Mapping Police Violence
In 2019, police killed 1,098 people in the United States. This map is a visual representation of each of those killings. Black people were 24% of those killed, despite being only 13% of the population.
The above map is from Mapping Police Violence. You can view their full dataset here.
Presentation Resources
Information from the Legal Information Institute from Cornell Law School
Provides a plain text overview, illustrative case law examples, and further reading.
Police shootings database 2015-2021
from the Washington Post
from the FBI
National use-of-force data is voluntarily submitted to the FBI by participating law enforcement agencies
Philando Castile family settles lawsuit with city for $3M
from USA Today
Minneapolis approves "historic" $27 million settlement with George Floyd's family
from CBS News
Online Resources
Qualified Immunity's Role in Police Accountability by Gene Denby
From NPR Code Switch
"Effectively, qualified immunity means that government officials like police officers can only be held accountable in civil court for violating a person's rights if those rights are 'clearly established' in already-existing case law... To help us understand how qualified immunity shapes the criminal justice system, we spoke with Josie Duffy Rice, who's been thinking about the doctrine's history and influence for a long time."
Scholarly article published in the Lancet in 2018
The study sought "to estimate the causal impact of police killings of unarmed black Americans on self-reported mental health of other black American adults in the US general population." The researchers found that "police killings of unarmed black Americans have adverse effects on mental health among black American adults in the general population."
Investigative journalism article from The Marshall Project and Five Thirty Eight
"As the country has witnessed episode after episode of police abuse, holding police officers accountable for misconduct has become an urgent issue. But despite increased attention, it’s still rare for police officers to face criminal prosecution. That leaves civil lawsuits as victims’ primary route for seeking legal redress and financial compensation when a police encounter goes wrong. The resulting settlements can be expensive for the city, which is generally on the hook for the payouts (meaning ultimately, most are subsidized by taxpayers), and those costs can encourage cities to make broader changes... [however] shoddy, confusing, or incomplete record-keeping combined with a host of other local factors to make it nearly impossible for us to conclude if anything was changing in any given city—much less whether those shifts were for better or worse. Those problems, in turn, mean that it’s very difficult to know which cities are more successfully reducing police misconduct than others, and how the burden on taxpayers is shifting as a result."
Books
Black and Blue by Call Number: 363.2 P37bISBN: 9781633882577Publication Date: 2017Recent police killings of Black civilians "are just the latest examples of the long-standing rift between law enforcement and people of color in the United States. In this book, the author provides unbiased facts, statistics, and perspectives from both sides of the community-police divide." - (from publisher's description)
The Use and Abuse of Police Power in America by Call Number: 363.23 U84ISBN: 9781440843723Publication Date: 2017"This book provides an investigation of how U.S. law enforcement carries out its public safety and crime fighting mandates. It provides a single-volume, go-to source for insight into police-citizen relations in the United States, from the 17th century through to today. It documents major turning points and historical events influencing the evolution of police power." - (from publisher's description)
Blackhood Against the Police Power by Call Number: 363.232 W89ISBN: 9781611863185Publication Date: 2019"This book addresses the punishment of "race" and the disavowal of sexual violence central to the contemporary "post-racial" culture of politics. Here the author asserts that the post-racial presents an antiblack animus that should be read as desiring the end of blackness and the black liberation movement's singular ethical claims. The book explores these lines of inquiry to pinpoint how the history of racial slavery wraps itself in a new discourse of disavowal. In this way, the book responds to a range of tests, policies, practices, and representations complicit with the police power." - (from publisher's description)
When Police Kill by Call Number: 363.232 Z76ISBN: 9780674972186Publication Date: 2017"This book provides an analysis of the use of lethal force by police in the United States and how its death toll can be reduced. The author compiles data to provide a comprehensive picture of how, when, where, and why police resort to deadly force. Of the 1,100 killings in the United States in 2015, he shows, 85 percent were fatal shootings and 95 percent of victims were male. The death rates for African Americans and Native Americans are twice their share of the population." (from publisher's description)
Support Resources
These resources are explicitly designed for non-white people, including Black people, Native folks, and other people of color.
Support Resources for People of Color & Native Folks - This LibGuide from Simmons University has many resources for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. There are sections on practicing self care, coping strategies, and community education & support.
13 Inclusive Therapy and Mental Health Resources for BIPOC - From Buzzfeed. "While many people are protesting against police brutality and in support of Black Lives Matter, the events can take a much harder toll on BIPOC. At the same time, it's not always easy to find affordable or accessible therapy or mental health resources, let alone ones that feel intersectional and inclusive. Whether you're looking for emotional support or professional help, here are some things to try."