Tag: Police Killings

Research: Police uses of lethal force dropped dramatically in US from 2021-23 – News Bureau

The number of police-involved lethal force incidents in the U.S. dropped 24% from 2021 to 2023, according to research from the Cline Center for Advanced Social Research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The Cline Center’s SPOTLITE project has compiled nearly a decade’s worth of data to track and identify police uses of lethal force across the U.S.
— Read on news.illinois.edu/research-police-uses-of-lethal-force-dropped-dramatically-in-us-from-2021-23/

Community Voices: A Public Primer on News Reporting on Police Violence

As you read this report keep the following in mind:

  • News report is supposed to report the facts and not sell an AGENDA
  • Police Violence is not DEFINED
  • In this report Police Violence is naively considered as ANY police use of force
  • The report ignores CONTEXT of the police-citizen contact
  • People’s feeling are not FACTS
  • The FACTS are that police use force in less that 5% of police-citizen contacts and Deadly Force in less that 0.1% police-citizen contacts.

The research report, Community Voices: A Public Primer on News Reporting on Police Violence offers a practical review of the community impacts of, helpful and harmful narrative patterns in, and recommended standards for reporting on police violence. Through participatory analysis conducted in partnership with Community Co-Lead Mo Korchinski and clients at the Unlocking the Gates Services Society, these findings have been developed by community members who have experienced police violence to offer guidance to journalists, editors, and others who are interested in critical heart-based storytelling. The Student Co-Lead on this project, Emily R. Blyth, developed the research behind this publication through her time with the 2023-2024 CERi Graduate Fellowship program as a part her doctoral research which examines policing practices in Canada as a source of health inequity. This action-driven and accessibly written publication centers the voices of impacted community members to support the difficult work of reporting on police violence in ways that can expose the harms that police cause and that refuse to perpetuate those harms though uncritical narratives.

Get the Report HERE

Police spending linked to shorter lives for Black Americans

The article “Police spending linked to shorter lives for Black Americans” discusses a new study that argues increases police spending results in increases police killings and suicide of black males. The article can be accessed HERE and in the article there is a link to the academic article.

It is interesting that the study didn’t include violent crime as a factor in it’s analysis.  It is possible that with the killing of 11,528 black males (2022 see graph below), illustrates the impact that the amount of violent crime in a community could effect deaths and suicides of Black men?

In 2022 police killed 1,201 people.  Of the police killings 26% (about 312) of the killings were of black people (men and females).

My question is – In 2022 what was more dangerous to Black communities in contributing to suicide and deaths?  Was it violent crime with 11,528 homicides of Black men or the police killings of 312 Black individuals?  Homicide of Black men was 36.9 times greater than police killing Black persons.

Mistrial Declared in Ex-Mich. Police Officer’s 2nd-Degree Murder Trial

A jury was hopelessly deadlocked in the trial of former Grand Rapids Police Officer Christopher Schurr, stemming from a 2022 traffic stop that ended in the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man.

The murder trial for the Grand Rapids police officer who killed Patrick Lyoya has resulted in a hung jury.

A mistrial was declared after the jury hopelessly deadlocked on the second-degree murder charge against Christopher Schurr, the police officer who has since been fired. As a result, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker will have to decide whether to refile charges against Schurr.

Read on HERE