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In 2013, users of the social network Reddit began trackingmass shootings in the United States. The effort began atthe Guns Are Cool subreddit, an ironically named group of gun control proponents, that shared articles about shootings in the United States. Brock Weller, a cook in Oregon who was involved in the early evolution of the Tracker, told the online news organization The Trace earlier this year that he became interested in the subject of gun violence after he was held at gunpoint by a man wielding a shotgun in 2008.

Since then, the crowd-sourced Mass Shooting Tracker has become a near-daily source of information about shootings in the United States. It's a crowd-sourced list of all shooting incidents in which four or more people are killed or injured by gunfire, culled mainly from media reports. Reddit users submit mass shooting incidents on the subreddit's page, which then feeds the standalone Tracker website.

As the nation has endured several years of prominent shootings, most recently in San Bernardino, Calif., on Wednesday, the tracker has become a source of data for stories on Wonkblog, including the widely shared calendar to the right, a front-page story in today's New York Times, a top column in the Los Angeles Times, and other media. But it also raised a question about what we define as a mass shooting in the United States - particularly how many people must be harmed or killed - and the differences between regular shootings, mass shootings, mass killings and massacres.

Given that the numbers on the Mass Shooting Tracker come from a mostly anonymous group of pro-gun-control Reddit users, some have asked whether their numbers are biased. The tracker's contributors say that they have been careful when documenting their sources. Each incident in the database is accompanied by at least one link to a local media story reporting on the details of the shooting. They invite users of the data to check their work and report back any problems they find.

And they've been responsive to criticism, too. When gun-rights proponents pointed out that there were two instances of pellet gun shootings in the database, the moderators promptly removed them.

But there's no question that it uses a broader definition than what has been previously understood. For starters, it's important to realize that there has never been one universally accepted definition of a "mass shooting." The government has never even defined "mass shooting" as a stand-alone category.

The FBI used to consider someone a "mass murderer" if they killed four or more people during one event, regardless of weapons used. But starting in 2013, federal statutes defined "mass killing" as three or more people killed, regardless of weapons. And unlike the tracker, the tally doesn't include the killer if he or she is eventually killed by law enforcement or takes his or her own life.

But, according to the tracker's users, that definition has a bit of a problem. It includes non-gun killings, for instance, and it excludes cases in which a lot of people are shot but few of them die.

Earlier this year, a gunman killed two people and wounded nine others during a shooting at a theater in Lafayette, La. Because only two people died, not including the gunman, that incident wouldn't meet the federal definition of a "mass killing" - even though it garnered widespread media attention.

The redditors who started the tracker deliberately wanted to use a broader definition that would capture instances similar to the Lafayette shooting, as well as other multiple-casualty events. So they settled on the definition of four or more people killed or injured.

Some observers, such as independent researcher and gun-rights proponent John Lott, object to the tracker's methodology, because it counts "a lot of shootings where people aren't killed, criminal gangs are involved, and cases take place out of public view." He argues that gang violence and domestic violence spring from different causes than instances in the Colorado Springs, Colo., or San Bernardino shootings, and that they should be considered separately.

"The causes and solutions to drug gang violence are dramatically different than for the vast majority of mass public shootings,where attacks are designed to kill or wound as many people as possible," Lott said in a post on the Crime Research Prevention Center website earlier this year. "Padding the numbers by lumping the two together doesn't make much sense."

Others argue that the use of the tracker's data sends a misleading signal to the public. "Fear is running rampant," criminologist James Alan Fox of Northeastern University said in an email. "The source of the panic rests squarely with the way in which media outlets cover these tragedies, and in this case, the Mass Shooting Tracker that is attracting so much ink."

"I'm not saying four-plus injured isn't important," he added. "But it is certainly not as serious as four-plus killed, or three-plus killed, or even two-plus killed (as in Roanoke). The problem is that we then are dealing with two variables: number of victims and type of victimization."

But the people running the tracker consider their approach a feature, not a bug. If we're looking to wrap our heads around the totality of gratuitous gun violence in this country, the argument goes, it makes sense to consider the many instances of this type of violence that happen behind closed doors or within regions plagued by gun violence. A life lost is a life lost, whether that person lived in the South Side of Chicago or suburban Colorado Springs.

The tracker uses the same definition of mass shooting as the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that tracks firearm injuries and deaths across all categories in the United States, but with one crucial distinction: The tracker includes the attackers in its death tallies if the incident ends in the attacker's death.

"Just because someone commits suicide by cop doesn't mean that the bystanders weren't subjected to an act of violence," one of the tracker's founders told The Trace last month, "or that the cop who pulled the trigger to end the incident won't have to deal with the psychological ramifications of killing another human being."

Other researchers have also been including domestic violence and gang-related shootings as mass shootings for years. Harvard University's David Hemenway said he considers public shootings, domestic violence and gang violence as the three main categories of "mass shooting." He said that in many cases, it makes sense to consider them all together.

Regardless of the cause, "four people are still dead," he said in an interview.

Still, it can be useful to separate the three subcategories. "Last year, overall mass shootings weren't increasing that much," he said. But, "the more public ones were increasing. Those look like they're 'contagious' much more than the intimate partner violence ones."

Jim Bueermann, a former police chief in Redlands, Calif. - the city where the San Bernardino suspects lived - said it doesn't make much sense to distinguish for this purpose between an injury and a death.

"I would submit that sometimes the only difference between a shooting and a murder could be a centimeter, an inch, an unlikely ricochet, whatever," Bueermann, who now is president of the Police Foundation, a kind of think tank for research into effective law enforcement practices, said in an interview. "If we're trying to capture true gun violence in our country, a broader definition [of mass shooting] is probably more useful than a narrow one."
Update: This story has been updated to clarify the relationship between the Guns Are Cool subreddit and shootingtracker.com.

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In 2013, users of the social network Reddit began trackingmass shootings in the United States. The effort began atthe Guns Are Cool subreddit, an ironically named group of gun control proponents, that shared articles about shootings in the United States.

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WHAT THE DATA REALLY SAYS ABOUT POLICE AND RACIAL BIAS

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WHAT THE DATA REALLY SAYS ABOUT POLICE AND RACIAL BIAS

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Posted By:Cheyenne Buchanan
5/5/2017
CRAAP Score:48

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Eighteen academic studies, legal rulings, and media investigations shed light on the issue roiling America.

As the nation reels from a series of high-profile fatal shootings of black men by police officers, many have decried the lack of readily available data on how racial bias factors into American policing. But while it's true that there is no adequate federal database of fatal police shootings (F.B.I. director James Comey has described the lack of data as "embarrassing and ridiculous"), there exists a wealth of academic research, official and media investigations, and court rulings on the topic of race and law enforcement.

The Hive has collected 18 such findings below. This list is not exhaustive, and does not purport to comment on the work of all police officers. It is, rather, merely a digest of the information available at present. Sometimes, studies and investigations reveal evidence of intentional bias; other studies point to broader societal and institutional factors that lead to implicit bias. Taken together, the research paints a picture of a nation where a citizen's race may well affect their experience with police-whether an encounter ends with a traffic stop, the use of police force, or a fatal shooting.

POLICE KILLINGS OF UNARMED AMERICANS

2. An independent analysis of Washington Post data on police killings found that, "when factoring in threat level, black Americans who are fatally shot by police are, in fact, less likely to be posing an imminent lethal threat to the officers at the moment they are killed than white Americans fatally shot by police." According to one of the report's authors, "The only thing that was significant in predicting whether someone shot and killed by police was unarmed was whether or not they were black. . . . Crime variables did not matter in terms of predicting whether the person killed was unarmed."

HOW POLICE DETERMINE WHOM TO STOP

In San Francisco, "although Black people accounted for less than 15 percent of all stops in 2015, they accounted for over 42 percent of all non-consent searches following stops." This proved unwarranted: "Of all people searched without consent, Black and Hispanic people had the lowest 'hit rates' (i.e., the lowest rate of contraband recovered)." In 2015, whites searched without consent were found to be carrying contraband at nearly two times the rate as blacks who were searched without consent.

"African Americans are more than twice as likely as white drivers to be searched during vehicle stops even after controlling for non-race based variables such as the reason the vehicle stop was initiated, but are found in possession of contraband 26% less often than white drivers, suggesting officers are impermissibly considering race as a factor when determining whether to search," the authors wrote. Nearly 90 percent of documented uses of force by the Ferguson Police Department were used on African-Americans, and every documented use of a police canine bite involved African-Americans.

8. A 2015 analysis by The New York Times found that in Greensboro, North Carolina, police officers "used their discretion to search black drivers or their cars more than twice as often as white motorists-even though they found drugs and weapons significantly more often when the driver was white." That pattern held true for police departments in four states. In Greensboro, " officers were more likely to stop black drivers for no discernible reason. And they were more likely to use force if the driver was black, even when they did not encounter physical resistance."

9. A 2013 ruling by a New York Federal District Court judge found that the New York Police Department's "stop and frisk" practices violated the constitutional rights of minority citizens of the city. Between January 2004 and June 2012, the city conducted 4.4 million stops. Eighty-eight percent of those stops resulted in no further action, and 83 percent of the stopped population were black or Hispanic, despite the fact that those minority groups, together, made up just over half of the city's overall population. (The number of stop-and-frisk stops has dropped dramatically since its peak in 2011.)

10. A 2011 investigation by the Justice Department found that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, headed by Joe Arpaio, had "a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos," and that the office also tried to interfere with the department's investigation. The sheriff's office "engages in racial profiling of Latinos; unlawfully stops, detains, and arrests Latinos; and unlawfully retaliates against individuals who complain about or criticize [the office's] policies or practices," the report's authors said. (Arpaio responded by saying, "We are proud of the work we have done to fight illegal immigration.")

RACE AND THE USE OF NONLETHAL FORCE

11. A controversial working paper by Harvard professor Roland Fryer Jr. found that police officers are more likely to use their hands, push a suspect into a wall, use handcuffs, draw weapons, push a suspect onto the ground, point their weapon, and use pepper spray or a baton when interacting with blacks. The study found no evidence of racial bias when it comes to police shootings, but Fryer's methodology has come under criticism. The study relied on police reports, which have been previously shown to be a flawed data set, and its finding on justified shootings focused largely on data from Houston, Texas. (Fryer defended his work, but admitted his research is far from perfect.)

12. A study by the Center for Policing Equity found, as characterized by a preview in The New York Times, that "African-Americans are far more likely than whites and other groups to be the victims of use of force by the police, even when racial disparities in crime are taken into account." The study looked at 19,000 use-of-force incidents between the years 2010 and 2015.

WHEN OFF-DUTY OFFICERS ARE KILLED BY POLICE

FINDINGS ON THE USE OF HANDCUFFS

16. A Stanford study of police practices in Oakland, California, found that officers were disproportionally handcuffing blacks. "Regardless of the area of the city, disproportionate treatment by race was similar and the raw totals were stunning," according to a Washington Post summary of the findings. The Post continues: "2,890 African Americans handcuffed but not arrested in a 13-month period, while only 193 whites were cuffed. When Oakland officers pulled over a vehicle but didn't arrest anyone, 72 white people were handcuffed, while 1,466 African Americans were restrained. " The researchers also found significant differences in the way officers spoke to African Americans: "Using only the words an officer uses during a traffic stop, we can predict whether that [officer] is talking to a black person or a white person" with 66 percent accuracy.

