Black people are 2.9x more likely to be killed by police than white people in the United States.
Police killings per 1 million people in the U.S., 2013–2022
Sadly, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total 241 civilians having been shot, 14 of whom were Black, as of April 2022. In 2021, there were 1,055 fatal police shootings, and in 2020 there were 1,021 fatal shootings. Additionally, the rate of fatal police shootings among Black Americans was much higher than that for any other ethnicity, standing at 38 fatal shootings per million of the population as of April 2022.
Police brutality in the U.S.
In recent years, particularly since the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, police brutality has become a hot button issue in the United States. The number of homicides committed by police in the United States is often compared to those in countries such as England, where the number is significantly lower.
Black Lives Matter
The Black Lives Matter Movement, formed in 2013, has been a vocal part of the movement against police brutality in the U.S. by organizing “die-ins”, marches, and demonstrations in response to the killings of black men and women by police.
Black Lives Matter has brought more attention to the number and frequency of police shootings of civilians.
Black Men Discuss Surviving Police Encounters - Panelists include Miguel Dominguez, Francys Johnson, and Nigel Davis. Additional Resources: Mobile Justice App - ACLU and 10 Rules of Survival if Stopped by the Police.
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Attorney Mawuli Mel Davis discusses police brutality in Black communities while offering hope that this continuing problem rooted in racialized policing that does not increase public safety can change.
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