‘Thousands of Police Killings Are Unreported’
...the title of Margaret Kimberly’s Oct. 6, 2021 column. A few moths ago I’d emailed Ms. Kimberly, the man who handles readers comments (Choudray?), and Glen Ford (November 5, 1949 – July 28, 2021, Rest in Power), to ask why the content was no longer labeled Create Content at the bottom. Only brother Glen had responded, and was quite baffled about my question. I explained that for some reason, the content never ended, but kept scrolling and scrolling, as in: there IS no bottom. He finally wrote back to consider it all free to publish, bless his ailing heart.
I’ll take him at his word, given the significance of this news.
“Police killings of Black people are a feature of American law enforcement and they are deliberately under counted.
The New York Times and other outlets report that most police killings in this country are “mislabelled .” The sanitized language is worse than an understatement because it implies that these murders are categorized improperly due to ordinary human error. In fact, there is a long and sordid history of covering up these crimes. The initial coroner’s report for George Floyd, whose murder was witnessed by millions of people, reported drug use and underlying health conditions as the causes of death.
According to a report in the Lancet , between 1980 and 2018 police in the U.S. killed an estimated 30,800 people. This number is 17,000 more than reported by the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), which is a misclassification rate of 55%. The deaths of Black people are the most likely to be undercounted, with 5,670 deaths missing out of an estimated 9,540.
It isn’t hard to see how this happens. Coroners are part of the law enforcement system and work closely with the police and prosecutors. Even if they are dedicated to telling the truth they are often pressured to do otherwise when police, their colleagues, are the perpetrators.
Not only have half of all these deaths gone unreported, but this new data once again comes from groups dedicated to keeping track of these crimes, and not from any governmental source. The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement’s 2012 Operation Ghetto Storm report was the first to inform the public about the toll of police violence. It was through Operation Ghetto Storm that we learned a Black person is killed by police, private security, or vigilantes every 28 hours. Yet even this groundbreaking effort didn’t capture the full toll.
Thanks to Fatal Encounters , Mapping Police Violence , and the Guardian’s project The Counted , we have a fuller idea of the scope of police violence and how it is routinely swept under the rug. There is still no centralized government database of police killings. While their contributions are valuable, private citizens and the media should not be doing the job of the Justice Department. No one should have to guess how often the police kill when there is a federal agency charged with enforcing the law.
Then again, the law is the problem. All talk of reform and corrections and rehabilitation are farcical in a country dedicated to the use of brute force against Black people. The issue of under-reported police killings demonstrates the systemic injustice of law enforcement, which is dedicated to keeping Black people under physical control.
So great is the imperative to justify the killings that medical examiners often collude with the cops in their cover up schemes. In 47 documented cases, medical examiners falsely claimed that sickle cell trait (SCT) was the cause of death for Black men killed during police encounters. SCT is not a disease. It is a benign genetic condition that is not associated with decreased life expectancy. The President of the American Society of Hematology publicly stated, “The use of sickle cell trait to cover up the deaths of Black people while in police custody is abhorrent and has no scientific or medical merit.” Black lives don’t matter to the state or even to the medical community if telling the truth becomes inconvenient.
Discussions about policing must not skirt around what is undeniable. Anti-Black racism permeates every sector of society and guarantees everything from job discrimination to police killings and extensive efforts to cover up the crimes.
As a result of this corruption, medical examiners, prosecutors, and politicians never pay a price for their role in hiding the criminality. Former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and that city’s lawyers forced Laquan McDonald’s family to hide the video which showed how he was killed as a condition of being compensated $5 million for his wrongful death. The deal was done the day after Emanuel won a close primary race in 2016. He has faced no repercussions for his actions and was recently confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to Japan.
Systemic racism, official collusion, and the lack of a consistent and strong movement ensure that the death toll will be high and the likelihood of justice will remain low. These new reports of hidden killings are important and are to be commended. But they must be the basis for forcing radical changes in policing and to punishing all those who aid and abet. If that is not the case, there will be endless exhortations to “say their names” without any hope of seeing justice done."
When I’d reported on Operation Ghetto Storm (130 pages long; 29 are text, photos, and graphics, Memorial pages. The remaining pages are charts identifying the dead with photos, locations, armed or not, mental health issues, self-medicating issues or not, police report claims and alleged circumstances, then additional comments pertaining to dissenting eye-witness claims, investigations yielding X effects or ongoing ones, etc.) at My.Firedoglake on April 24, 2013, as I recall, there were few, if any comments. As in: it depend on one’s perception, as in the following:
Trévon Austin’s 1 October 2021 coverage of the news at wsws.org is lengthy and excellent, but differs as to reportage:
“The national media and the Democratic Party frame police violence as a purely racial issue. Following the sentencing of former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin, President Joe Biden claimed the murder of George Floyd “ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see the systemic racism” imbedded in American society.