STUDIES THAT FOUND LITTLE OR NO EVIDENCE OF ANTI-BLACK BIAS

17. There are some studies that draw other conclusions. Research by a Washington State University professor found that, while shown video simulations, officers were less likely to shoot unarmed black suspects than unarmed white suspects. They also took an extra 0.23 seconds, on average, before firing on black suspects in the simulations. "We found that officers were slightly more than three times less likely to shoot unarmed black suspects than unarmed white suspects," the researchers noted, while allowing for the possibility that the officers might act differently in live situations, and that the officers may have adjusted their behavior because they were being tested.

18. In a 2007 study, University of Chicago researchers used simulations to compare the abilities of police officers and the general population to determine whether to shoot a target that was flashed before them. The targets featured a mix of armed and unarmed black and white people. While "both samples exhibited robust racial bias in response speed," researchers concluded that "officers outperformed community members on a number of measures, including overall speed and accuracy." The bias related to response speed was found to be anti-black.

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What the Data Really Says About Police and Racial Bias

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Eighteen academic studies, legal rulings, and media investigations shed light on the issue roiling America. As the nation reels from a series of high-profile fatal shootings of black men by police officers, many have decried the lack of readily available data on how racial bias factors into American policing.

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The Raw Videos That Have SparkedOutrage Over Police Treatment of Blacks

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The Raw Videos That Have SparkedOutrage Over Police Treatment of Blacks

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Posted By: Cheyenne Buchanan
5/5/2017
CRAAP Score: 48

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Correction: July 15, 2016

An illustration on Saturday about two years of violent encounters between police and minority Americans misstated the location of one such episode. The shooting of Samuel Debose took place near the University of Cincinnati, not on the campus. (The officer involved, however, worked for the university.)

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police brutality  misconduct and shootings

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The Raw Videos That Have Sparked Outrage Over Police Treatment of Blacks

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Correction: July 15, 2016 An illustration on Saturday about two years of violent encounters between police and minority Americans misstated the location of one such episode. The shooting of Samuel Debose took place near the University of Cincinnati, not on the campus. (The officer involved, however, worked for the university.)

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THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REPORT ON CHICAGO POLICE BRUTALITY IS INFURIATING AND DEEPLY SADDENING

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THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REPORT ON CHICAGO POLICE BRUTALITY IS INFURIATING AND DEEPLY SADDENING

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Posted By: Cheyenne Buchanan
5/5/2017
CRAAP Score:49

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The Department of Justice on Friday released the results of its 13-month investigation into the Chicago Police Department, revealing longstanding patterns of abuse, civil-rights violations, and evidence of unwarranted killings that should shake the conscience of the people of Chicago. With just one week remaining before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and U.S. attorney general Loretta Lynch announced an agreement to address the issues raised in the report, heading off any potential objection from attorney-general nominee Jeff Sessions, who has suggested that law-enforcement officers have been unjustly maligned by the Obama administration and is considered unlikely to continue similar investigations if he is confirmed.

The entire report is available online. Investigators found that officers do not effectively use proven crisis-intervention techniques; that supervisors do not provide sufficient direction "to ensure in lawful and effective policing"; that department policies impede investigations of officer misconduct; that the city's discipline process is toothless and "lacks integrity"; and that the department's data collection and transparency practices are inadequate. It is a picture of a department that does not enforce the law, but frequently operates outside of it.

Perhaps most shocking are findings regarding the Chicago Police Department's use of both non-lethal and deadly force, which is described as being reckless and unconstitutional.

"Our review of C.P.D.'s deadly force practices identified several trends in C.P.D.'s deadly force incidents, including that C.P.D. engages in dangerous and unnecessary foot pursuits and other unsound tactics that result in C.P.D. shooting people, including those who are unarmed," the report reads. "We also saw a trend in dangerous and unnecessary shootings at vehicles and other unsafe tactics that placed officers and others in danger of being shot."

What do those practices mean, in real human terms? Consider the case of a man who was ordered to freeze "because he had been fidgeting with his waistband," as described in the report. Here's what happened next:

"The man ran. Three officers gave chase and began shooting as they ran. In total, the officers fired 45 rounds, including 28 rifle rounds, toward the man. Several rounds struck the man, killing him. The officers claimed the man fired at them during the pursuit. Officers found 26 no gun on the man. However, officers reported recovering a handgun nearly one block away. The gun recovered in the vicinity, however, was later determined to be fully-loaded and inoperable, and forensic testing determined there was no gunshot residue on the man's hands."

That's a description of officers chasing, shooting, and killing an unarmed man. An investigation by Chicago's Independent Police Review Authority "found the officers' actions were justified without addressing the efficacy of the pursuit or the number of shots fired."

The I.P.R.A. did not earn high marks from the Department of Justice. "During subsequent review, almost without exception, officers' reports of these events were accepted at face value, even where there was contrary evidence," the investigators wrote.

There are many other examples. In one case, an officer chased and fired 16 shots at an unarmed man, including 3 fired into the man's back as he lay dying on the ground. (That case resulted in a $4.1 million settlement to the victim's family.) On page 29 of the report, investigators highlight the actions of one officer who needlessly shot and killed at least two unarmed men.

The report also includes basic advice and instructions for the C.P.D., which raise troubling questions about the state of training and the culture within the force. Here's an example: "Shooting at a moving vehicle is inherently dangerous and almost always counterproductive."

A complicating factor for those who claim that policing is largely free of racial bias is the words of officers themselves. As is often the case in such D.O.J. reports, a number of officers-including supervisors-were found to have posted blatantly bigoted comments on social media. From the report:

For example, one officer posted a status stating, "Hopefully one of these pictures will make the black lives matter activist organization feel a whole lot better!" with two photos attached, including one of two slain black men, in the front seats of a car, bloodied, covered in glass. Several C.P.D. officers posted social media posts contain disparaging remarks about Arabs and Muslims, with posts referring to them as "7th century Islamic goat humpers," "Ragtop," and making other anti-Islamic statements. One C.P.D. officer posted a photo of a dead Muslim soldier laying in a pool of his own blood with the caption: "The only good Muslim is a fucking dead one." Supervisors posted many of the discriminatory posts we found, including one sergeant who posted at least 25 anti-Muslim statements and at least 43 other discriminatory posts, and a lieutenant who posted at least five anti-immigrant and anti-Latino statements. Given these statements, our observations and conversations with officers during the course of our investigation, and other publicly available commentary, such as the comments posted anonymously on popular C.P.D. officer blogs, it appears that more C.P.D. officers have made similarly derogatory statements, often without repercussion.

What happens when "overtly racist behavior" is identified? Not much, investigators found: "Even when C.P.D. learns of overtly discriminatory statements, its response reflects a lack of sufficient concern about such conduct." The report cites a case in which the department learned in June 2015 that an officer "called for a race war" on social media. The case was still "pending" a year and a half later-a period in which the officer continued to post "nearly 100 troubling public posts."

This is not the first time the nation has been scandalized by police behavior of this nature. High-profile cases such as the killing of Michael Brown by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri, have prompted D.O.J. investigations into police departments around the country, and often, the findings have been similarly grim. On Thursday, the Baltimore Police Department and the Department of Justice announced a consent decree-an agreement to reform policing-following a 2014 report that the city had settled more than 100 civil suits over allegations of police brutality and other misconduct by law-enforcement officers. In 2016, The Washington Post tallied 963 instances wherein police used lethal force nationally. (The Hive previously compiled 18 academic studies, legal rulings, and media investigations into the question of police and racial bias.)

Sessions, the attorney-general designate, spent much of the week trying to convince his skeptical colleagues that he does not personally harbor sentiments of racial animus, and that he would be an attorney general for all Americans. At the same time, he has criticized the efforts of the Civil Rights Division under President Barack Obama, and has described consent decrees as "one of the most dangerous, and rarely discussed, exercises of raw power."

Some of the agreements reached between the Department of Justice and police departments would continue under a Trump administration, but there is no requirement that the department continue to investigate police abuses of power.

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The Justice Department Report on Chicago Police Brutality Is Infuriating and Deeply Saddening

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The Department of Justice on Friday released the results of its 13-month investigation into the Chicago Police Department, revealing longstanding patterns of abuse, civil-rights violations, and evidence of unwarranted killings that should shake the conscience of the people of Chicago. With just one week remaining before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and U.S.

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posted by:Jawaun Phillips
5-4
craap score: 45

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Gun Control Act of 1968

This Legislation regulated interstate and foreign commerce in firearms, including importation, "prohibited persons", and licensing provisions.

Assassinations and Gun Control

After the assassinations of President John Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Gun Control Act is passed and imposes stricter licensing and regulation on the firearms industry, establishes new categories of firearms offenses, and prohibits the sale of firearms and ammunition to felons and certain other prohibited persons. It also imposes the first Federal jurisdiction over "destructive devices," including bombs, mines, grenades and other similar devices. Congress reorganizes ATU into the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD) and delegates to them the enforcement of the Gun Control Act.

Incorporated Acts of the GCA

Last Reviewed October 21, 2022

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Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

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Gun Control Act of 1968 This Legislation regulated interstate and foreign commerce in firearms, including importation, "prohibited persons", and licensing provisions.

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posted by:jawaun Phillips
5-4
CRaap score 48

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According to the Gun Violence Archive,which compiles data from shooting incidents, a "mass shooting" is any incident in which a gunman ...

shoots or kills four or more people

in the same general time and location

By that definition, according to the Gun Violence Archive, we have seen 307 mass shootings from January 1 to November 5.

That averages to almost 7 mass shootings a week.

Under the narrowest definition ...

The government has never defined "mass shooting" as a standalone category. Let's go with the most commonly accepted definition, from the Congressional Research Service: a shooting in which a gunman ...

kills four or more people

selects victims randomly (ruling out gang killings or the killing of multiple family members)

attacks in a public place

That definition rules out the Congressional baseball practice shooting in June, because the gunman didn't kill four people. In September, a man shot and killed eight people in Plano, Texas -- but that attack doesn't count either because police say the gunman had a "connection to the house."

Using that narrow definition to the Gun Violence Archive numbers, we have seen ten deadly mass shootings from January 1 to November 5.

That averages to one a month.

The five deadliest shootings in the US have occurred in roughly the past 10 years

The Las Vegas attack was the deadliest shooting in modern US history (at least 58 killed), and it's only 10 years removed from the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre (32 killed) and a year removed from the second-deadliest shooting, the Orlando nightclub shooting. November's shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas is now the fifth-deadliest shooting, with at least 26 victims.

In fact, of the 30 deadliest shootings in the United States dating back to 1949, 18 have occurred in the last 10 years.

