Young black men killed by US police at highest rate in year of 1,134 deaths

Final total of people killed by US police officers in 2015 shows rate of death for young black men was five times higher than white men of the same age

www.theguardian.com|Ciara McCarthy

Young black men were nine times more likely than other Americans to be killed by police officers in 2015, according to the findings of a Guardian study that recorded a final tally of 1,134 deaths at the hands of law enforcement officers this year.

Despite making up only 2% of the total US population, African American males between the ages of 15 and 34 comprised more than 15% of all deaths logged this year by an ongoing investigation into the use of deadly force by police. Their rate of police-involved deaths was five times higher than for white men of the same age.

Paired with official government mortality data, this new finding indicates that about one in every 65 deaths of a young African American man in the US is a killing by police.

“It would appear that police officers are often confronting people who are armed, non-compliant and threatening,” said David Klinger an associate professor of criminology at the University of Missouri-St Louis.

The extensive demographic detail gathered as part of the study also shed light on the diverse set of people who died during confrontations with law enforcement. The group ranged in age from six-year-old Jeremy Mardis, in Marksville, Louisiana, to 87-year-old Louis Becker in Catskill, New York. Officers killed 43 people who were 18 years old and younger.

Mental health crises contributed directly to dozens of police-involved deaths. In at least 92 cases that led to fatalities this year, police had been alerted over a suicidal person or someone who was harming him- or herself. In 28 other deadly incidents, relatives or associates later said that the person killed had been suicidal before they died.

Of 29 military veterans who were killed by police in 2015, at least eight were said to have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following their service. In all, mental health issues were reported in relation to 246 people killed by police this year – more than one in every five cases. On at least eight occasions, the death was officially ruled a suicide, prompting claims from relatives that officers were escaping scrutiny.

In all, 89% of deaths by police in 2015 were caused by gunshot, 4% were Taser-related, 4% were deaths in custody following physical confrontations and 3% were deaths of people struck by police officers driving vehicles.

The new rules for black people in America

qz.com

Michael Brown. Eric Garner. Tamir Rice. This affects all of us. All of us.

Black people are supposed to fight to be considered human.

Black people are supposed to fight to have our deaths matter.

Black people are supposed to fight to make it so that if we are strangled to death or our 12 year olds are shot while unarmed in front of millions of viewers, it should be considered a violation of the law.

Black people are supposed to fight legally, using the channels that declare these killings “not that bad”  in the first place.

Black people are not supposed to disrupt traffic, or group together in public spaces.

Black people are not supposed to inconvenience Christmas shoppers.

Black people are not supposed to get angry.

Black people are not supposed to mess up property.

Black people are not supposed to yell.

Black people are not supposed to get emotional.

...

Black people are not supposed to be social justice warriors.

Black people are not supposed to demonstrate during sporting events.

Black people are not supposed to use our hard won positions of power to express our true frustrations or fears.

Black people are not supposed to help each other.

...

Black people are not supposed to say “Black people” too much.

...

Black people are supposed to complete feats of incredible athleticism.

Black people are supposed to invent clothes, music, culture, slang, and styles that everyone can adopt and make money from.

Black people are supposed to entertain and crack jokes.

...

Black people are not supposed to say that Black Lives Matter.

Black people are supposed to be like Martin Luther King. But only the paper version preserved in mythology. Not the version who was angry and ready to fight, not the version who understood why riots are necessary. Not the version that had a PhD and was wearing a suit with his pants pulled all the way up and got shot in the face anyway.

Black people are supposed to solve the problem of racism ourselves in a way that is comfortable for everyone else.

Black people are supposed to do it alone.

Black people are supposed to recognize that only a small percentage of white people are avowed racists.

Black people are supposed to recognize that only a small percentage of white people are avowed anti-racists.

Black people are supposed to wonder where everyone else stands.

Black people are supposed to get over slavery.

Black people are supposed to get over lynchings.

Black people are supposed to get over Jim Crow.

Black people are supposed to get over COINTELPRO.