The “race, not class” mythology of police killings has been incessantly promoted by the Democratic Party and its political satellites. Regardless of a victim’s skin color, the epidemic of police violence in America devastates families and impacts entire communities. However, this is not how police brutality is presented in the national media.
Austin also pithily notes:
“The new study provides a clearer picture of the issue of police violence in the United States. However, it does not fully account for the real social toll. What’s missing from this report is the untold number of victims that are brutalized by police but survive the physical and emotional scars bore by the victims and their families and the immeasurable suffering inflicted on families and communities that lose a loved one at the hands of police.”
“Researchers discovered the top five states with the highest underreporting rates were Oklahoma, Wyoming, Alabama, Louisiana and Nebraska. The states with the highest mortality rate of police brutality were Oklahoma, Washington D.C., Arizona, Alaska, Nevada and Wyoming. Additionally, the paper found that men are killed by police at significantly higher rates than women, with 30,600 police-involved deaths recorded among men and 1,420 among women between 1980 and 2019, a difference of over 2,000 percent.”
Comments
Gee Whiz, Wendy, this is beyond awful...
hair on the back of the neck raising... but also not surprising.
Thank you so much for sharing it!
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
yes, abominable but unsurprising.
i guess that 'killed by police while in custody' is a wide brush, but to me it's: while in jail or a police station', a very long list, including sandra bland, marvin booker, street preacher of MKL's teachings) in the denver PD (he'd gone back to retrieve his only pair of shoes).
but it could also mean folks like kelly thomas in fullerton, ca, homeless, schizophrenic, beat to death by cops.
just in the past several months, police gunned down three autistic males, largely due to the fact that 'they didn't follow police orders'. they were unable to, of course.
i'd barely glanced at the Guardian's the counted (2016 2017?), but iirc, eric garner (choked to death for selling 'loosies' on the sidewalk) was one who was 'mislabeled'.
i'll offer that wsws always says that it's 'class not race', but various BAR authors have offered black po-po for black communities; i disagree), but glen had finally had asked for 'community policing'. in ABQ citizen review boards went...nowhere.
thanks for reading, caring, and commenting, amiga.
Yah as the phrasing goes.
While I am not surprised, I still am shocked. Not too long ago, a drug addict died in the county jail because the guards and medical staffed refused/ignored his pleas for help. Of course the death was in no way called negligent manslaughter. The worst that happened was that the sheriff refused to renew the contract with the medical company responsible for prisoner health.
how tragic;
and how avoidable. of course no one will ever know if the po-po on guard meant for him to die r were too lazy to get off their asses to check (yes, i'm a cynic by now).
more death in custody. jeezum crow.
Not sure if you have linked to this but I find it revealing.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/qualified-immunity-police-lobbyi...
illuminating,
and too many disgusting an disturbing examples past the ten-yr-old boy and in aurora, co elijah mcclain. i couldn't find any mention of the reason he wore a ski-mask regularly, but here's his wiki entry, the poor kid. it notes that his final words were:
myownself, i tend to agree with this sentiment by and large: Fuck the Police. goddam.
Imagine when most government jobs are outsourced to the Third
Luckily fully private companies arent subject to GATS rules like ones involving any tax money are. Only the ones that offer the stability public ones did. The entire economy is being restructured along neoliberal ideology. Yes, it really is a coup, but one that has absolutely nothing to do with trump. He was just the cover up, the distraction, from GATS
Police will come from South Africa or the South Pacific. Huge firms that specialize in imprisoning the powerless for profit. The US is the biggest booster. Isnt it skillful how shamelessly the information poor voters are being manipulated into doing the billionaires biddings??
Do the unions know this is happening, it sure sounds like they dont.
This has nothing to do with Trump, We've fallen for the biggest scam in history.
Nobody knows pain until they have betrayed by somebody they thought was their family and paid such a high price for it. It just eats away at you. Maybe people will move to other countries. The cost of living there and here will demand it.
No money, no honey. The developing countries will be where the jobs go.
Yes, they will do this, this is not a joke. Its international law. US workers are too expensive. TPTB want to privatize everything thats public - even police, postal, teaching and public schools.
Every job that involves government spending in the infrastructure bill will be globalized unless its very small (I think $400000 for the entire contract) the total doesn't meet the cost threshold (size of the contract) Read up on how government procurement works.
(especially the meanings of the terms "Most Favored Nation" and "National Treatment"
Thats the plan. This will push US wages down to global norms or lower.