It's a largely American phenomenon

From 1966 to 2012, nearly a third of the world's mass shootings took place in the United States. A 2016 study looked at 292 incidents in which four or more people were killed. It found 90 of them occurred in America. Put another way: While the United States has about 5% of the world's population, it had 31% of all public mass shootings.

People have a greater chance of dying in mass shootings if they're at school or place of business

According to FBI data from 2013, incidents in schools and businesses represent 7 out of 10 active shootings. Some of the country's most high-profile mass shootings have occurred in those kinds of places: , , Virginia Techand San Bernardino. Overseas, these incidents typically happen near military installations.

Most shooters take their own lives, or are killed

About 70% of active shooter incidents end with the shooter or shooters' deaths, according to the FBI. Unlike a homicide or mass killing, the "active" aspect implies that both law enforcement and citizens have the potential to affect the outcome of the event.

When gun control debates peak, so does demand for guns

FBI data about the number of background checks for gun sales can tell us a lot about the patterns of demand. These patterns tend to rise directly after high-profile mass shootings, when public debates about gun control are high. In recent history, the highest number of background checks carried out in a month was recorded following the San Bernardino shootings in December 2015.

Americans own more guns than citizens of any other country

Civilians in the United States own about 270 million guns, according to a 2007 report by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey. That's enough to arm every adult in the US and still have some weapons left over. And it makes America the No. 1 country in firearms per capita. Also, in more than half the American mass shooting cases, the shooter had more than one firearm. In global incidents, the shooter typically had only one gun.

... and most gun owners say a firearm is essential to their freedom

According to a 2017 Pew study, 74% of gun owners say this right is essential. Only 35% of non-gun owners feel the same way.
This is an updated version of an article that published in June 2016.

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mass shootings in america are a serious problem -- and these charts show just why - cnn

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AJ Willingham and Saeed Ahmed, CNN
Design by Jan Diehm, CNN

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Mass shootings in America are a serious problem -- and these 9 charts show just why

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According to the Gun Violence Archive ,which compiles data from shooting incidents, a "mass shooting" is any incident in which a gunman ... shoots or kills four or more people in the same general time and location By that definition, according to the Gun Violence Archive, we have seen 307 mass shootings from January 1 to November 5.

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posted by:Jawaun Phillips
5-4
craap score:48

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Fatalities: (12 total)
Jonathan T. Blunk, 26
Alexander J. Boik, 18
Air Force Staff Sgt Jesse E. Childress, 29
Gordon W. Cowden, 51
Jessica Ghawi, 24
Petty Officer 3rd Class John Thomas Larimer, 27
Matthew R. McQuinn, 27
Micayla C. Medek, 23
Veronica Moser-Sullivan, 6
Alex M. Sullivan, 27
Alexander C. Teves, 24
Rebecca Ann Wingo, 32

Birth place: San Diego, California

Birth name: James Eagan Holmes

Father: Robert Holmes, a scientist

Education: University of California, Riverside, B.S. in neuroscience, 2010
University of Colorado Anschultz Medical Campus, enrolled in 2011 as a doctoral candidate in its neuroscience program. Withdrew in June 2012.

Police say he bought the guns used in the incident legally at two sporting goods stores --- Bass Pro Shops and Gander Mountain --- and purchased more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition online.

James Holmes purchases a ticket, through an online ticketing agent, for the July 19 midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" at the Century Aurora 16 Multiplex Theater in Aurora, Colorado.

July 19, 2012 - Holmes attends the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" at the Century Aurora 16 Multiplex Theater in Aurora, Colorado. Holmes enters theater #9 but soon exits through a rear door on the right side of the screen, leading to a parking lot. He leaves the door propped open and returns through it, according to a law enforcement source involved in the investigation.

July 20, 2012 - Eighteen minutes into the movie, shortly after midnight, Holmes opens fire into the audience.

Holmes is "dressed head-to-toe in protective gear"- a ballistic helmet, protective gear for his legs, throat and groin, black gloves and a gas mask. He props open the door, before throwing two tear gas canisters into the theater. After both canisters explode, witnesses say he started shooting, first at the ceiling and then at the crowd. Police say he used an AR-15 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and at least one of two .40-caliber handguns police recovered at the scene.

Twelve people are killed and 70 are wounded.

Holmes surrenders to police outside the theater within seven minutes of the first 911 calls, according to Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates.

Five buildings, including Holmes' apartment building at 1690 Paris St., are evacuated after the suspect makes a statement to police about explosives in his unit. According to police, his apartment has been booby trapped with a tripwire at the front door that would have touched off an array of explosives and flammable liquids.

July 21, 2012 - Investigators disarm all the makeshift bombs in Holmes' apartment, using a "controlled detonation" to disable a second triggering device. The explosives removed include more than 30 homemade grenades and 10 gallons of gasoline.

July 23, 2012 - James Holmes makes his first court appearance. He is ordered to be held without bond.

July 25, 2012 - Authorities discover a package in a University of Colorado-Denver mail room apparently sent by Holmes.

August 1, 2012 - Denver station KMGH reports Holmes' psychiatrist, Lynne Fenton of the University of Colorado, told colleagues in June that he could be potentially dangerous to others, but before any action could be taken Holmes began the process of dropping out of the university.

March 27, 2013 - According to court documents, Holmes offers to plead guilty and spend life in prison in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

April 1, 2013 - The district attorney rejects Holmes' offer, announcing that he will seek the death penalty.

May 13, 2013 - Holmes pleads not guilty by reason of insanity.

June 4, 2013 - A judge accepts Holmes' plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Holmes will be taken to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo for evaluation and is expected to be returned to Arapahoe County Jail on August 2.

July 10, 2013 - Attorneys for Holmes file an objection to the judge's ruling that their client must be restrained during the trial, by means of hidden harness anchored to the floor. In the filing, the attorneys concede that Holmes carried out the movie theater attack and say, "Mr. Holmes suffers from a severe mental illness and was in the throes of a psychotic episode when he committed the acts that resulted in the tragic loss of life and injuries sustained by movie goers on July 20, 2012."

August 28, 2013 - Judge Carlos Samour rules that the victims of the shootings will be allowed to watch the trial proceedings despite the possibility they may be called as witnesses.

February 19, 2014 - Judge Samour orders Holmes to undergo an additional sanity examination, saying there was good cause to believe previous testing was "incomplete and inadequate," according to a ruling.

December 19, 2014 - Holmes' parents speak out for the first time in a written statement published by the Denver Post stating they believe the "death penalty is morally wrong, especially when the condemned is mentally ill." They also believe that the attention should now be focused on the "injured and healing" and would like to avoid a "traumatic trial."

January 20, 2015 - Jury selection begins in the trial of accused shooter James Holmes. 9,000 potential jurors have been summoned.

April 14, 2015 - Twelve jurors and 12 alternates are selected. The group includes 19 women and five men. It's almost entirely white and mostly middle-aged.

June 17, 2015 - For the fifth time in eight days, a juror is dismissed, with the judge saying the female juror was not forthcoming about having recognized a witness. Three jurors were dismissed earlier because they reportedly discussed media stories about the case, and one was sent home after she changed her story to the judge about how her brother-in-law was shot in an armed robbery.

June 19, 2015 - The prosecution rests its case, calling as its last witness a victim who survived the movie theater massacre but lost her pregnancy and her small daughter.

July 9, 2015 - Holmes tells the judge that he won't testify.

July 10, 2015 - The defense rests its case.

July 16, 2015 - Holmes is found guilty on all 165 counts against him, making him eligible for the death penalty.

August 7, 2015 - Holmes is sentenced to life in prison without parole when the jury is unable to reach a unanimous sentencing verdict as to whether he would receive the death penalty or life in prison.

August 26, 2015 - A Colorado judge formally sentences Holmes to 12 life sentences, one life term for each person he killed, plus 3,318 years in prison for the attempted murders of those he wounded and for rigging his apartment with explosives. He is not eligible for parole.

December 4, 2015 - Holmes is ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $954,878.95.

May 19, 2016 - A not guilty verdict is returned against Cinemark Cinemas in the theater shooting civil trial. The suit, filed by victims and family members of victims, alleged negligence on the part of the theater, saying it lacked adequate security.

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colorado theater shooting fast facts - cnn.com

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Fatalities: (12 total)Jonathan T. Blunk, 26Alexander J. Boik, 18Air Force Staff Sgt Jesse E. Childress, 29Gordon W. Cowden, 51Jessica Ghawi, 24Petty Officer 3rd Class John Thomas Larimer, 27Matthew R. McQuinn, 27Micayla C. Medek, 23Veronica Moser-Sullivan, 6Alex M. Sullivan, 27Alexander C.

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Stricter state gun laws keep firearms out of hands of youth

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Stricter state gun laws keep firearms out of hands of youth

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posted by:Jawaun Phillips
4-28
Craap Score:48

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The researchers focused on high school-aged teens and found that youth from states with the least restrictive gun laws were more likely to have a gun while outside the home. Among 38 states studied, 5.7% of high school students from states with stricter laws carried a gun in the past 30 days. In states with weaker laws, 7.3% of students carried a gun in that time.

The data on youth came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. Data on gun laws came from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun control advocacy group that scores states on gun laws, such as controls of firearm trafficking, measures to ensure child safety and restrictions on guns in public places. Researchers looked at data from 38 states in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

For every 10-point decrease in a state's gun law score, a teen was 9% more likely to report having carried a gun at least once in the last month.

"We were able to demonstrate for the first time that across all the states (in the study) that gun laws reduce youth gun carrying by limiting or reducing adult gun ownership," said Ziming Xuan, assistant professor of community health services at Boston University School of Public Health. Xuan is the lead author of the study, which was published on Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

Easier access to guns means more teens carrying

The researchers also found that states with low gun control scores were also more likely to have high rates of adults who owned guns; this appeared to be the main reason for the increase in youth carrying guns. Previous research found that about a quarter of U.S. adolescents said they can easily access guns in their home.

The national minimum age to buy a handgun is 18 and some states require people to be 21. Some states also have laws on the minimum age to possess a firearm, but may make exceptions for activities such as hunting and target practice.

Although the study did not address whether fewer teenagers carrying guns could lead to less youth gun violence and death, it is a "reasonable conclusion," Xuan said. Guns are involved in 83% of murders committed by youth and 45% of suicides, according to CDC data.

The states with the lowest scores, meaning least-restrictive gun laws, were Utah (1.3), Alaska, Kentucky and Oklahoma (all 2.0), whereas those with the highest scores -- meaning more restrictive gun laws -- were California (79.7), New Jersey (69.3) and Massachusetts (57.7). The Brady Campaign uses a 100-point scale.

The researchers found an overlap between the states with the lowest scores and those with the highest prevalence of adult gun ownership. For example, in Utah and Alaska, 52% and 63% of adults had guns, respectively, compared with 40% and 29% in California and New Jersey.

Although the study suggests that gun laws indirectly affect teen gun carrying by limiting adult gun ownership, laws that focus on youth gun safety may have direct effects as well, Xuan said. For example, laws that require adults to keep handguns locked or inaccessible to children, and laws that put age restrictions on the purchase of guns, could help, he said.

