In the news

Not really. Look at the Duggan case, a man dies after contact with the police and a number of completely dishonest statements are released by the police that place blame on the victim.

Even when the verdict is Unlawful Killing, as with Azelle Rodney and Chris Alder, nothing happens.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/jul/05/unlawful-killing-met-marksman-azelle-rodney

No, really. What are we supposed to conclude from 842 deaths in 9 years? What do we gleam from that vague statistic, out of context and with no other statistics in mind for comparison? The answer in reality, is nothing, but it is intended to provoke a conclusion something like "oh shit, thats loads".

I'm not saying it isn't loads, i'm saying it might be, but I wouldn't know, since i can't actually base any kind of opinion on something as vague as that. I'd need to know much more detail. How many people had died in the 9 years prior? What did the deaths involve? How many were after violence? How many were self inflicted? How many violent encounters were the police involved in during that time? There are so many variables!

Many people will read the sentence, then not bother looking into it, which is exactly what the writer wanted.