A protest in the USA against police violence. Photo: Getty Images
American Black Lives Matter activists Request to disband the police and call the agents “murderers” in a publication Twitter. According to a new census of police violence in the United States, it was at least 2022 1,176 murders committed by law enforcement officials.
That number is the highest in a decade, when experts compiled a database of this type of homicide.
So every month on average some 100 people lose their lives at the hands of the police and according to one study, African Americans are three times more likely to be victims.
deadliest year
A new tally of police violence in the United States shows 2022 was the deadliest year since 2013when the experts started developing the database.
The numbers have increased, but the circumstances under which this violence takes place remain the same. Although 31% of the cases involved a serious situation involving a suspected violent crime, in most cases in 2022, police killed citizens during routine surveillance.
In other words, 11% of the time no crime had been committed, 8% it was all prompted by a traffic violation, 18% there was a report of non-violent crime, and only 11% the police allegedly saw anything that person was with a weapon. Fatal outcomes from routine surveillance are a trend worrisome for organizations fighting police brutality.
Another alarming feature is the persistence of racial differences. 24% of the deaths from police violence in 2022 were African Americaneven though they represent only 13% of the US population. In a historical 2013 census, African Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than whites.
In certain cities like Chicago, where the rate is 25 times higher, inequality is very high. In Minneapolis, the rate is 28 times higher. It is worth remembering that George Floyd was murdered in this city more than two and a half years ago. The case sparked a wave of national protests demanding racial justice and an end to police violence. Despite widespread attention to them and political publicity, the reality is that this violence has increased. It should also be remembered that the police reform bill that bore George Floyd’s name was never approved by the United States Congress.
However, social organizations claim that some progress has been made. For example, more than 340 cities have adopted more restrictive policies on the use of force since 2020, according to the NGO Campaign Zero.
In addition, six states have restricted orders issued by judges that allow police to enter a property without notice, in many cases creating situations that can easily escalate violence.
However, data on police violence they may even be worse than reported. A 2021 study published in The Lancet showed that about half of homicides committed by law enforcement officers go unreported. For this reason, the real number of people murdered by the police could even be double what the investigation reports.
(Taken from RT in Spanish)
On video police violence in the USA