police shootings
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FBI Director Rejects Claims That Blacks Are Shot More Often by Police
FBI Director James B. Comey told a gathering of police chiefs Sunday evening that Americans “actually have no idea” about how often police use force because no one has collected enough data, the Washington Post reports. Comey’s remarks come at a time when waves of protests are happening across the country in response to the…
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President of Police-Chiefs Association Apologizes for Historical Mistreatment of Minorities
The president of a police-chiefs association apologized Monday for the role that police have played in society’s “historical mistreatment of communities of color.” Speaking at the annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in San Diego, the association’s president, Terrence Cunningham, said that when it comes to how officers relate to minority…
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Department of Justice to Begin Collecting Data on Use of Force by Police
The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it will begin collecting data on deadly police encounters nationwide, starting early next year, the New York Times reports. As the report notes, it marks the beginning of the most ambitious effort the federal government has ever made to track police use of force, coming after the nation…
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Chicago Police Department Proposes New Use-of-Force Policy
Details of a new policy requiring Chicago police officers to use the least amount of force necessary and emphasizing “the sanctity of life” were released Friday by Chicago’s top cop. ABC News reports that Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters at a news conference that the draft aims to “clarify response options to officers during…
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UN Panel Says US Owes Black People Reparations
Colonial history, a legacy of enslavement and segregation are among the chief reasons reparations are owed to African Americans, according to a report put out by a United Nations group (pdf). The U.N.’s Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, which reports to the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights, presented its findings…
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The Wash, Rinse, and Repeat of Being Black In America Today
My daily morning routine (unfortunately) currently feels a lot like Groundhog Day. I wake up and peruse Facebook and without fail, nearly every day I’m met with another story of some Black person meeting their demise at the hands of law enforcement. I’m then generally moved to saying some sort of muffled profanity as to…
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LAPD Creates Program to Support Families Killed by … LAPD
The Los Angeles Police Department says it will create a program to assist the families of people killed during encounters with police—the first of its kind in the nation—reports the Los Angeles Times. The program will be called the Family Liaison Program, and the LAPD said its goal is to foster better communication with loved ones…
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Michael Jordan Speaks Out on Police Brutality, Targeting of Cops
Basketball legend Michael Jordan is speaking out on the shootings of black Americans, as well as the recent attacks on officers, issuing a statement today through The Undefeated in which he declares that he “can no longer stay silent”: As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of…
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North Miami Police Officer Who Shot Therapist Identified; Sister of Autistic Man Gives Heartbreaking Statement
Up until Thursday, the city of North Miami and its Police Department were not identifying the officer in the horrific Charles Kinsey police shooting case other than saying that the officer is a 30-year-old Hispanic male. During a Friday press conference, the city released the cop’s name. The mayor of North Miami, Smith Joseph, as…
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Suspect Identified in Fatal Shooting of 3 Police Officers in Baton Rouge, La.
The gunman who fatally shot three police officers in Baton Rouge, La., and wounded three others on Sunday was identified as Gavin Eugene Long. According to the Los Angeles Times, a U.S. law-enforcement official described Long as a “black separatist.” The New York Times reports that Long was a Marine veteran who had served in Iraq. Long…