new TV, stand your ground and turn that crime into a death penalty there in your home... of course Jesus said if somebody takes your coat to give your shirt too, not that I'm sure He was meaning to freely let people take all your stuff, but I can guarantee He wouldn't have been pro-stand your ground. They don't support having guaranteed affordable health care, or having government assistance for the needy and the poor. Apparently that life only matters while in the womb, the quality of life after that doesn't matter, and if they can make it worse for the child then they don't care, so long as their taxes don't help the child.

They aren't by any stretch of the imagination pro-life. They are anti-abortion. I think abortion is far from ideal, and should be a last option. The best option is the same thing that the women not having abortions have, affordable health care. Access to contraceptive options like IUDs (which don't stop fertilized eggs from attaching to the uterus which they try to claim) and the pill... and it doesn't matter if the pill itself is cheap, the doctor visit to get them and follow ups need to be affordable too... somehow the right really likes to blame women and hold them accountable for the pregnancy, when in fact it's the guy who should be blamed. If they don't want a pregnancy, then he should wrap it as soon as it comes out of the pants. No playing "just the tip" or anything else like that. Then dispose of properly, and ideally, don't rely on it as the sole method of birth control. So guarantee all people, including women, access to affordable health care. Give them their free choice of birth control and I'd say encourage the use of the IUD which has an amazingly low failure rate compared to other birth control methods... that is if she's going to use a contraceptive on her end. Don't make it a crime to have a miscarriage... which is some of the most asinine law proposals ever created... and rape is rape, no such thing as "legitimate" rape, I don't care if the Bible is into punishing women for being rape victims (a virgin not betrothed has to marry the rapist and he has to pay her father 50 shackles of silver for the father's loss or property and the couple may never divorce, Deuteronomy 22:28-29 or if she's in a city and betrothed then she has to be put to death Deuteronomy 22:23-24, a passage defended because it says "because she cried not", but how often do people ignore crimes or say they didn't see anything, heck people film others raping a passed out girl, so "because she cried not" is a poor excuse).

TLDR: The right are far from being pro-life far beyond gun control, they support war, they support the death penalty, they support stand your ground, they are against the government helping the needy and the poor, and are against a truly affordable health care policy that would largely eliminate the need for abortions in the first place.

Nice.

I wouldn't be surprised if the shop owner was charged with false imprisonment.

Small correction: burglary fail, not robbery.

As Samuel Clemens said, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

This 3 minute and 47 sec video can't begin to tell the full story.

One reason so many people in the US go to prison is because there are so many recidivists. You don't go to jail in the US unless you have committed a major felony crime or you are a repeat offender.

That's why those in prison for "mere" drug possession actually have a higher arrest rate for violent crimes than those in prison for burglary, robbery or even drug trafficking, according to innumerable studies, including one in the Journal of the American Statistical Association.

We now have more diversionary programs available than ever before. If you commit a theft crime, you get the opportunity to make recompense and/or attend a program. Same with DUI, take a 3 day class or get locked up for 3 days.

Another reason many black men get locked up is because they commit a lot of violent crimes. Violent crimes will almost always get your ass locked up.

I know a fellow in Oregon who used to be the prayer leader for the Seattle Seahaws, a white man, who to my knowledge has never committed a violent crime, yet he is a repeat offender on DUI driving laws. He was recently committed to prison for 3 years.

And as for these 'get tough on crime' laws...the last one passed in Ohio did just the opposite, making repeat felony thefts a misdemeanor. The lawyers in your local legislators know how to title a crime bill...most of which are an effort to save money, not fight crime.

Also, prison guard unions don't send people to prison, judges do.

As for fewer prisoners in China...they just shoot their offenders in the head...saves quite a bit on housing prisoners.

Making crack cocaine a stiffer penalty crime...well, crack is more addictive than cocaine. So why doesn't Al Sharpton get behind the decriminalization of crack cocaine? Probably not enough money in it.

If you want to make a point about people in the US being incarcerated compared to other countries, I'm going to need to see some numbers on the recidivism rates in those countries, not just some surface facts that don't tell the full story.

it's rather like some countries that don't count neonatal deaths unless the child has survived for 30 days...you can't compare that to numbers from countries that count neonatal deaths at 2 hours.

What they charge him with and what the DA charges him with are two different things. The quotes I provided are the simple definitions of his actions. Burglary while possessing what 'could' be described as a weapon is considered armed robbery. Burglary of a home is considered breaking and entering. GTA covers multiple types of auto theft, feel free to look it up. The article clearly mentions that the store employees were chasing after him.

Of course I realize that there are more options, but when you add options, you also add possible outcomes because you are extending the situation. Assuming that the police did attempt other methods with the suspect and something bad happened to either a cop or innocent, would you still be blaming the cops for doing their jobs wrong?

