Source: Ole Schwander / Getty
2023 is here and we can only hope that it completely dissociates itself from 2022 where we saw the highest number of people killed by police officers in over a decade at 1,176. According to Yahoo! News, 24% of those people were African-American despite the fact that we are only 13% of the United States population.
The reporting goes on to state some pretty macabre stats like the fact that Black people are killed at a rate 25 times the amount of white folks and even higher in some cities like Minneapolis and Boston.
What makes this even more infuriating, sad, and heartbreaking is that a great many of these deaths happened during non-violent encounters. These aren’t police shootings that happen during robberies, home invasions, or to stop a physical assault. Black folks are more likely to be killed during traffic stops, mental health calls, and police interaction during minor disturbances. None of these should result in a person’s death, however…
At the risk of sounding defeatist, we’re not sure what will change the bloody pattern of policing against Black people in America. Despite the billions of dollars that have been paid to victims’ families over the past several years, the killing is only increasing.
Perhaps the “justice” system should start putting cops in prison for extended sentences and see how they respond to a war against blue crimes.
