Perhaps, Data Speaks Louder Than Words

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.

Benjamin Franklin

I hope this is true. And I hope the time is now. Wasn’t it 6 years ago that we were outraged by the death of Eric Garner? Tamir Rice? Michael Brown?

The narrative back then was just as insensitive. We asked, ‘How do we reduce the deaths caused by police?’ What kind of question is that? The response back then was to provide more diversity training and body cameras.

But nothing has changed. We just have more video coverage to feed our outrage.

The New York Times ran a graphic that showed that the number of police killings have been over 1,000 per year for at least the last 6 years. I searched for their source and was brought to a site which maintains the database.

https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/

There’s compelling information on the state of our society here. Be sure you read the ‘About’ section to get a complete understanding of how the data is collected. I will leave you to your own conclusions.

The interactive map shows 2019 police killing incidents. The search function is by City. The pinpoints provide further information. There is also a sharable link.

Let me know your thoughts.

Take care… and don’t forget to wash your hands.

JV