Amazingly, Police-Related Killings Over Seven Years Was Under-Counted Because of Poor Collection Pro [View all]

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Source: Atlanta Black Star

It’s actually worse than we thought.

Police killings recorded over the course of seven years have been under-counted by more than half, an astonishing figure, according to a new Bureau of Justice Statistics analysis. Deaths at the hands of law enforcement, especially among Black males, have been a rallying cry for justice and reform by African-Americans across the country. This report illuminates the concerns and begs for new policies on tracking police-related shootings.

The BJS says documented killings by cops were half of what it found in its research from 2003 to 2009 and 2011. Federal agencies track nationwide police-caused deaths through BJS’s Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD) and the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also tracks law enforcement homicides through the National Vital Statistics Report. However, this tally wasn’t included in the new analysis.

The data’s flaws make it virtually impossible to know the actual level of racial disparities in police use of force, which became a topic of national discussion following the police shooting death of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, last August.

Read more: http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/03/06/amazingly-police-related-killings-seven-years-reported-poor-data-collection/