"The important message in this paper is that gun control really involves comprehensive laws from both dimensions," both to make sure gun ownership among adults is safe and to restrict ownership and use in youth, Xuan said.

Understanding why young people carry guns

Gun laws have less effect on whether some groups of youth carry guns, according to the study: All teens in grades 9 and 10, and black and Hispanic teens. Black and Hispanic teens in particular "deserve very special attention" because of the high rates of gun carrying in those groups, Xuan said.

Finding out why should be the subject of further research, said Michele Cooley-Strickland, research psychologist in the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, who was not involved in the research. "If we understand the why, we can work to prevent it."

The study is a "good first start," she said. But adults are going to continue to own guns, so youth will continue to have a way to get these weapons -- researchers need to determine the reasons that teens want to pick them up in the first place, Cooley-Strickland said.

To answer the question, researchers will need to look at gun culture and attitudes in different areas of the country, she said.

In states such as Wyoming, which has a gun law score of 8.3 and where 66% of adults own guns, children might be more interested in carrying guns for hunting, Cooley-Strickland said. Her research in the Baltimore area, however, suggests that children carry guns, knives and other weapons because they are in high-crime areas and want to protect themselves and their loved ones, she said.

"I think it goes back to the reasons that youth are carrying weapons, and African-American and Hispanic youth are more likely to live in inner city areas in which there's higher violence. ... So these youth might feel more at risk for harm."

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study: stricter state laws keep guns from youth - cnn.com

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Study: Stricter state laws keep guns from youth

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The researchers focused on high school-aged teens and found that youth from states with the least restrictive gun laws were more likely to have a gun while outside the home. Among 38 states studied, 5.7% of high school students from states with stricter laws carried a gun in the past 30 days.

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Posted by:Cheyenne Buchanan
4/27
CRAAP Score:50

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Allegations of the use of excessive force by U.S. police departments continue to generate headlines more than two decades after the 1992 Los Angeles riots brought the issue to mass public attention and spurred some law enforcement reforms. Recent deaths at the hands of police have fueled a lively debate across the nation in recent years.

In a number of closely watched cases involving the deaths of young black men, police have been acquitted, generating uproar and concerns about equal justice for all. On Staten Island, N.Y., the July 2014 death of Eric Garner because of the apparent use of a "chokehold" by an officer sparked outrage. A month later in Ferguson, Mo., the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson ignited protests, and a grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson triggered further unrest. In November, Tamir Rice was shot by police in Cleveland, Ohio. He was 12 years old and playing with a toy pistol. On April 4, 2015, Walter L. Scott was shot by a police officer after a routine traffic stop in North Charleston, S.C. The same month, Freddie Gray died while in police custody in Baltimore, setting off widespread unrest. The policeman in the South Carolina case, Michael T. Slager, was charged with murder based on a cellphone video. In Baltimore, the driver of the police van in which Gray died, Caesar Goodson, was charged with second-degree murder, with lesser charges for five other officers. There have been no indictments in the earlier cases.

These follow other recent incidents and controversies, including an April 2014 finding by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), following a two-year investigation, that the Albuquerque, N.M., police department "engages in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment," and a similar DOJ finding in December 2014 with regard to the Cleveland police department. In March 2015, the DOJ also issued a report detailing a pattern of "clear racial disparities" and "discriminatory intent" on the part of the Ferguson, Mo., police department.

As the Washington Post reported in July 2015, a pervasive problem that is only now beginning to be recognized is the lack of training for officers dealing with mentally ill persons, a situation that can often escalate to violent confrontations.

The events of 2014-2016 have prompted further calls by some police officials, politicians and scholars for another round of national reforms, in order to better orient "police culture" toward democratic ideals.
Two sides, disparate views
Surveys in recent years with minority groups - Latinos and African-Americans, in particular - suggest that confidence in law enforcement is relatively low, and large portions of these communities believe police are likely to use excessive force on suspects. A 2014 Pew Research Center survey confirms stark racial divisions in response to the Ferguson police shooting, as well, while Gallup provides insights on historical patterns of distrust. According to a Pew/USA Today poll conducted in August 2014, Americans of all races collectively "give relatively low marks to police departments around the country for holding officers accountable for misconduct, using the appropriate amount of force, and treating racial and ethnic groups equally." Social scientists who have done extensive field research and interviews note the deep sense of mistrust embedded in many communities.

Numerous efforts have been made by members of the law enforcement community to ameliorate these situations, including promising strategies such as "community policing." Still, from a police perspective, law enforcement in the United States continues to be dangerous work - America has a relatively higher homicide rate compared to other developed nations, and has many more guns per capita. Citizens seldom learn of the countless incidents where officers choose to hold fire and display restraint under extreme stress. Some research has shown that even well-trained officers are not consistently able to fire their weapon in time before a suspect holding a gun can raise it and fire first; this makes split-second judgments, even under "ideal" circumstances, exceptionally difficult. But as the FBI points out, police departments and officers sometimes do not handle the aftermath of incidents well in terms of transparency and clarity, even when force was reasonably applied, fueling public confusion and anger.

In 2013, 49,851 officers were assaulted in the line of duty, with an injury rate of 29.2 percent, according to the FBI. Twenty-seven were murdered that year.
FBI Director: No "reliable grasp" of problem
How common are such incidents of police use of force, both lethal and non-lethal, in the United States? Has there been progress in America? The indisputable reality is that we do not fully know. FBI Director James B. Comey stated the following in a remarkable February 2015 speech:

Not long after riots broke out in Ferguson late last summer, I asked my staff to tell me how many people shot by police were African-American in this country. I wanted to see trends. I wanted to see information. They couldn't give it to me, and it wasn't their fault. Demographic data regarding officer-involved shootings is not consistently reported to us through our Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Because reporting is voluntary, our data is incomplete and therefore, in the aggregate, unreliable.

I recently listened to a thoughtful big city police chief express his frustration with that lack of reliable data. He said he didn't know whether the Ferguson police shot one person a week, one a year, or one a century, and that in the absence of good data, "all we get are ideological thunderbolts, when what we need are ideological agnostics who use information to try to solve problems." He's right.

The first step to understanding what is really going on in our communities and in our country is to gather more and better data related to those we arrest, those we confront for breaking the law and jeopardizing public safety, and those who confront us. "Data" seems a dry and boring word but, without it, we cannot understand our world and make it better.

How can we address concerns about "use of force," how can we address concerns about officer-involved shootings if we do not have a reliable grasp on the demographics and circumstances of those incidents? We simply must improve the way we collect and analyze data to see the true nature of what's happening in all of our communities.

The FBI tracks and publishes the number of "justifiable homicides" reported by police departments. But, again, reporting by police departments is voluntary and not all departments participate. That means we cannot fully track the number of incidents in which force is used by police, or against police, including non-fatal encounters, which are not reported at all.

Without a doubt, training for police has become more standardized and professionalized in recent decades. A 2008 paper in the Northwestern University Law Review provides useful background on the evolving legal and policy history relating to the use of force by police and the "reasonableness" standard by which officers are judged. Related jurisprudence is still being defined, most recently in the 2007 Scott v. Harris decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. But inadequate data and reporting - and the challenge of uniformly defining excessive versus justified force - make objective understanding of trends difficult.

A 2015 report conducted for the Justice Department analyzed 394 incidents involving deadly police force in Philadelphia from 2007-2014. It found that "officers do not receive regular, consistent training on the department's deadly force policy"; that early training among recruits is sometimes inadequate in regard to these issues; that investigations into such incidents are not consistent; and that officers "need more less-lethal options."

For perhaps the best overall summary of police use-of-force issues, see "A Multi-method Evaluation of Police Use of Force Outcomes: Final Report to the National Institute of Justice," a 2010 study conducted by some of the nation's leading criminal justice scholars.
Available statistics, background on use of force

The Justice Department releases statistics on this and related issues, although these datasets are only periodically updated: It found that in 2008, among people who had contact with police, "an estimated 1.4% had force used or threatened against them during their most recent contact, which was not statistically different from the percentages in 2002 (1.5%) and 2005 (1.6%)." In terms of the volume of citizen complaints, the Justice Department also found that there were 26,556 complaints lodged in 2002; this translates to "33 complaints per agency and 6.6 complaints per 100 full-time sworn officers." However, "overall rates were higher among large municipal police departments, with 45 complaints per agency, and 9.5 complaints per 100 full-time sworn officers." In 2011, about 62.9 million people had contact with the police.

In terms of the use of lethal force, aggregate statistics on incidents of all types are difficult to obtain from official sources. Some journalists are trying to rectify this; and some data journalists question what few official national statistics are available. The Sunlight Foundation explains some of the data problems, while also highlighting databases maintained by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The available data, which does not paint a complete national picture, nevertheless raise serious questions, Sunlight notes:

[A]ccording to the CDC, in Oklahoma the rate at which black people are killed per capita by law enforcement is greater than anywhere else in the country. That statistic is taken from data collected for the years 1999-2011. During that same time period, Oklahoma's rate for all people killed by law enforcement, including all races, is second only to New Mexico. However, Oklahoma, the District of Columbia, Nevada and Oregon are all tied for the rate at which people are killed. (The CDC treats the District of Columbia as a state when collecting and displaying statistics.) In Missouri, where Mike Brown lived and died, black people are killed by law enforcement twice as frequently as white people. Nationwide, the rate at which black people are killed by law enforcement is 3 times higher than that of white people.

As mentioned, the FBI does publish statistics on "justifiable homicide" by law enforcement officers: The data show that there have been about 400 such incidents nationwide each year. However, FiveThirtyEight, among other journalism outlets, has examined the potential problems with these figures. News investigations suggest that the rates of deadly force usage are far from uniform. For example, Los Angeles saw an increase in such incidents in 2011, while Massachusetts saw more officers firing their weapon over the period 2009-2013.

The academic community has also provided some insights in this area. A 2008 study from Matthew J. Hickman of Seattle University, Alex R. Piquero of the University of Maryland and Joel H. Garner of the Joint Centers for Justice Studies reviewed some of the best studies and data sources available to come up with a more precise national estimate for incidents of non-lethal force. They note that among 36 different studies published since the 1980s, the rates of force asserted vary wildly, from a high of more than 30% to rates in the low single digits. The researchers analyze Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS) data and Bureau of Justice Statistics Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ) data and conclude that an estimated 1.7% of all contacts result in police threats or use of force, while 20% of arrests do.

A 2012 study in the Criminal Justice Policy Review analyzed the patterns of behavior of one large police department - more than 1,000 officers - and found that a "small proportion of officers are responsible for a large proportion of force incidents, and that officers who frequently use force differ in important and significant ways from officers who use force less often (or not at all)." A 2007 study in Criminal Justice and Behavior, "Police Education, Experience and the Use of Force," found that officers with more experience and education may be less likely to use force, while a review of case studies suggests that specific training programs and accountability structures can lower the use of violence by police departments.

