George Floyd’s May 25 murder at the hands of the Minneapolis police caught the world’s attention, triggering global protests and shining a light on violent police departments in the U.S.
Violence against Black men and women by white authorities is foundational to the U.S. and continues to influence its policing culture to this day, The Guardian reported.
This propensity for violence against Black people goes way back in U.S. history “Precursors to modern-day American police departments include violent slave patrols utilized in southern states before the civil war, then the legal enforcement of racist Black Codes, followed by Jim Crow laws.”
Violence by authorities against Black people continued generation after generation. Research shows that about 1,000 civilians are killed each year by U.S. law-enforcement officers. Black men are 2.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by police during their lifetime, according a 2019 estimate from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
A 2015 study found that Black people who were fatally shot by police seemed to be twice as likely as white people to be unarmed.
“We have enough evidence that tells us that action needs to be taken,” said Justin Nix, a criminologist at the University of Nebraska Omaha, according to a Nature interview. “One thousand deaths a year does not have to be normal.”
Mapping Police Violence, a project to track killings by police, collected and analyzed data from police departments around the country. It ranked them according to which police departments are most and least likely to kill people. The data used was from January 2013 through December 2019.
Key findings include:
Here are the 10 most violent police departments in America.
Total population of jurisdiction (2018 Census): 242,633
Total people killed by police department: 14
Average annual rate of killings by police: 8.2
Black population: 6,141
Black people killed by police department: 3
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 69.8
Black people were killed at 18.1 times the rate of white people.
Total population of jurisdiction: 481,417
Total people killed by police department: 28
Average annual rate of killings by police: 8.3
Black population: 138,205
Black people killed by police department: 17
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 17.6
Black people were killed at 4.7 times the rate of white people.
Total population of jurisdiction: 363,550
Total people killed by police department: 22
Average annual rate of killings by police: 8.6
Black population: 56,073
Black people killed by police department: 9
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 22.9
Black people were killed at 3.7 times the rate of white people.
Total population of jurisdiction: 375,699
Total people killed by police department: 24
Average annual rate of killings by police: 9.1
Black population: 26,238
Black people killed by police department: 3
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 16.3
Black People were killed at 2.9 times the rate of white people.
Total population of jurisdiction: 275,690
Total people killed by police department: 18
Average annual rate of killings by police: 9.3
Black population: 67,069
Black people killed by police department: 9
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 19.2
Black people were killed at 4.6 times the rate of white people.
Total population of jurisdiction: 402,223
Total people killed by police department: 27
Average annual rate of killings by police: 9.6
Black population: 60,509
Black people killed by police department: 7
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 16.5
Black people were killed at 1.8 times the rate of white people.
Total population of jurisdiction: 1,610,071
Total people killed by police department: 111
Average annual rate of killings by police: 9.8
Black population: 105,439
Black people killed by police department: 15
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 20.3
Black people were killed at 2.5 times the rate of white people.
Total population of jurisdiction: 214,804
Total people killed by police department: 15
Average annual rate of killings by police:10.0
Black population: 4,474
Black people killed by police department: 1
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 31.9
Black people were killed at 3.6 times the rate of white people.
Total population of jurisdiction: 637,284
Total people killed by police department: 48
Average annual rate of killings by police:10.8
Black population: 91,853
Black people killed by police department: 24
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 37.3
Black people were killed at 6.4 times the rate of white people.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.
Total population of jurisdiction: 311,273
Total people killed by police department: 40
Average annual rate of killings by police: 18.4
Black population: 145,696
Black people killed by police department: 36
Average annual rate of killings of Black people by police: 35.3
Black people were killed at 11.1 times the rate of white people.
