The article:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/07/california-police-shootings-database-racial-disparity
As we are all becoming more painful aware by each report we hear of racial shootings and the inexplicable deaths of those taken into custody by the police, it's a wonder the public aren't being more informed about the atrocious happenings in our so-called "Land Of The Free". However, since the latest killings of African-American men in California (only 3% the population), people like
California’s attorney general, Kamala Harris, congresswoman Karen Bass, and other state representatives have begun to speak up for letting the people know the facts. Ciara McCarthy and Nadja Popovich of The Guardian state that "State representative Eric Johnson collaborated with local law
enforcement to create legislation focused on aggregating data, said Ana
Rodriguez, Johnson’s deputy chief of staff. 'We really thought that if we wanted something to happen right now,
states have to really take action to fill that data gap,' Rodriguez
said."
The article thus continues on to share recorded information about those killed in the past ten years, giving lists of data showing how the percentage of African-American males killed in California was at an all-time high (those men being killed at twice the rate of Hispanics and "more than four times the rate of white males").
This is absolutely terrifying to see! The article even describes how "At present the federal government does not publish a comprehensive
record of people killed by police forces throughout the US. Instead, the
FBI runs a voluntary program whereby law enforcement can choose to
submit their count of 'justifiable homicides' each year," meaning casualty rates are determined by policemen as to whether they counted or not; a highly unreliable sources as an officer might feel guilty and simply write the death as "justified".
However, the article also informs the reader that "the lack of data has been sharply criticized by activist groups.
President Barack Obama’s White House policing task force recommended that
it be addressed", thankfully giving hope to those friends and family of the murdered as to better and more truthful explanations of their loved ones' deaths.
All homicides or 'justifiable homicides' should be accounted for. The information could be used to change the way officers are trained so that their first reaction isn't to pull out their gun.
ReplyDeleteI agree, all deaths should be accounted for and not some sort of decision as to whether they're deserving of a count in the motality database. It seems almost inhumane to not consider the jusifiable deaths of those killed by police officers as deaths that aren't important enough to be considered and typed up. It feels very wrong.
DeleteI agree they should find different ways to help the situation. People are getting killed by police for no reason they were unarmed.
ReplyDelete