A 2016 working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) came to a conclusion that surprised some observers. Across the U.S., though blacks are 21.3 percent more likely to be involved in an altercation with police where a weapon is drawn, the researchers found no racial differences in police shootings: "Partitioning the data in myriad ways, we find no evidence of racial discrimination in officer-involved shootings. Investigating the intensive margin - the timing of shootings or how many bullets were discharged in the endeavor - there are no detectable racial differences."

Researchers continue to refine analytical procedures in order to make more accurate estimates based on police reports and other data.
Characteristics of suspects
A widely publicized report in October 2014 by ProPublica, a leading investigative and data journalism outlet, concluded that young black males are 21 times more likely to be shot by police than their white counterparts: "The 1,217 deadly police shootings from 2010 to 2012 captured in the federal data show that blacks, age 15 to 19, were killed at a rate of 31.17 per million, while just 1.47 per million white males in that age range died at the hands of police."

Research has definitively established that "racial profiling" by law enforcement exists - that persons of color are more likely to be stopped by police. FBI Director James Comey's 2015 comments are again relevant here:

[P]olice officers on patrol in our nation's cities often work in environments where a hugely disproportionate percentage of street crime is committed by young men of color. Something happens to people of good will working in that environment. After years of police work, officers often can't help but be influenced by the cynicism they feel.

A mental shortcut becomes almost irresistible and maybe even rational by some lights. The two young black men on one side of the street look like so many others the officer has locked up. Two white men on the other side of the street-even in the same clothes-do not. The officer does not make the same association about the two white guys, whether that officer is white or black. And that drives different behavior. The officer turns toward one side of the street and not the other. We need to come to grips with the fact that this behavior complicates the relationship between police and the communities they serve.

While the cases of Rodney King in 1991 and Amadou Diallo in 1999 heightened the country's awareness of race and policing, research has not uniformly corroborated the contention that minorities are more likely, on average, to be subject to acts of police force than are whites. A 2010 paper published in the Southwestern Journal of Criminal Justice reviewed more than a decade's worth of peer-reviewed studies and found that while many studies established a correlation between minority status and police use of force, many other studies did not - and some showed mixed results.

Of note in this research literature is a 2003 paper, "Neighborhood Context and Police Use of Force," that suggests police are more likely to employ force in higher-crime neighborhoods generally, complicating any easy interpretation of race as the decisive factor in explaining police forcefulness. The researchers, William Terrill of Northeastern University and Michael D. Reisig of Michigan State University, found that "officers are significantly more likely to use higher levels of force when encountering criminal suspects in high crime areas and neighborhoods with high levels of concentrated disadvantage independent of suspect behavior and other statistical controls." Terrill and Reisig explore several hypothetical explanations and ultimately conclude:

Embedded within each of these potential explanations is the influence of key sociodemographic variables such as race, class, gender, and age. As the results show, when these factors are considered at the encounter level, they are significant. However, the race (i.e., minority) effect is mediated by neighborhood context. Perhaps officers do not simply label minority suspects according to what Skolnick (1994) termed "symbolic assailants," as much as they label distressed socioeconomic neighborhoods as potential sources of conflict.

In studying the Seattle and Miami police departments, the authors of the 2010 National Institute of Justice report also conclude that "non-white suspects were less likely to be injured than white suspects ... where suspect race was available as a variable for analysis. Although we cannot speculate as to the cause of this finding, or whether it is merely spurious, it is encouraging that minority suspects were not more likely to be injured than whites."
Use of Tasers and other "less lethal" weapons
A 2011 report from the National Institute of Justice, "Police Use of Force, Tasers and Other Less-Lethal Weapons," examines the effectiveness and health outcomes of incidents involving CEDs (conducted energy devices), the most common of which is the Taser. The report finds that: (1) Injury rates vary widely when officers use force in general, ranging from 17% to 64% for citizens and 10% to 20% for officers; (2) Use of Tasers and other CEDs can reduce the statistical rate of injury to suspects and officers who might otherwise be involved in more direct, physical conflict - an analysis of 12 agencies and more than 24,000 use-of-force cases "showed the odds of suspect injury decreased by almost 60% when a CED was used"; and (3) A review of fatal Taser incidents found that many involved multiple uses of the device against the suspect in question.

A 2011 study, "Changes in Officer Use of Force Over Time: A Descriptive Analysis of a National Survey," documents trends in the use of non-lethal force by law enforcement officers (LEAs). The results indicate that CED use has risen significantly (to about 70% of LEAs), while baton use is down to 25% in 2008. "CED use was ranked among the most-used tactics from 2005 to 2008," the scholars conclude. "Excessive-force complaints against LEAs, internally generated, have more than doubled from 2003 to 2008. Officer injuries varied little from 2003 to 2008, but they are still only about half as common as suspect injuries. Also, only 20% of LEAs collect injury data in a database, complicating future research."
Potential impact of body cameras
Video recordings of interactions between the police and the public have increased significantly in recent years as technology has improved and the number of distribution channels has expanded. Any standard smartphone can now make a video - as was the case in the Walter L. Scott shooting - and dash-mounted cameras in police cars have become increasingly common.

The mandatory adoption of body cameras by police has been suggested to increase transparency in interactions between law-enforcement officials and the public. A 2014 study from the U.S. Department of Justice, "Police Officer Body-Worn Cameras: Assessing the Evidence," reviews available research on the costs and benefits of body-worn camera technology. The author, Michael D. White of Arizona State University, identified five empirical studies on body cameras, and assesses their conclusions. In particular, a year after the Rialto, Calif., police deparment began requiring all officers to wear body cameras, use of force by officers fell by 60% and citizen complaints dropped by nearly 90%. The searcher notes:

The decline in complaints and use of force may be tied to improved citizen behavior, improved police officer behavior, or a combination of the two. It may also be due to changes in citizen complaint reporting patterns (rather than a civilizing effect), as there is evidence that citizens are less likely to file frivolous complaints against officers wearing cameras. Available research cannot disentangle these effects; thus, more research is needed.

The studies also noted concerns about the cost of the required devices, training and systems for storing video footage; potential health and safety effects; and especially privacy concerns, both for citizens and the police. In April 2015, a bill being considered in the Michigan State legislature would exempt some body-camera footage from the state's Freedom of Information (FOI) laws. Those who spoke in favor of the law included a conservative Republican legislator and an ACLU representative.
Public opinion and media

The coverage of such incidents by mass media has been studied by researchers, some of whom have concluded that the press has often distorted and helped justify questionable uses of force. Finally, survey data continue to confirm the existence of undercurrents of racism and bias in America, despite demonstrable social progress; a 2014 Stanford study shows how awareness of higher levels of black incarceration can prompt greater support among whites for tougher policing and prison programs.
Keywords: crime, local reporting, racism, violence, police enforcement, police brutality, body cameras, technology, policing
Last updated: July 28, 2016

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Excessive or reasonable force by police? Research on law enforcement and racial conflict - Journalist's Resource

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Allegations of the use of excessive force by U.S. police departments continue to generate headlines more than two decades after the 1992 Los Angeles riots brought the issue to mass public attention and spurred some law enforcement reforms. Recent deaths at the hands of police have fueled a lively debate across the nation in recent years.

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Citing Racist testimony , justices call for new sentencing in Texas death penalty case

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Citing Racist testimony , justices call for new sentencing in Texas death penalty case

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Posted By: Cheyenne Buchanan
4/27
CRAAP Score: 50

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During the trial's sentencing phase in 1997, Mr. Buck's lawyers presented a report from the psychologist, Walter Quijano, who said race was one of the factors associated with future dangerousness.

At the trial, a lawyer for Mr. Buck asked Dr. Quijano to elaborate.

"It's a sad commentary that minorities, Hispanics and black people, are overrepresented in the criminal justice system," Dr. Quijano testified.

A prosecutor followed up: "The race factor, black, increases the future dangerousness for various complicated reasons - is that correct?"

Dr. Quijano answered, "Yes."

Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the testimony "appealed to a powerful racial stereotype - that of black men as 'violence prone.'"

Other evidence suggested that Mr. Buck did not pose a threat of future danger, Chief Justice Roberts wrote.

"Buck's prior violent acts had occurred outside of prison, and within the context of romantic relationships with women," the chief justice wrote. "If the jury did not impose a death sentence, Buck would be sentenced to life in prison, and no such romantic relationship would be likely to arise. A jury could conclude that those changes would minimize the prospect of future dangerousness."

"But one thing would never change: the color of Buck's skin," Chief Justice Roberts wrote. "Buck would always be black."

Texas argued that Dr. Quijano's testimony was brief and was overwhelmed by other evidence that Mr. Buck continued to pose a threat.

Chief Justice Roberts rejected that argument. "When a jury hears expert testimony that expressly makes a defendant's race directly pertinent on the question of life or death, the impact of that evidence cannot be measured simply by how much airtime it received at trial or how many pages it occupies in the record," he wrote. "Some toxins can be deadly in small doses."

In 2000, John Cornyn, then Texas' attorney general and now a United States senator, disavowed Dr. Quijano's testimony in six cases, including that of Mr. Buck. "It is inappropriate to allow race to be considered as a factor in our criminal justice system," he said in a public statement. The state later consented to new sentencing proceedings in the five other cases.

After Mr. Cornyn left office, the state continued to seek to execute Mr. Buck. His case was different, prosecutors said, because Mr. Buck's own lawyer - rather than prosecutors - had presented Dr. Quijano's testimony.

But Chief Justice Roberts said that only made the problem worse. "No competent defense attorney would introduce such evidence about his own client," he wrote, noting that Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. had said much the same thing in a 2011 opinion at an earlier stage of the case. Back then, Justice Alito wrote that the case "concerns bizarre and objectionable testimony."

In dissent on Wednesday, Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Alito, said, "Texas had good reason for treating this case differently from the others."

"This is the only one" of the six cases, Justice Thomas wrote, quoting from Justice Alito's 2011 opinion, "where 'it can be said that the responsibility for eliciting the offensive testimony lay squarely with the defense.'"

But Chief Justice Roberts wrote that an expert presented by the defense had special force. "When a defendant's own lawyer puts in the offending evidence, it is in the nature of an admission against interest, more likely to be taken at face value," he wrote.

One of Mr. Buck's trial lawyers, Jerry Guerinot, has a dismal record in death penalty cases, having represented 20 people sentenced to death in Texas, more than are awaiting execution in about half of the states that have the death penalty.

The case reached the Supreme Court on the narrow question of whether a federal appeals court should have allowed Mr. Buck to appeal a challenge to his death sentence. But Chief Justice Roberts's opinion answered larger questions, too, ruling that Mr. Buck's lawyers had been ineffective and had prejudiced him, making him entitled to a new sentencing hearing.

In his dissent, Justice Thomas said the majority had been so eager to reach its "desired outcome" that it had bulldozed procedural obstacles and misapplied settled law. As a consequence, the decision in the case, Buck v. Davis, No. 15-8049, "has few ramifications, if any beyond the highly unusual facts presented here," Justice Thomas wrote.

Justice Thomas described Mr. Buck's murders in detail, suggesting that they were proof enough that he remained dangerous and saying that Chief Justice Roberts had relied "on rhetoric and speculation to craft a finding of prejudice."

