Hundreds of police killings go unreported

Hundreds of police killings go unreported

According to a Wall Street Journal report, national statistics provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation do not report 25 percent or more of police killings in the US.

The newspaper analyzed data from 105 of the largest police agencies in the country and compared the figures to the official statistics of the FBI. More than 550 killings between 2007 and 2012 were not part of the FBI totals.

Specifically, in these jurisdictions the Journal tallied at least 1,800 police killings, compared to only 1,242 reported to the FBI.

One of the major causes of the discrepancy is the failure of many local police agencies to report homicides that are considered justifiable. As the Fairfax County, Virginia Police Department said, such killings are not an “actual offense,” and they are not reported to the FBI.

The Journal gave the example of 24-year-old Albert Jermaine Payton in Washington, DC, who was shot and killed in 2012. His mother, who witnessed the killing, said the police were well acquainted with her son, who apparently suffered from mental illness. As he approached the cops that day holding a small utility knife, they fired dozens of times, and he died soon after.

This homicide was not reported to the FBI. The officers involved are back on the job, and there was no further investigation.

The consequences of the underreporting include the obvious underestimation of the reign of violence that exists in poor working class communities around the country. It is one more avenue through which the police, and the authorities to whom they are ultimately responsible, attempt to minimize the anger and political fallout that has been visible on the streets of Ferguson, Staten Island and elsewhere in recent months.

Only some of the most egregious cases of police violence become widely known. The reality is even worse than indicated in the latest grand jury exonerations of the police in Missouri and New York.

Source: WSWS, 4 December 2014
www.wsws.org...


more:

Although Congress instructed the Attorney General in 1994 to compile and publish annual statistics on police use of excessive force, this was never carried out, and the FBI does not collect these data either. usnews.nbcnews.com...

The annual average number of justifiable homicides alone was previously estimated to be near 400.
www.usatoday.com...

Updated estimates from the Bureau of Justice Statistics released in 2015 estimate the number to be around 930 per year, or 1240 if assuming that nonreporting local agencies kill people at the same rate as reporting agencies.
fivethirtyeight.com...

a reply to: wasaka

The greatest form of sensorship is the omission- mark twain.

If they don't report them, they aren't recorded and can't be pointed out.

I wonder why they choose not to report them....

One of the major causes of the discrepancy is the failure of many local police agencies to report homicides that are considered justifiable. As the Fairfax County, Virginia Police Department said, such killings are not an “actual offense,” and they are not reported to the FBI.

If we go by the number of charges and convictions being doled out I'd say they don't think about 99% of these incidents are "actual offenses".

@johnwick
My guess is that not reporting them is a form of padding numbers so it appears to not be as drastic of a number as it is.

You know which racial group is killed by police more than any other?

WHITES. By almost half as much again as the number of blacks. Way out of proportion to the population.

When was the last time you heard about a WHITE kid being shot in the media?

They report the shootings of black kids cause it inflames black America, but you NEVER hear about a Hispanic or White kid being shot, but it happens way more than black kids.

Remember when cops used to hardly ever pull their guns in the line of duty, and if they did, they shot to DISARM, not to KILL. Now, shoot to kill seems to be policy.

In the UK, they don't even carry guns. (Police OR Citizens). Gun control is rampant. That right wing darling MARGARET THATCHER confiscated all the guns when gun control was enacted. Result? USA killed more people in APRIL 2015 (one MONTH) than were shot in the UK during a crime in the last ONE HUNDRED YEARS.

originally posted by: johnwick
a reply to: wasaka

The greatest form of sensorship is the omission- mark twain.

If they don't report them, they aren't recorded and can't be pointed out.

I wonder why they choose not to report them....

Can you/did you not read the report?

Many localities do not report Police Killings that are justifiable.

originally posted by: babybunnies
You know which racial group is killed by police more than any other?

WHITES. By almost half as much again as the number of blacks. Way out of proportion to the population.

When was the last time you heard about a WHITE kid being shot in the media?

They report the shootings of black kids cause it inflames black America, but you NEVER hear about a Hispanic or White kid being shot, but it happens way more than black kids.

Remember when cops used to hardly ever pull their guns in the line of duty, and if they did, they shot to DISARM, not to KILL. Now, shoot to kill seems to be policy.

In the UK, they don't even carry guns. (Police OR Citizens). Gun control is rampant. That right wing darling MARGARET THATCHER confiscated all the guns when gun control was enacted. Result? USA killed more people in APRIL 2015 (one MONTH) than were shot in the UK during a crime in the last ONE HUNDRED YEARS.

This is an age old and pointless argument.

You know who else doesn't arm some of their police?

France.

Maybe you should go watch the Charlie Hebdo shootings and watch terrorists execute a Paris "Police" Officer who was not armed. How many people died from that? Then check out Garland TX. One cop was wounded and two terrorists were dead on scene, they weren't given the chance to go on a killing spree after the fact.

originally posted by: babybunnies
You know which racial group is killed by police more than any other?

WHITES. By almost half as much again as the number of blacks. Way out of proportion to the population.

Not at all disproportionate to the population. Caucasions make up 78% of the population in the U.S. At twice the shooting rates of blacks by American police.

When was the last time you heard about a WHITE kid being shot in the media?

Do you have a citation for a demographic breakdown by race and age? Just because caucasiins in general are shot at nesrly twice the numbers doesn't mean thst there is necessarily a higher proportion of caucasion minors vs. adults compared to blacks. The most recent police shooting i had read about was a white, male, adult. This doesnt mean the media doesnt sensationalize and blur reporting but it also doesnt mean the statistic hou allude to is true either.

They report the shootings of black kids cause it inflames black America, but you NEVER hear about a Hispanic or White kid being shot, but it happens way more than black kids.

Please cite the figures for that.

Remember when cops used to hardly ever pull their guns in the line of duty, and if they did, they shot to DISARM, not to KILL. Now, shoot to kill seems to be policy.

Police never shot to disarm. Firing a service weapon in a high stress situation with adrenaline coursing through your body is not like watching some trick shot artist in an action flick. Shooting to hit your target period is hard enough when police grt very little practice at the firing range. Shooting to disarm is going to out you in a situation where its more likely thst you will hit a bystander than your target. But I digress... They have never shot to disarm, they shoot to survive and thst means center mass in your target. Its what they're trained for and its the largest and easiest target to hit if you want to end a threat quickly and come back the next day.

In the UK, they don't even carry guns. (Police OR Citizens). Gun control is rampant. That right wing darling MARGARET THATCHER confiscated all the guns when gun control was enacted. Result? USA killed more people in APRIL 2015 (one MONTH) than were shot in the UK during a crime in the last ONE HUNDRED YEARS.

How did thst eork out in France where the set up is quite similar? Not so hot eh?