Despite Uproar Over Floyd's Death, an Unceasing Tide of Police Killings

[Nevilledog]

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Scott Hechinger
@ScottHech
Police have killed 1,646 people since police murdered George Floyd last year. But you didn’t know that because most media have been laser focused on a few isolated thefts of a few luxury stores w/ ample insurance. Priorities.
A memorial in Minneapolis for victims of police violence.

Despite Uproar Over Floyd’s Death, the Number of People Killed in Encounters With Police Is the Same
George Floyd’s murder set in motion shock waves that touched almost every aspect of American society. But on the core issues of police violence and accountability, very little has changed.
nytimes.com
5:40 AM · Dec 26, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/24/us/police-killings-accountability.html

No paywall
https://archive.fo/4Je5K

For the second time this year, a jury in Minneapolis has ruled against a former police officer for killing a Black man.

Like the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, the verdict on Thursday against Kimberly Potter on two counts of manslaughter for the shooting death of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop represented an unusual decision to send a police officer to prison.

And yet, despite the two high-profile convictions in Minneapolis, a review of the data a year and a half after America’s summer of protest shows that accountability for officers who kill remains elusive and that the sheer numbers of police killings have remained steady at an alarming level.

The murder of Mr. Floyd on a Minneapolis street corner drew millions to the streets in protest and set off a national reassessment on race that touched almost every aspect of American life, from corporate boardrooms to sports nicknames. But on the core issues that set off the social unrest in the first place — police violence and accountability — very little has changed.

Since Mr. Floyd’s death in May of last year, 1,646 people have been killed by the police, or about three people per day on average, according to Mapping Police Violence, a nonprofit that tracks police killings. Although murder or manslaughter charges against officers have increased this year, criminal charges, much less convictions, remain exceptionally rare.


*snip*

[PTWB]

1. Is there a breakdown of the numbers?

Of the 1,646 reported in the article, how many of those were clearly justified, how many were clearly not justified?

Of the police killings that were clearly not justified, how many resulted in prosecutions and how many resulted in no action taken against the responsible officers?

[uponit7771]

2. The US refuses to mandate PDs keep up with those numbers

[PTWB]

3. The OP / article references a source called 'Mapping Police Violence'

The source is reliable enough for the NYT to use in an article so I'll assume that they've vetted the source and the numbers are as verified as they can be.

There are some very concerning statistics there, for example: Black Americans account for 27% of people killed by police despite being only 13% of the population.

I skimmed their website but didn't see any breakdown of the cases based on their apparent lawfulness. When it comes to total numbers, they rather meekly say that "There is no accountability [because] 98.3% of killings by police from 2013-2020 have not resulted in officers being charged with a crime."

If 98% of police killings appear to be justified on their face (and I'm not saying that's the case, I'm asking for those numbers), that 98.3% number doesn't seem to have much weight.

As a society we need more transparency and mandated reporting on any police use of force that results in injury or death.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Guilty verdicts will make other cops think twice!!!!!1111!1!1!1!1!1

K&R.

[BlackSkimmer]

5. And sadly, the number of people killed by their fellow citizens is far, far higher than that.

l