article by Breanna Edwards via theroot.com
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that it will begin collecting data on deadly police encounters nationwide, starting early next year, the New York Times reports.
As the report notes, it marks the beginning of the most ambitious effort the federal government has ever made to track police use of force, coming after the nation has been rocked time and time again with the aftermath of such brutal encounters.
As the Times notes, the project will not only collect data on fatal shootings by local, state and federal officers, but will also include data on the deaths that occur in police custody through suicide or natural causes.
“Accurate and comprehensive data on the use of force by law enforcement is essential to an informed and productive discussion about community-police relations,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. “In the days ahead, the Department of Justice will continue to work alongside our local, state, tribal and federal partners to ensure that we put in place a system to collect data that is comprehensive, useful and responsive to the needs of the communities we serve.”
Read more at the New York Times and the Department of Justice.
British newspaper, The Guardian, maintains a catalog of this information now! Why will it take 3 months, plus, for the federal government to begin to document this information? At what point can we expect more of an immediate response? This has been rumored all of this year. Of course, it is a welcome beginning. Hopefully, it won’t be too little, too late.
It’s a start. I surely do hope the new administration will carry through with this project and get it firmly established.
Its about time, I worked in law enforcement for (21) years and I can’t even recognize what officers are doing today. The Use of Deadly Force Policy were taught to officers every six months along with qualifications of firearms training. We were never taught to say “I fear for my life”, are to give people the death penalty if you do not follow a command, although commands were given in a felony vehicle stop. In all of my career the “Use of Deadly Force” were never use as a first alternative always as your last option when the life of the officer and a innocent by stander were in imminent danger. Thanks, Attorney General if you follow through on your plans, this is genocide.