Again, videos show bad cops. They ABSOLUTELY do exist and in far too large of a quantity. However, videos also show decent cops and outstanding ones, like the one who validated the rights of the people protesting TSA searches. You are perfectly welcome to your distrust of the police, I admit I don't trust them nearly as much as I used to, but a rational person would be willing to realize that you can't stereotype them as all untrustworthy or bad.

Yes, that's why they charged him with THEFT, not robbery. He didn't USE the piece of metal in his hand to threaten.
The arson part, that can be considered 'violent', you're right there.
No, ROBBERY is violent, burglary is sneaky. Y ou might note he was not charged with breaking and entering, robbery, OR burglary. Trespass is what it's called when you enter an OPEN building or home, burglary if you did it intending to steal, robbery if you came armed and used that arm in any way against a human.
No, I'm fairly certain auto theft and GRAND THEFT AUTO are different charges, like petty theft and grand theft are different.
No one ever mentioned a "tussel" with store employees, they are instructed to allow him to walk away, they would lose their job if they tried to stop him, because the gun was under $500, petty theft.
You are welcome to believe police when it comes to them excusing their violence. I am free to not believe them. Their recent actions have shown them to be untrustworthy, so I feel proper not trusting them.
Wait, so because a guy actually committed crimes, you will believe cops? Huh? They guy shot in the back did more violence than this guy, he actually tussled with the cop.
You know those aren't the only two options, right? Kill him or let him free to kill 11 year olds?
Videos have proven time and time again to be a far better picture of what actually happened than the officers accounts. If I could trust an officer to tell the truth, I could be there with you. Unfortunately, they have proven at every turn that they are not trustworthy, so I think any rational person would stop trusting them and require they PROVE their contentions, and ignore anything they claim without proof. That's where I am.

I am not 'calling' it anything. By legal definition some of his crimes are considered violent crimes and he would have been charged/will be charged as such when he appears before a court.

Robbing a store with a finger in your pocket is the same as robbing it with a gun or piece of metal per the eyes of the law.

Setting fire to an OCCUPIED structure is a violent crime. Committing Arson even on an empty structure can be considered a violent crime depending on who could be hurt if the fire spreads or explosions occur from the contents of the building.

Burglary (also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking) is a crime, the essence of which is illegal entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offence. Usually that offence will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary. Trespassing is typically entering a section of land that has been marked.

Motor vehicle theft (sometimes referred to as grand theft auto by the media and police departments in the US) is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a car. This can happen in many ways, but they all fall under this description.

As far as the gun theft, still falls under the definition of burglary. He stole a weapon and tussled with the store employees to escape. I personally would call it a violent crime, but I don't know for sure if it legally is considered one or if it would be relegated more to shoplifting.

Yeah, I am taking the word of the police that he pointed the gun at them. Maybe I shouldn't because out of the thousands of arrests and incidents that happen daily across the country, we have a few videos that show spurious methods used by a few officers. I mean, I get that right now the public trust in officers is at an all time low for good reason, but given the sheer number of things that this guy already did that day, I have to assume that they might not be lying in this case.

As far as the officer, like I said, maybe he overreacted. But I would rather we risk the death of a clearly severely mentally ill person than read about the 11 year old he shot because he was crazy and had a gun.

In the end, you have the right to see and feel about the incident any way you see fit. You don't have to agree with a single thing I say. But I posted what I posted because I felt that just the video alone is not a clear picture of what was going on in this situation. I merely shared some of the facts that were printed by a major media outlet so that people could have the additional information to make up their minds about the video.

I will agree that the whole thing could have been cleared up more quickly and efficiently if the homeowner had just provided identification showing she lived there and identified the man as her employee.

On the other hand, I can understand why she was upset and wanted to make a point.

I can also feel for the police too because there is a very, very fine line in a situation like this between unjust racial profiling and just looking for a person who seems out of place. In all likelihood, if they were responding to a burglary call in a white neighborhood, all they had was "black male" as a description, maybe also "wearing dark clothing" if they were lucky.

I'm kind of meh on the whole thing, other than the impressive way the woman handled herself and stood up to the police (though... devil's advocate again, that's not so hard when you're a wealthy white resident of a wealthy white neighborhood).

Well, it's rather difficult to address so many false assumptions at one time, so I'll deal with your first one, that she knew they weren't dealing with a burglary suspect.

Is the woman psychic? Does she know what he's been doing? Has a burglary suspect ever worked in a domestic situation?

No, you can't answer that one question with an affirmative response.

The fail is in your court.

