PHOTO/SARAH JANE RHEE
The police in the United States kill an average of 2.8 adult men a day, according to a recent study by a Cornell University researcher, Frank Edwards, who said the government’s own data tell just half the story.
Edwards said the police are responsible for about 8 percent of all U.S. homicides of adult males, according to an online article in the Cornell Chronicle.
The Cornell researchers identified 6,295 adult male victims of police homicide between Jan. 1, 2012, and Feb. 12, 2018. The average was about 1,028 deaths per year, or 2.8 deaths per day.
By race and/or identity, 2,993 were white, 1,779 were black, 1,145 were Latino, 114 were Asian/Pacific Islander, and 94 were American Indian/Alaska Native, according to Edwards.
By region, 17 percent of the homicides were in the Mountain States, but only 5 percent in the Middle Atlantic states. Ten percent were in predominantly rural areas while only 7 percent were in large urban areas.
On the other hand, black men were killed by police at a rate of at least 2.1 per 100,000 population, Latino men at a rate of at least 1.0 per 100,000, and white men at least 0.6 per 100,000.
In short, more white men were killed than minority men, but the minorities were killed at a much higher rate than the whites. Edwards’ report did not specifically explain that paradox.
As for the gap between official government data and independent research, he pointed out that: “Police departments are not required by law to report deaths that occur due to officer action and may have strong incentives to be sensitive with data due to public affairs and community relations. Effectively, we don’t know what’s happening if all we look at is the official data,” he said.
Edwards said that deaths of men by police use of force is more common than officially stated. He reaffirmed that structural racism, racialized criminal-legal systems, anti-immigrant mobilizations and racial politics all likely play a role in explaining where police killings are most frequent and who is most likely to be a victim.
In the Cornell Chronicle article, Edwards said that deaths of men by police use of force is more common than officially stated. He reaffirmed that structural racism, racialized criminallegal systems, anti-immigrant mobilizations and racial politics all likely play a role in explaining where police killings are most frequent and who is most likely to be a victim. The data also revealed that police killings are occurring throughout the county, including in rural areas.
In an era when good paying jobs are a thing of the past, and where more and more workers are becoming destitute, workers are becoming threat to the rule of the billionaires because billionaires will not provide for workers they do not need. America’s ruling elite has turned to violence as a means of control Who will be next? We all must join the life or death fight to stop all police killings and bring the police under the control of the people.
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