1) It would be absurd to discuss a conclusion that is not based on facts. How can it be thought provoking, if it’s not accurate? What if it the author just said “police in the US kill citizens at 1000 the rate…” What if he said, “100% of police officer are members of the KKK?” You have to have facts to be able to have an intelligent dialogue about something as complex as this. I pointed out some inaccuracies in the data and gave you some context and possibly alternative matrices for comparison. If you’re just posting inflammatory links, then you’re just trolling.

2) Sorry, I didn’t watch the video. Stewart, Colbert and Oliver are great comedians, but these shows usually don’t present a balanced view on issues. It’s not gospel just because John Oliver says so. If something they bring up strikes a chord with you, then I suggest you research the matter for yourself.
Please read my previous response carefully. I said…
I can see why some small podunk department with three officers might not need an MRAP
I have never been to “Doraville, Georgia, population of 8500” so I don’t presume to know what their law enforcement needs are, but it sounds like the type of “podunk” place that might not need its own tracked APC. But armored vehicles (not necessarily tracked) are a part of the police toolkit used in hostage and barricaded suspect type of situations. The US from time to time has incidents where heavily armed bad guys get into shootouts with police. And the police need these vehicles for cover, to evacuate casualties, etc. However, in my humble opinion every department does not need to get such a vehicle when they could get by with mutual-aid. A mutual-aid agreement is a pact between various neighboring municipalities to share resources (such as armored vehicles and extra officers) during emergencies. So in theory Doraville and a few of its neighbors could sign such an agreement with the county. But that is something each community has to decide for itself. If the good people of Doraville decide to forgo the APC, then they have to be ok with the consequences of that (whatever that might be). Please look up North Hollywood I think this should be clear enough.

If the NYPD has the same budget as the military of Ukraine, maybe it’s time we beef up the NYPD budget. Because we’ve all seen how well the Ukrainians are doing. Again, examine underlying causes when you see random stats. NYC population is 8 million, Greece population is 10 million. There are ~50,000 officers in New York and 109,000 military personal in Greece. Compare population densities. Better yet compare the economies. The biggest cost for police/fire agencies in the US is personnel. So is it unthinkable each NYPD officer (with the cost of living in NYC) could be making twice as much as a Greek service person? Keep in mind this is an oversimplification. You’re thinking, “but the Greeks have military equipment.” Well, the NYPD has a ton of facilities, vehicles, helicopters, IT infrastructure, etc. But why are you even comparing the NYPD to the Greek military. It’s meaningless. Apples to cars.

3) That’s good news. I hope it continues to decrease.

4) Based on the limited open source information I have, it looked like an accident. It is unfortunate the man lost his life, but accidents happen. There are even occasional blue-on-blue shootings, with some resulting in fatalities. There was recently a police officer that was shot and killed by his colleague during the execution of a search warrant in Northern California. The legal system will sort out Mr. Bates in due time.