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Citing Racist Testimony, Justices Call for New Sentencing in Texas Death Penalty Case

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During the trial's sentencing phase in 1997, Mr. Buck's lawyers presented a report from the psychologist, Walter Quijano, who said race was one of the factors associated with future dangerousness. At the trial, a lawyer for Mr. Buck asked Dr. Quijano to elaborate.

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More than 250 black people were killed by police in 2016 

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More than 250 black people were killed by police in 2016 

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Posted by: Cheyenne Buchanan
4/27
CRAAP Score: 50

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U.S. police killed at least 258 black people in 2016, according to a project by The Guardian that tracks police killings in America.

Thirty-nine of these people were unarmed. Four were killed by police stun guns and another nine died in custody, a continuing problem in American jails. But the majority of black people killed by police were fatally shot.

Based on a tracker from The Washington Post, at least 232 black folks were shot and killed. (The Guardian's figures include all deaths resulting directly from encounters with law enforcement, while the Post counts only people who were shot and killed by police.)

The Post found that 34 percent of the unarmed people killed in 2016 were black males, which is quite disproportionate since black men make up only 6 percent of the U.S. population. There was also a considerable uptick in deaths caught on camera via cellphone and police cameras.

Take the case of Keith Lamont Scott, who was shot and killed by an officer in Charlotte, North Carolina, in September. Scott was the 173rd black person to be fatally shot by police in 2016, based on The Washington Post tally.

Police were searching for another man when they came across Scott, who they claim was armed. Charlotte police Chief Kerr Putney said in a news conference on Tuesday that officers told Scott to drop his weapon, but that Scott got back into his car and came out again still holding the gun.

A woman who identified herself as Scott's daughter recorded the shooting's aftermath on Facebook Live. Scott, according to her and other witnesses, did not have a gun and was disabled. Scott's killing has touched off violent protests in Charlotte.

A day before Scott was killed, police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, released several videos depicting the death of Terence Crutcher. The 40-year-old was shot and killed by police on Friday after officers saw his stalled SUV in the middle of the road. Initially, the police department said Crutcher had not followed orders to put his hands up.

The released videos, however, show Crutcher walking toward his car with his hands in the air.

Warning: This video contains graphic content.

We've seen back-to-back deaths like this before. In July, Philando Castile was shot and killed in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. His fiancee, Diamond Reynolds, filmed a graphic video that showed Castile bleeding to death from gunshot wounds. The officer "shot him three times because we had a busted taillight," Reynolds says in the clip.

The day before Castile was killed, Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old father of five, became the 135th black person killed by police in 2016.

Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, fatally shot Sterling following an encounter with Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake. The two officers were responding to reports of a man carrying a gun, threatening others and selling CDs in front of a Triple S convenience store.

Two videos of the incident, apparently filmed by witnesses, were released to the media. One showed a detained Sterling lying on the ground as officers hovered over him before shooting him at close range. A second video offered a clearer perspective, showing that Sterling wasn't reaching for his pockets and didn't have anything in his hands.

Since the 2014 death of 18-year-old Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri, the media has reported extensively that police arrest and kill black men at far higher rates than other groups. Six out of 10 black men say they have been treated unfairly by police because of their race, according to a 2015 study.

Based on The Guardian's data , black males between the ages of 15 and 34 are nine times more likely to be killed by police than any other demographic. This group also accounted for 15 percent of all 2015 deaths from law enforcement encounters, even though black males in this age range make up just 2 percent of the U.S. population.

In 2015, The Guardian estimates, at least 306 black people were killed by U.S. police. The Washington Post puts the number of black people who were shot dead in 2015 at 258.

Activists have called for diversifying America's predominantly white police force. But interactions between black officers and black civilians can be stained by violence as well. A 2007 study found that black residents of Washington, D.C., felt as though black cops treated them more harshly than white officers did. A 2006 study of Cincinnati police records discovered black officers were more likely than white officers to arrest black suspects.

"Race is a trigger for police brutality," Jack Glaser, an associate professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, told The Huffington Post in 2015. The reasons for this may lie in the history of policing in America and the fact that modern-day policing, at least in the South, can trace its lineage to slave patrols.

But statistics and history aside, Keith Scott, Terence Crutcher, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile didn't deserve to die.

"Sterling was a black man who lived in an America that consistently devalues, disrespects and destroys black lives," HuffPost Black Voices editor Lilly Workneh wrote in July. "Now is not the time to stay silent about these injustices. Black men and women have raised their voices to declare that black lives matter and to say the names of those who have died unjustly."

"Alton Sterling, father of five," Workneh added. "May he rest in peace."

Same goes for all the others. May they rest peacefully.

This post has been updated to incorporate data on police killings through the end of 2016.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said The Washington Post estimates that police killed 285 black people in 2015. That number is actually 258. The article also previously misstated Scott's middle name as "Lamar."

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More Than 250 Black People Were Killed By Police In 2016 [Updated]

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posted by:jawaun phillips
4-28
Craap score:44

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February 5, 2018

Everytown is committed to using the most comprehensive, up-to-date sources of data to measure America's unprecedented levels of gun violence. Learn more by exploring the stats below.

To calculate this, Everytown relies on a five-year-average of data from the CDC, whose National Vital Statistics System contains the most comprehensive national data, currently available through 2016."Fatal Injury Reports," Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics (WISQARS), accessed December 23, 2017 http://1.usa.gov/1plXBux']

Rates of firearm injury death increase rapidly after age 12. And unintentional shootings of children and teens are underreported in the CDC data, possibly because of the difficulty of characterizing a child's intent after he or she has killed himself or a playmate with a firearm. "Fatal Injury Reports," Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics (WISQARS), accessed December 23, 2017 Everytown tracks unintentional shootings involving children, which occur every 34 hours, on average. http://1.usa.gov/1plXBux']

According to a study by the Department of Justice, between 1994 and 2014, federal, state, and local agencies conducted background checks on more than 180 million firearm applications and denied 2.82 million gun sales to prohibited purchasers. To date, the background check system has blocked over 3 million firearm sales to prohibited purchasers.Karberg JC, Frandsen RJ, Durso JM, et al. "Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2013-2014." Bureau of Justice Statistics. http://bit.ly/2lSEIEu. Published June 2016. Accessed February 15, 2017. Data for 2015 and 2016 were obtained by Everytown from the FBI directly. Though majority of the transactions and denials reported by FBI and BJS are associated with a firearm sale or transfer, a small number may be for concealed carry permits and other reasons not related to a sale or transfer.

Black Americans make up 14 percent of the U.S. population U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-06.pdf but are victims of more than half of all gun homicides."Fatal Injury Reports," Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics (WISQARS), accessed December 23, 2017, http://1.usa.gov/1plXBux.

A case-control study of 11 cities found that in a domestic violence situation, the perpetrator's access to a gun increased the odds of femicide by more than five times (adjust OR=5.44, 95% CI = 2.89, 10.22).Jacqueline C. Campbell, Daniel Webster, and Jane Koziol-McLain, "Risk Factors for Femicide in Abusive Relationships: Results from a Multisite Case Control Study," American Journal of Public Health 93, no. 7 (June 2003): http://1.usa.gov/1osjCet.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FBI collect data on firearm homicides - the former from medical examiners and the latter from local law enforcement. Each data set has distinct advantages and flaws. The CDC's National Vital Statistics System records a higher percentage of all firearm deaths but fails to capture details about their circumstances, including the relationship of the perpetrator to the victim. This makes it unsuitable for measuring gun violence between people of certain relationships.

In contrast, the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) include details on the perpetrator and weapon but are more likely to be missing records because the FBI relies on police departments to voluntarily submit their homicide data on an annual basis. Despite these gaps, SHR data are utilized widely in the criminology community. The SHR do not include data from the state of Florida. Everytown obtained data directly from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Women killed by former dating partners (as opposed to current dating partners) are not categorized in the Florida data and are not included.James Alan Fox, "Missing Data Problems in the SHR: Imputing Offender and Relationship Characteristics," Homicide Studies 8, no. 214 (2004); and Catherine Barber and David Hemenway, "Underestimates of Unintentional Firearm Fatalities: Comparing Supplementary Homicide Report Data with the National Vital Statistics System," Injury Prevention 8 (2002).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
February 5, 2018 Everytown is committed to using the most comprehensive, up-to-date sources of data to measure America's unprecedented levels of gun violence. Learn more by exploring the stats below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
February 5, 2018

Everytown is committed to using the most comprehensive, up-to-date sources of data to measure America's unprecedented levels of gun violence. Learn more by exploring the stats below.

To calculate this, Everytown relies on a five-year-average of data from the CDC, whose National Vital Statistics System contains the most comprehensive national data, currently available through 2016."Fatal Injury Reports," Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics (WISQARS), accessed December 23, 2017 http://1.usa.gov/1plXBux']

Rates of firearm injury death increase rapidly after age 12. And unintentional shootings of children and teens are underreported in the CDC data, possibly because of the difficulty of characterizing a child's intent after he or she has killed himself or a playmate with a firearm. "Fatal Injury Reports," Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics (WISQARS), accessed December 23, 2017 Everytown tracks unintentional shootings involving children, which occur every 34 hours, on average. http://1.usa.gov/1plXBux']

According to a study by the Department of Justice, between 1994 and 2014, federal, state, and local agencies conducted background checks on more than 180 million firearm applications and denied 2.82 million gun sales to prohibited purchasers. To date, the background check system has blocked over 3 million firearm sales to prohibited purchasers.Karberg JC, Frandsen RJ, Durso JM, et al. "Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2013-2014." Bureau of Justice Statistics. http://bit.ly/2lSEIEu. Published June 2016. Accessed February 15, 2017. Data for 2015 and 2016 were obtained by Everytown from the FBI directly. Though majority of the transactions and denials reported by FBI and BJS are associated with a firearm sale or transfer, a small number may be for concealed carry permits and other reasons not related to a sale or transfer.

Black Americans make up 14 percent of the U.S. population U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-06.pdf but are victims of more than half of all gun homicides."Fatal Injury Reports," Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics (WISQARS), accessed December 23, 2017, http://1.usa.gov/1plXBux.

A case-control study of 11 cities found that in a domestic violence situation, the perpetrator's access to a gun increased the odds of femicide by more than five times (adjust OR=5.44, 95% CI = 2.89, 10.22).Jacqueline C. Campbell, Daniel Webster, and Jane Koziol-McLain, "Risk Factors for Femicide in Abusive Relationships: Results from a Multisite Case Control Study," American Journal of Public Health 93, no. 7 (June 2003): http://1.usa.gov/1osjCet.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FBI collect data on firearm homicides - the former from medical examiners and the latter from local law enforcement. Each data set has distinct advantages and flaws. The CDC's National Vital Statistics System records a higher percentage of all firearm deaths but fails to capture details about their circumstances, including the relationship of the perpetrator to the victim. This makes it unsuitable for measuring gun violence between people of certain relationships.