OMFG! You are sounding completely insane.
She knew what the police were doing because she ASKED them and they TOLD her...duh.
She knew that the man they accosted WASN'T a burglary suspect, he was her gardener that had been at her home the entire time working. The idiot cops didn't want to hear it and just saw 'black man in white neighborhood=dangerous criminal' and did their thing, putting him on the ground and preparing to take him away. Fortunately for him his employee was both there and a lawyer who knows how to not be BLUFFED out of her or her clients rights by liars (cops).
The cops WERE acting stupidly, racist, and dishonestly...proven because they clearly had the wrong person.
If the call came from another neighborhood long enough ago that the perp may be in another neighborhood (in any direction), there's no way in hell they could honestly think they could find the perp, they just went after people that 'looked wrong' to them. (by which I mean being black)
I also note the arresting officer can't even say what the reported crime was, or where it occurred, so how does she explain her theory that it was the gardener, who was working when they found him? She had to wait for the driver to answer those questions.
They put him on the ground before the video starts.
Well, it's becoming fairly obvious that most white cops ARE racist, but no, racism is an equal opportunity evil perpetrated by all races.
No one (who isn't a cop) can blame this lady, or this man for 'hating cops', cops have lied to and about them in order to trick/lie/bluff him into jail for who knows how long.

I hope your family does NOT have the good fortune to have a thinking lawyer present when they are arrested by an angry black officer for being within 4 blocks of a burglary that happened yesterday...(and being white near a black neighborhood to boot!), and your home is taken by civil forfeiture because they may have used it to store the stolen property (not that they need to find any)....maybe then you can see the error of your position....or maybe not.
Oh man, I feel that this is one of your biggest fails yet. You look like a complete dangerous nutball with that comment. It would be hilariously laughable if you didn't have the power to put people in jail. Because you claim that you do hold that authority, it's terrifying to hear your positions, your clear racism, your constant defense of clearly criminal cops, and your 'Us VS citizens' mentality you display constantly....yet you still can't understand why citizens might feel it's 'us VS cops'. Just plain old WOW man.

What a bitch, know-it-all lawyer. She's obviously anti-cop. How does she know what the police are doing? She just jumps right in the middle of things, assuming she knows what a burglary suspect looks like, that the police are 'acting stupidly' gee where have I heard that before? She must takes her cues from the Duffer-in-chief.

She asked where the call came from...it came from another neighborhood. Does she know what time the burglary occurred? A person could come home, find a break-in, walk to the neighbor and say, hey did you see anyone? Yeah, i saw a black guy in front of your house 15 minutes ago. A person can walk quite a distance in 15 minutes.

I also didn't see the cops even touch this guy. Also, both officers appeared to be black, so they can't be racist, right? Only white cops are racist.

Yeah, this wonderful lady hates cops.

Numbers don't tell the whole story, do they? Were all of those deaths ruled as unjustified?

According to an article at propublica, as many as 440,000 deaths per year are attributed to poor medical care in hospitals. So what are you doing to do, take all the doctor's scalpels away?

This video shows a cop trying to find marijuana, which is still illegal in most states. What this video doesn't show is the amount of stolen property that is recovered by the same technique, which is bluffing. But of course, people who commit burglaries and thefts don't videotape the encounters they have with police officers.

Today, more and more people are learning their rights and exercising them, and fewer busts are made through bluffing. But the police will adjust to it.

When I worked the road, I didn't give a crap about speeders, so didn't run radar or laser, and I didn't really care about marijuana because alcohol is far more dangerous to people, but I did bust a couple of bikers from a biker gang trying to sell a grocery bag full of marijuana. They also had a 9mm, which would have been used to a criminal manner, I'm sure. By the way, they got off of the marijuana charge because the judge said I didn't have enough probably cause to make the stop, even though I knew through observation that they were up to something highly suspicious.
how'd you like to buy your grass from a biker with a semi-auto on him?

I know, when I was buying grass in my college days, I didn't buy it from bikers, but a lot of people do.

I can see a relation between certain crimes and gun ownership/availability, but not really with overall crime...possibly more severe crimes though, often just having the gun on you raises the level of crime, even if you never even show it.
In America, many 'burglars' come armed, which raises the crime to armed robbery. That way, if they're caught, they can at least try to assert control over the homeowners and get away more easily (at least that seems to be the theory). If suddenly there were 95% fewer guns, I would expect more burglary and less armed robbery, both because the criminals have fewer guns and less fear of running into an armed home owner, another 'normal' thing in America. It's essentially the same crime, but one is done with a gun on the intruder.
I'm there with you, call the cops, but I also have a 12 gauge in my bedroom. Should an intruder insist on entering the room my wife, our dog, and I are in, I'll murder away without qualm and sleep fine afterwards.