We have to let them bid for and if they are cheaper, and they will be, perform the jobs.
Americans are alleged to expect too much pay. We're (copmpared to other rich nations) undereducated and under skilled. Our expectations are alleged to be unrealistic, especially those of young people. People carry debt and that makes it clear they will want too much money.
What about the temping companies that will. They will have to pay their foreign workers at least a legal US wage, which is currently around $9.00/hr assuming a 40 hour week which is unrealkistic. These companies often are compared to modern slavery. (they are often compared to the kafala system) This is supposed top be the future of work as jobs become scarce.
This is supposed to be the soft of payback to the Third World's (rich dictators and ruling class) for colonialism and for fully rejecting Communism.
A real air of triumphalism rules our new masters in Geneva!
thank you; i've seen you try to extrapolate the future
on GATS, but i admit thatit's a bit beyond my ken.
also videos over 6 minutes are srsly bad for my health, and twice i'v tried, and had major vertigo crashes from which i've never healed. mr. wd got me a small cell phone i adapted to wear around my neck on a ribbon so i can reach him when i wake up from a crash. we call it my 'bra buddy'. ; )
The NY governor has given herself permission
to hire foreign workers to take the nurse's jobs that she fired for not getting vaccinated. She signed an executive order to do just that. For now she’s using the national guard who don’t have to be vaccinated until June 2022. She is also firing teachers and bringing in foreign workers for them too. It’ll be interesting to see how Americans take their jobs being given away. Cops can be replaced with mercenaries too. Again I thought I’d be dead before the crap hit the fan, but no such luck.
Here in the USA arming and funding Israeli genocide and mass murder is perfectly OK, but objecting to it will get you expelled, arrested or deported.
They call it the Justice Department. It makes me laugh.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/576014-doj-wont-pursue-char...
InJustice Departmnt works
for me, amigo. ah...intent...who needs other po-po testilying, or professionals hired to 'Re-enact the crime' for juries: 'See, a split scn decision'...yada, yada.
i know this is mainly about people of color, and quite dated, but it's been the sound track in my heart and mind today, and it still makes me cry:
HELL YOU TALMBOUT-Janelle Monáe & friends
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHIUve8V2zo]
@wendy davis amadou diallo, 41 shots
amadou diallo, 41 shots
bruce springtein's heart-piercing memorial:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBo3haPwwGE]
I guess what I am trying to
I guess what I am trying to explain is that the good things (like jobs that are worth having) that nonwhite Americans and the young think are theirs are promised to other people formally. Not them. Public entities still employ a lot of people but that is supposed to change, if something is subsidized the Indian outsourcing firms consider it their entitlement if they bid cheaper.
Our rich have been milking these promises for easy income for >25 years. They have gotten rich off them. Where will the American displaced people go? Maybe Latin America? Homeless? In law apartments? Maybe if they can find affordable ones) Cost of heating will displace a lot of apartment dwellers too. The wanna-be building flippers, who radiate entitlement to milk apartment buildings they buy for profits by tossing out renters and doing superficial renovations ("tarting them up") are everywhere. Common theme is taking extreme advantage of power inequalities. I cant help but wonder how much the young (who are really getting screwed) will take. Children are increasingly a luxury. These changes are all being pushed by the rich because they know jobs are going away for good and they all want to "get theirs" while they can. After all they own the country, they say.
. Basically the capitalist system has been taking all the value out for the rich and leaving everybody else with nothing. These takers are also endemic throughout the third world. If any debts are owed to the people of thoise former colonies this group must include only the poor and those who lost family members to the misdeeds of countries like the UK, Belgium, france, Germany, Holland, etc. Not us. Also our poor people shouldn't be foprced to give up their jobs for the rich's profits.
those countries they are owed to their poor and not their rich. But their poor dont have the skills for the jobs that are taken from the Americans and the US jobs are vanishing away so the Third World rich rich are willing and ready to pay for them. Ifs the ending of affirmative action, basically. The reversal of racism wasnt supposed to be so transitory. Also, if a New Deal is supposed to happen it shouldnt cancel out the real one.
We can thank Bill Clinton for this signature on the URAA on December 8, 1994 and the creation of the WTO, our new world government in Geneva.
WTO is a scam. One country one vote, no appeal.
. Maybe he should pay the US people what a buyout would be worth for the loss of their once good public jobs. By 2045 the IEEE estimates that unemployment will be the norm in employment in the US.
Machines are just so good at doing more and more jobs.
yes, WTO is a capitalist
wet dream. i remember the WTO 'battle in seattle' long ago. i'd been familiar with GATT, but not GATS. the wiki says that a Gats-watch (2003)exists:
and names some of thee criticisms:
sorry if i blew that, my left eye's a bit dodgy this morning. but i think i hear you now; thanks. it's all like a global version of ALEC. not surprising teflon billy clinton is such a comprador, eh?
