We Need To Bust Some Myths About Police Killings.

[Nevilledog]

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Jay Kuo
@nycjayjay
We can’t solve a problem that we haven’t understood correctly. Read my latest piece, busting three common myths about police killings. https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/we-need-to-bust-some-myths-about?r=1zr8b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy…
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https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/we-need-to-bust-some-myths-about


Police shootings are on a lot of minds today following the homicide of 20-year old Daunte Wright at the hands of the Brooklyn Center police in Minnesota, just 10 miles from where George Floyd was killed. Because police database records across the country tend to underreport cases, independent press and think tank efforts got underway years ago, following the turmoil in Ferguson, to accurately track what is happening with these killings. The statistics are sobering and important because they dispel several common myths. I’ll discuss three today.

Myth 1: Most victims were involved in a violent incident.

There is a tendency to see homicides that occur at the traffic stops, mental health crises and misdemeanor offenses as aberrations, the inevitable result of the need for police to maintain readiness and use force in the face of a violent and dangerous criminal environment. It surprises many to learn that a solid majority of police killings occur in non-violent settings.

Of the 1,127 police killings that took place in 2020, 58% of them began as non-violent incidents, according to the Mapping Police Violence project. Nearly 20 percent of them involved routine traffic stops or mental health interventions, and another 15 percent or so began as non-violent domestic disturbances. Another 20 percent fell under other non-violent offenses. Here is a chart from Axios of how the 2020 police killings broke down:

Given these statistics, it’s unsurprising that police encounters generate trepidation and fear in minority communities. A routine traffic stop, which according to his mother is what Daunte Wright believed was happening to him, could end in death. Every family crisis that escalates is a roll of the dice if the police become involved in any way.

*snip*

[soothsayer]

1. Beat me by that much! It's an eye opener

[Klaralven]

2. What is a "non-violent domestic disturbance"?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. When people are yelling at each other and someone calls the cops.

It's a cop term, so it could also be an admin term they use when it's not clear if anyone was injured before they got there.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. It's no secret that cops bring violence with them. The threat of state violence is their power.

[wellst0nev0ter]

5. Kicked and recced

Must be signal boosted

[stillcool]

6. thanks...bookmarked for later.

[crickets]

7. K&R for visibility.

[Arazi]

8. Important addition to the conversation. Thank you. Rec

[flotsam]

9. Jat Kuo is a good "follow"...N/T