In contrast, the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) include details on the perpetrator and weapon but are more likely to be missing records because the FBI relies on police departments to voluntarily submit their homicide data on an annual basis. Despite these gaps, SHR data are utilized widely in the criminology community. The SHR do not include data from the state of Florida. Everytown obtained data directly from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Women killed by former dating partners (as opposed to current dating partners) are not categorized in the Florida data and are not included.James Alan Fox, "Missing Data Problems in the SHR: Imputing Offender and Relationship Characteristics," Homicide Studies 8, no. 214 (2004); and Catherine Barber and David Hemenway, "Underestimates of Unintentional Firearm Fatalities: Comparing Supplementary Homicide Report Data with the National Vital Statistics System," Injury Prevention 8 (2002).

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February 5, 2018 Everytown is committed to using the most comprehensive, up-to-date sources of data to measure America's unprecedented levels of gun violence. Learn more by exploring the stats below.

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Missouri Ranks #1 for Black Homicide Victimization

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Missouri Ranks #1 for Black Homicide Victimization

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posted by:Jawaun Phillips
4-28
Craap score:46

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For Release: Tuesday, March 28, 2017
87 percent of black homicide victims in Missouri were killed with guns
Washington, DC - Missouri has the highest black homicide victimization rate in the nation with a rate of 34.98 per 100,000, which is more than double the national black homicide victimization rate and more than eight times the overall homicide rate nationwide, according to a new analysis by the Violence Policy Center (VPC).

The annual study, Black Homicide Victimization in the United States: An Analysis of 2014 Homicide Data, ranks the states according to their black homicide victimization rates. It is based on unpublished data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR). The study details homicide rates for 2014, the most recent year for which comprehensive national data is available. This is the eleventh year the Violence Policy Center has released the study. To see past editions of the study, click here.

"Each year this report reveals the devastating and disproportionate impact homicide, almost always involving a gun, has on black men, boys, women, and girls in America," states VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann. "These deaths devastate families and traumatize whole communities. We hope our research will not only help educate the public and policymakers, but aid community leaders already working to end this grave injustice."

In Missouri, there were 250 black homicide victims in 2014, resulting in a homicide rate of 34.98 per 100,000. That year, the national black homicide rate was 16.38 per 100,000, and the overall national homicide rate was 4.19 per 100,000.

For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 87 percent of the black homicide victims in Missouri were shot and killed with guns. Nationwide, 83 percent of black homicide victims were killed with guns.

The 10 states with the highest black homicide victimization rates in 2014 were:
For MISSOURI, the study finds that in 2014:
· Of the 250 black homicide victims, 217 were male and 33 were female.

· Twenty-two black homicide victims (9 percent) were less than 18 years old and 1 victim (less than 1 percent) was 65 years of age or older. The average age was 29 years old.

· When the weapon used could be identified, 87 percent of the black homicide victims (216 out of 247) were killed with guns. Of these, 52 percent (112 victims) were killed with handguns.

· For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 75 percent of black homicide victims (58 out of 77) were killed by someone they knew. Nineteen were killed by strangers.

· For homicides in which the circumstances could be identified, 64 percent (62 out of 97) were not related to the commission of any other felony. Of these, 77 percent (48 homicides) involved arguments between the victim and the offender.
For the entire UNITED STATES, the study finds that in 2014:
· There were 6,095 black homicide victims in the United States that year. Blacks represent 13 percent of the U.S. population yet account for 50 percent of all homicide victims.

· The black homicide victimization rate in the United States was 16.38 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall national homicide victimization rate was 4.19 per 100,000. For whites, the national homicide victimization rate was 2.52 per 100,000.

· Of the 6,095 black homicide victims, 5,263 were male and 829 were female. The homicide victimization rate for black male victims was 29.54 per 100,000. The homicide victimization rate for female black victims was 4.28 per 100,000.

· For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 83 percent of black victims (4,800 out of 5,773) were shot and killed with guns. Of these, 73 percent (3,506 victims) were killed with handguns.

· For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 72 percent of black victims (1,966 out of 2,746) were killed by someone they knew. The number of victims killed by strangers was 780.

· For homicides in which the circumstances could be identified, 71 percent (2,581 out of 3,645) were not related to the commission of any other felony. Of these, 50 percent (1,291 homicides) involved arguments between the victim and the offender.

The FBI data includes incidents reported as justifiable homicides of black victims killed by law enforcement. Nationwide, there were 115 such incidents reported in 2014. The data does not specifically identify killings by police that are not ruled justifiable. In December 2015, the FBI announced that it would dramatically expand its data collection on violent police encounters by 2017. In October 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice outlined a plan to improve the collection of law enforcement use of force data.

The study calculates black homicide victimization rates by dividing the number of black homicide victims by the black population, and multiplying the result by 100,000. This is the standard and accepted method of comparing fatal levels of gun violence.

The full study is available at http://www.vpc.org/studies/blackhomicide17.pdf.

The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

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Missouri Ranks #1 for Black Homicide Victimization

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For Release: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 87 percent of black homicide victims in Missouri were killed with guns Washington, DC - Missouri has the highest black homicide victimization rate in the nation with a rate of 34.98 per 100,000, which is more than double the national black homicide victimization rate and more than eight times the overall homicide rate nationwide, according to a new analysis by the Violence Policy Center (VPC).

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Police Brutality & The Impact On Victims

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Police Brutality & The Impact On Victims

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Posted By:Cheyenne Buchanan
4/21
CRAAP Score:50

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Police Brutality: The Impact on the Victims

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Defined as unmerited, excessive and aggressive abuse, police brutality is a phenomenon that causes irreparable harm to its victims. The abuse may be physical or psychological, and the victims can feel the effects of this abuse for a lifetime. These effects include not only physical wounds, but also psychological ones.

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Posted By: Cheyenne Buchanan
4/21
CRAAP Score:45

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Police brutality is real, and there are bad cops among the good. Police brutality and police misbehavior must be swiftly and firmly punished when and where it occurs. A star on a policeman's breast confers responsibility along with authority.

Incidents of police brutality, though relatively rare, give race hustlers the opportunity to make a killing on a killing, spinning the story of tragedy into a story of wide and runaway police brutality. Social media, enabling everyone with an iPhone or a laptop to spread various versions of the news, encourages instant reaction rather than reasoned, thoughtful judgment.

The shooting of Walter Scott, 50, a black man, in North Charleston, South Carolina, on April 4 presented what appeared to be a textbook case of outrage and tragedy. A bystander with a cellphone captured video images of Mr. Scott fleeing from a traffic stop, and a white patrolman, Michael Slager, shooting him in the back as he ran away. This inevitably ignited protests like those that followed the death of Michael Brown, 18, killed in a struggle with Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer.

But there are big differences. An investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, supervised by Attorney General Eric Holder, concluded that the officer in Ferguson used his weapon in self-defense. The incident in North Charleston was swiftly investigated by the officer's own superiors, and he was charged with murder.

Deprived of an outrage not redressed, demonstrators in North Charleston, led by Muhiydin d'Baha and an organization named Black Lives Matter, swiftly escalated emotions with a demand for a civilian review board with subpoena powers to oversee and discipline the police department. Mr. d'Baha promised to make his voice heard "by any means necessary." Would that include violence? "Anything's possible," he said.

The legal system appears to be working as intended in North Charleston; the patrolman has been charged but has not yet had his day in court. Nevertheless, the race hustlers could not let such an opportunity for exploitation "go to waste." Last week demonstrations popped up in several cities to protest "police violence" against black men. In New York City, 250 "activists" stalled traffic on New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, bearing signs demanding "Stop murder by police" and "Stop cop killers." Similar rallies drew attention in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, California, and Madison, Wisconsin.

A season of police shootings and incidents have despoiled race relations since George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman, struggled with a young black man named Trayvon Martin in 2012, and shot him, claiming self-defense. Mr. Zimmerman, of Hispanic origin, was widely described as "white." President Obama, without waiting for the facts, joined in the condemnation of Mr. Zimmerman, who was subsequently acquitted of second-degree murder by a jury in Florida.

The death of Walter Scott in North Charleston opened a break between established civil rights leaders, with a history of working with mayors and police departments, and the younger demonstrators, eager to make noise and a name for themselves in the streets. Dot Scott, the president of the Charleston chapter of the NAACP (and no relation to Walter Scott), has worked for years to improve race relations with patient negotiations, often getting results and needed change.

"If somebody else can keep this message to the forefront, then so be it," she tells the Charleston Post & Courier. "But at this point, we would be protesting what, exactly? The killing happened, we can't undo that. The arrest has been made. Where it goes from here in terms of [Patrolman] Slager 's prosecution, of course, that's undetermined." The cool voice of wisdom sometimes does not go unheard.

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EDITORIAL: Social media encourages outrage at police brutality with little thought

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Police brutality is real, and there are bad cops among the good. Police brutality and police misbehavior must be swiftly and firmly punished when and where it occurs. A star on a policeman's breast confers responsibility along with authority.

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Posted by: Cheyenne Buchanan
4/21
CRAAP Score: 50

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AFRICANGLOBE - During the recent observation of the anniversary of the execution of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, I heard chants of "We''ve got to fight back" and "We are ready for war."

That we've reached this dangerous place in the fight against police abuse was foreseeable, given the lack of any action by the political body politic to seriously redress racism among police.

However, this avoidance of dealing with police racism isn't surprising. America's political system created the evil of using police to control and destroy the lives of Blacks. Some are still pretending police violence against Black people is just a matter of a "few bad apples." That lie was echoed in a recent debate by Republican presidential hopeful Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

But that argument has been debunked by several things including: videos that continually show Black people being victimized by police; and the Justice Department report showing that Blacks, in Ferguson, were being singled out for exploitation to supplement municipal budgets, by the police and courts there.

Urban police departments across the country are involved in similar schemes.

Videotape and cellphone technology has been exposing the slimy underbelly of how police treat Black people. This is making it harder for White people to rationalize that there is, somehow, no difference between how Blacks and Whites are policed. The videos we've seen tell us we''ve only witnessing the tip of the iceberg.

This state of affairs is radicalizing young Blacks in their stance against police, as politicians continue to twiddle their thumbs. Most of the body politic have not even uttered a solitary word, even in light of all the events that have happened in the last year. The longer politicians stay silent and fail to act, the more likely it is that a state of vigilantism will emerge.

When politicians refuse to take action against serious societal problems, people inevitably take action into their own hands. America should also remember these words from President John Kennedy; ""those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable."" Those denouncing violence by some protesters ignore the brutality peaceful protesters endure at hands of police.

And since we have yet to see any serious indication the "powers that be" are invested in attending to the racist way police treat Black people then we can expect means more radical responses from young Black people.

One example, is a group that emerged since the Ferguson protests echoing images from another time of conflict in America between police and Blacks is called the Huey Newton Gun Club.

The Huey Newton Gun Club, which utilizes legal gun possession laws like the "open carry" statute, promotes the carrying of guns by Black people, to exercise their Second Amendment right, like many White Americans do. The group's advocates something the Black Panther Party, and others did: defense of Black people against the forces of oppression who operate inside the police force and within law enforcement.