Hi Wendy, I'm late to add my comment.
My fair city, Portland, Oregon has been in the media a lot. The history of violence towards people of color (black) and within their communities is long and deep. It is a nasty and especially horrible in one of the US' whitest cities.
There have been some attempts over the years to 'fix' things, but never a comprehensive approach to mental health needs, houselessness and other systemic problems.
Here is an extensive article in The Nation which does a pretty good job of laying out the problems in Portland.
I'll never forget my parents telling us stories about their first few years in Portland: White Trade only signs; Bensen Bubbles for whites only; KKK burning a cross on the convent lawn in 1947 or so at Saint Mary's right near Portland State (a Catholic HS I later went to for my first two years of High School.); My dad a dark Sicilian with wavy black hair who had to put up with references to the Mob, Dego, WOP, and other things including the N-word. He made a good living and better retirement as a public employee.
Later, living in Hood River, I learned about the treatment of Japanese people who had developed the orchards and after internment in WWII, returned to find their farms confiscated. The book 'Stubborn Twig' details the stories of these immigrant families.
Here is the link to the Nation article:
The Past 2 Years Have Left Portland Reeling. What Kind of Recovery Comes Next? Will efforts to rehabilitate Portland’s brand eclipse the tentative steps taken toward real reform? By Zoë CarpenterTwitter
Take care.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
thank you for al the info
White Makes Right, japanee internment all.
your nation link went to the 'subborn twig' again instead, but i was easy enough to find.
i suppose her take as to R v D may be correct in portland, given DT's visits, but this made me laugh:
homelessness is often the collateral damage of High rise Gentrification, and i well remember the stories of the homeless camps there being...demolished, and iirc, the demolition was aided by prisoners earning a buck an hour or something.
in the SW, it's largely first americans who are killed by police or otherwise immiserated.
our adopted black/azteca son was the only identifiably black person here, and he was persecuted in many ways at school 'nigger' on his locker, followed by security (and worse) in stores to the west of us. a friend stopped by the other day and said she didn't really think there was racial bias in this area.
heh; i just remember ed that she told me our friend TK (ute mtn ute sundance chief) told us he'd tried to talk to her at a grocery store. 'Oh,' she said, 'i keep my head down around indians' (or close to that.
but it seems there's always a pecking order: many tribes in the SW kinda feel superior to black-skinned people. go figure.
our son May come to see us this weekend; he lives in NW co on the eastern slope, and is moving right now further north. so i've been trying to get ahead on cooking, and yes, one of his faves....in case he does make it.
it's supposed to snow here on tuesday, and while the bountiful garden, including zillions of flowers) is winding down...
Here’s another terrible story
Young black children were arrested for not breaking up a fight.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-children-were-jailed-for-a-crime-th...
Plus there’s a judge who loves to sentence kids to prison and has a lady cop friend who does the dirty work for her. This cop has 37 complaints against her but she is still in place.
Someone on Twitter said that it’s amazing that kids are expected to break up fights, but cops have no duty to do that.
A few years ago a judge got busted for doing just that and went to prison himself. Hopefully if this judge has done that then she too will be heading there soon. Anyone who abuses their power has no place upholding the law. How many people in high places knew what she was doing and just looked the other way? On kids?
Here in the USA arming and funding Israeli genocide and mass murder is perfectly OK, but objecting to it will get you expelled, arrested or deported.
new crime:
#FailureToStopaFight
Oopsie:
#BlackElementaryStudentsFalToStopaFight.
what an f'ed up county!
remember the videos of horrors that school 'security officers' did to people of color in high schools?
just remembered, i'd seen this title in a newsletter a newsletter: As Many Chicago Schools Remove Cops From Hallways, Data Shows Some Schools Send Kids To Police At Alarming Rates, cbslocal
er...i might not read the rest until later... gawd's blood.
Cops recently put a 5 year old kid in a chokehold
his crime? Singing too loudly in class. A cop can’t handle a 5 year old boy without doing that? BS it’s just cruelty. Mom of course sued and they settled off book.
Here in the USA arming and funding Israeli genocide and mass murder is perfectly OK, but objecting to it will get you expelled, arrested or deported.
jeezum crow;
how sadistic. was it a 'classroom safety officer'? i just checked youtube for the black teen who had on headphones...and the 'officer' flipped over her desk/chair combo and tossed her on her back. 'Obey or else!' but i couldn't find it, but kicked up a hella lot of egregious stories of death and brain death, etc. by school 'security officers'.