A national debate is raging about police use of deadly force, especially against minorities. To understand why and how often these shootings occur, The Washington Post is compiling a database of every fatal shooting by police this year, as well as of every officer killed by gunfire in the line of duty. The Post looked exclusively at shootings, not killings by other means, such as stun guns and deaths in police custody.
Using interviews, police reports, local news accounts and other sources, The Post tracked more than a dozen details about each killing through Friday, including the victim’s race, whether the person was armed and the circumstances that led to the fatal encounter. The result is an unprecedented examination of these shootings, many of which began as minor incidents and suddenly escalated into violence.
Among The Post’s findings:
• About half the victims were white, half minority. But the demographics shifted sharply among the unarmed victims, two-thirds of whom were black or Hispanic. Overall, blacks were killed at three times the rate of whites or other minorities when adjusting by the population of the census tracts where the shootings occurred.
• The vast majority of victims — more than 80 percent — were armed with potentially lethal objects, primarily guns, but also knives, machetes, revving vehicles and, in one case, a nail gun.
• Forty-nine people had no weapon, while the guns wielded by 13 others turned out to be toys. In all, 16 percent were either carrying a toy or were unarmed.
• The dead ranged in age from 16 to 83. Eight were younger than 18, including Jessie Hernandez, 17, who was shot three times by Denver police officers as she and a carload of friends allegedly tried to run them down.
The Post analysis also sheds light on the situations that most commonly gave rise to fatal shootings. About half of the time, police were responding to people seeking help with domestic disturbances and other complex social situations: A homeless person behaving erratically. A boyfriend threatening violence. A son trying to kill himself.
Ninety-two victims — nearly a quarter of those killed — were identified by police or family members as mentally ill.
In an article literally bulging with troubling information, I find that last statistic to be especially troubling.
Mentally ill people deserve help from our public servants, not bullets.
The article also revealed that in the last five months 385 people had been killed by police in this country. That is more than two a day.
No matter now pro-law and order you might be, you have to admit that these statistics are sickening. And that something serious needs to be done in response.
As I was waiting downtown for my bus home yesterday, a mentally ill man walked up to the stop, turned directly to me, and went on a long and loud tirade over how many times he'd been arrested in the past few months, his earlier appearance before the judge, and the fact that he'd hidden his stash under a bush in the park but could not find his beloved pipe. It went on a couple of minutes, and when he was done, he proceeded on his merry way.
ReplyDeleteI thought to myself, "poor man," but the thought did cross my mind that, had he been in another state, he very easily could have been shot and killed by police, an open carrier, or someone "standing their ground."
I grieve for what this country has become. And for what??
… something serious needs to be done in response.
ReplyDeleteI can't help wondering what the NRA will recommend.
‘Shoot To Kill: A US Horror Story’
ReplyDeletehttp://theobamadiary.com/2015/06/01/shoot-to-kill-a-us-horror-story/
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database#
Gun Violence Awareness Day Shows NRA Is Losing the Culture War
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-weisser/gun-violence-awareness-day_b_7485792.html
O/T OMG, Gryphen, did you catch Trump's interview? What a looney tune!
ReplyDeletehttp://americablog.com/2015/06/donald-trump-insane-interview-with-the-des-moines-register-annotated.html
What a little putz he is.
DeleteSpeaking of the mentally ill !!!!!
DeletePlease, by all means run, but show me your birth certificate and your wife's green card!
MODERN DAY LYNCHING.
ReplyDeleteOops, Clinton might be in trouble...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2015/06/02/politics/hillary-clinton-2016-poll-gop-field-close/
This isn't just a cop problem, though. How we treat mental illness in this country is SO broken. I'm not saying cops are blameless, because they aren't, but when they're looking down the barrel of a gun, it's a bit late to do a mental illness intervention.
ReplyDeleteBecause of HIPAA, background checks don't include mental health information. So someone with a history of instability, who has made threats against family and friends, whose psychiatrist has reason to believe is a danger to self and others, but who has no felony conviction can go out and buy a gun.
I have bipolar disorder. I was unemployed and uninsured for several years and spent months thinking seriously about suicide. It would have been easier and cheaper to purchase a gun and kill myself (and, if I were so inclined, a few cops or bystanders) than it was to find therapy. One session with a psychiatrist would have cost me more than a gun -- I know, because I priced them -- and I would have had to jump through fewer hoops and fill out less paperwork. I can't even begin to wrap my brain around how fucked up that is and what that says about our society.
This is what cops have to deal with. They can be arrogant assholes with God complexes, but often they are people who want to serve and protect and are caught in the system that's stacked against them, too. The bottom line is that body cameras, cop convictions, etc. won't change a culture that worships guns while stigmatizing and ignoring mental illness.
ETA: I would have had to jump through fewer hoops and fill out less paperwork to buy a gun than I would have to see a psychiatrist, especially without insurance. Sorry--that wasn't clear.
DeleteTaking down pro-gun talking points one at a time
ReplyDeletehttp://quietmike.org/2014/04/12/guns-in-america-freedom-from-firearms
Gryph, check the wording of the title against "The vast majority of victims — more than 80 percent — were armed with potentially lethal objects, primarily guns, but also knives, machetes, revving vehicles and, in one case, a nail gun."
ReplyDeleteThe 20% unarmed "two-thirds of whom were black or Hispanic" is still bad enough!
Carline you are right. I totally read one of those statistics wrong.
DeleteThanks for bringing it to my attention. I have altered the post in response.
Thank you for bringing the article to mine!
DeleteWe really need to address mental health and how we treat (or don't) the mentally ill in this country. We can and should do better. Homelessness, despair, and no safety net is making a large segment of our population invisible, and racism speaks for itself over and over and over again.
ReplyDeleteI have mental illness in my family, my cousin had schizophrenia and epilepsy. He was the kindest, most considerate person you'd ever meet, but once he became an adult, no one could force him to take is medications. The parents, at wits end, put him in a psych ward, only to find out, as an adult he could sign himself out. He gave away his worldly possessions and hung himself.