In the 60's, the Black Panther Party arose to defend the interests of Black people that were being ignored by the system. At the time, police, just like now, were often busy harassing and killing Black people. The response of the police— with much help from J. Edgar Hoover''s FBI —was to orchestrate frame-ups and assassinations, and to destroy this great organization for Black progress.

Charismatic Panther leader Fred Hampton was murdered while he slept. Police attacked Panther headquarters nationwide, with the clear intent of destroying this movement being built to fight for the rights of Blacks. The Panthers and Black guerilla freedom groups were destroyed by the machinery of the American government.

Within the current context, we''ve not seen the level of radical resistance that defined those fighting for Black liberation during the time of the Panthers. But with groups like the Huey P Newton Gun Club springing up, and the rage and sentiment that is on the streets, if these police killing continue, that may change.

Blacks, especially the young, are faced with the daunting reality that their lives lack value in this society that has been against the interests and welfare of Black people since we were brought to the American plantations of hell.

Some are now debating why we saw gun-play recently in Ferguson. But since we've been taught "hate produces hate" the answer should be obvious. And since America believes in settling issues by violence, why do some pretend this is so strange?

Most Americans worship those who have helped Americans kill those deemed enemies of America. Former Black Panther Geronimo Pratt, a decorated Vietnam veteran with —two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars and a Silver Star was praised for his military prowess in foreign wars. But when Pratt came home and decided to use his military knowledge to protect Blacks he was framed by the FBI and LAPD, for a murder authorities knew he didn''t commit, and was imprisoned for decades, "neutralized," in the language of the FBI''s COINTELPRO, so he could not protect his people.

Unfortunately, Blacks have also forgotten the legions of brave Blacks still languishing in jail, as political prisoners, because they dared fight for Black self-determination.

America has no problem pinning medals on Black men when they are engaged in mass murder under the banner of the U.S. Army.

The political hypocrites, who tell young Black people to be ""non-violent"" are often the same ones sending Black people to kill others in the foreign "theaters of war; but expect them to meekly accept the violence police project on Blacks. This double-standard is unsustainable, especially when the extreme violence police mete out on Blacks is condoned and coddled by unprincipled political phonies.

America is a nation not of peace, but of war.

We are faced with the absurdity of a political class that constantly clamors for military intervention everywhere overseas, who promote violence as the ultimate form of conflict-resolution, while giving Black people grandstanding morality speeches.

The pretense, that America''s government is basically a peaceful one, is undercut by the dark dossier of bloody deeds this nation is guilty of. America''s war machinery of death and destruction has been one of the main enemies of peace among mankind for decades.

The savage treatment of Black people must be stopped. Black people have been backed into a corner. They will protect the lives of their children and people.

If the political elite refuse to do anything about the violence acts perpetrated by law enforcement soon no one will listen to those who still talk about peaceful means.
By: Ras Memnon

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Police Brutality And Black Self-Defense * Africanglobe.net

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AFRICANGLOBE - During the recent observation of the anniversary of the execution of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, I heard chants of "We''ve got to fight back" and "We are ready for war." That we've reached this dangerous place in the fight against police abuse was foreseeable, given the lack of any action by the political body politic to seriously redress racism among police.

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Gun control isn't the answer. We already know how to stop the violence

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Gun control isn't the answer. We already know how to stop the violence

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posted by:Jawaun Phillips
4-21-17
craap score:46

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I'll start with the Clinton years and remind everyone that it wasn't the Brady Bill or the Assault Weapons ban that made the real difference. It was the increased funding to police departments from his 1994 crime bill that showed real progress. I was on the White House lawn that day in October, 1994 when President Clinton was joined by an army of police chiefs and mayors to announce the $200 million being released to put 100,000 more cops on the streets. It's not clear just how close the Clinton Administration came to reaching that 100,000 number, but the message the funding sent had almost as much of an effect as however many new cops actually hit the streets.

The message was that police weren't the problem, which just a couple years after the Rodney King beating and subsequent L.A. riots wasn't such an easy thing for any Democrat to say. And President Clinton was never shy about trumpeting the falling crime statistics during his presidency. He and Hillary Clinton are trying to backtrack on that a bit now as the "Black Lives Matter" movement has started a new anti-cop sentiment in the new Democratic Party base, but there's really no denying that the increased Clinton administration funding for policing and incarceration made a difference.

Clinton's successor, President George W. Bush, saw similar successes with boosted funding for the FBI to go after gun runners and then his "Project SAFE" program in his second term aimed at prosecuting criminals who used guns. Project SAFE alone got more than $1.5 billion from the Bush administration. Violent crime fell sharply during the Bush years, even when compared with the already falling crime numbers under President Clinton.

But at the end of the Bush years, the focus shifted from gun prosecutions to new regulations. That was probably the result of Republicans losing control of Congress in the 2006 midterms and the Bush domestic agenda was gutted.

President Obama has sadly continued this trend. Thankfully, violent crime has mostly remained at historic lows. But prosecutions of gun-using criminals has decidedly gone down. Federal prosecutors brought a total of 5,082 gun violation cases in 2013 recommended by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, compared with a record 8,752 prosecutions of ATF cases brought by the Justice Department in 2004 under President Bush according to the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys.

There may be ideological reasons for this decline, as many of President Obama's critics insist the White House is more interested in scoring political points by harassing law abiding gun owners. But there's no denying that maintaining the high number of gun arrests and prosecutions is expensive, and the money available for that kind of law enforcement has indeed become scarcer because of budgetary constraints brought on by the Republican Congress. The White House may be blaming the GOP a little too much for the gun prosecution decline, but it does have a solid point. Both the Clinton crime initiatives and the Bush crackdown on illegal guns cost money, big money. And Republicans haven't been so forthcoming with budgetary cash lately.

That leaves us with a unique double "put your money where your mouth is moment" when it comes to guns in America. The Democrats, if they really want to slow gun violence in this country, need to put their money where their mouths are and support renewed efforts to enforce existing gun laws like Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush did in the recent past. Republicans, if they really want to prove they believe enforcing the existing gun laws is all we need to do, need to put their money where their mouths are and get proactive about offering real funding for that enforcement up front.

So far, both sides just aren't stepping up to the plate. So we're stuck with stunts like sit-ins and scare tactics. I remain convinced that the presidential candidate who refocuses the gun debate towards a push for more funding would enjoy a significant boost in the polls. The question is: which candidate is smart enough to simply promote what we already know works?

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Gun control isn't the answer. We already know how to stop the violence

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I'll start with the Clinton years and remind everyone that it wasn't the Brady Bill or the Assault Weapons ban that made the real difference. It was the increased funding to police departments from his 1994 crime bill that showed real progress.

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Bernie Sanders a hunting state senator,Treads lightly with guns.

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Bernie Sanders a hunting state senator,Treads lightly with guns.

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posted by:Jawaun Phillips
4-21-17
craap score:43

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While Mr. Sanders has outflanked Hillary Rodham Clinton by appealing to liberals, his record on gun-related issues could be a potential vulnerability in a Democratic contest in which he is not accustomed to facing doubts about his liberal credentials.

Campaigning in New Hampshire on Sunday, another Democratic rival, former Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland, called on Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders to support a series of proposals he had laid out to address gun violence.

And on Monday, Mrs. Clinton detailed a gun control plan, a mix of legislative and executive action that included an expansion of background checks. "How much longer will we just shrug?" Mrs. Clinton asked at a town hall gathering in New Hampshire.

For Mrs. Clinton, the issue is an opportunity to present herself as the most proactive Democratic candidate on gun control, and provide a contrast with Mr. Sanders, who has been gaining on her in national polls.

Mr. Sanders, for his part, is trying to balance representing a state where guns are mainly used for recreation against the need to appeal to a Democratic electorate increasingly agitated over mass shootings and demanding stricter gun control laws.

As he focuses his message on economic inequality, Mr. Sanders has seemed less than eager to discuss the issue of gun control. At a rally on Saturday in Boston, he waited until an hour into his speech to allude to the Oregon massacre.

Mr. Sanders voted against the Brady Bill in the 1990s, requiring background checks, when he was in the House of Representatives. And in 2005, he voted in favor of a bill to shield gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits. (Mrs. Clinton, then a senator from New York, voted against that bill, and is pledging to repeal it as part of her gun control plan.)

After the Newtown, Conn., shootings, Mr. Sanders, by then a senator, voted for expanding background checks and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

His positioning has not endeared him to those on either side of the issue. When he last ran for re-election in 2012, the National Rifle Association gave him a D-minus rating. This summer, a " super PAC" supporting Mr. O'Malley released an ad that concluded, " Bernie Sanders is no progressive when it comes to guns."

"I think it's a little bit unfair to call him pro-gun," said Bertram Johnson, the chairman of the political science department at Middlebury College in Vermont. "I think it would be fairer to say he's more in line with what the state thinks about this."

Mr. Sanders's campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, defended the senator's record on Monday, saying he has supported banning assault weapons and requiring background checks since he was first elected to Congress in 1990. Mr. Weaver added that Mr. Sanders opposed the Brady Bill because of the waiting period it imposed.

After the Oregon shootings, Mr. Sanders issued a statement calling for a "comprehensive approach" to deter mass killings, including "sensible gun-control legislation which prevents guns from being used by people who should not have them."

In an interview on MSNBC, he took a pragmatic approach. He said the nation needed to "get beyond the shouting" on the issue of guns and added, "I don't know that anybody knows what the magic solution is."

"You can sit there and say, well, I think we should do this and do that," he said. "But you got a whole lot of states in this country where people want virtually no gun control at all. And if we are going to have some success, we are going to have to start talking to each other."

In a statement on Monday, Mr. Sanders said his campaign was assembling a package of proposals to address gun violence. He expressed support for closing the so-called gun show loophole and for banning assault weapons, among other things.

Mr. Sanders has also tried to draw attention to the different role of guns in his state compared with more densely populated areas, where guns are often associated with violence, not recreation. "The people of my state understand, I think, pretty clearly, that guns in Vermont are not the same thing as guns in Chicago or guns in Los Angeles," he said in July on CNN.

Vermont has a high level of gun ownership compared with other states in the Northeast. It also has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country. At the same time, Vermont has few murders committed with firearms.

"It's a different life situation up here, and I think Senator Sanders has tried to explain that," said Evan Hughes, a vice president of the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs. "His voting record has reflected the Vermont reality."

Ann Braden, the president of Gun Sense Vermont, a group that formed after the Newtown shootings and advocates new gun laws, said Mr. Sanders's focus on keeping guns out of the wrong hands - but not attacking the mere idea of gun ownership - was "how you can actually make change."

"There are many, many responsible gun owners," she said, "and it's important to have someone who understands that."

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Bernie Sanders, a Hunting-State Senator, Treads Lightly With Guns

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While Mr. Sanders has outflanked Hillary Rodham Clinton by appealing to liberals, his record on gun-related issues could be a potential vulnerability in a Democratic contest in which he is not accustomed to facing doubts about his liberal credentials. Campaigning in New Hampshire on Sunday, another Democratic rival, former Gov.

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Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted?

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Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted?

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posted by:Jawaun Phillips
4-20-17
craap score:44

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Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted?