Prosecution Of U.S. Police For Killings Surges To Highest In Decade

[sheshe2]

A dozen officers have been charged with murder or manslaughter this year resulting from shootings.
Reuters
By Ian Simpson
Posted: 10/26/2015 09:21 AM EDT

WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. police officers charged in fatal shootings has hit the highest level in a decade in 2015, new research shows, driven by greater scrutiny over use of deadly force.

Public outrage over the deaths of black men at the hands of police in New York, Missouri and elsewhere have spurred prosecutions. Police body cameras and bystanders' videos also have helped bring cases, but even with the upturn, only a small percentage of police killings result in charges, lawyers and analysts say.



A dozen officers have been charged with murder or manslaughter this year resulting from shootings, up from an average of about five a year from 2005 to 2014, said Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminology at Ohio's Bowling Green State University. He sifted court records and media reports as part of research for the Justice Department on police crimes and arrests.

The 2015 number does not include six Baltimore officers facing trial for the death of Freddie Gray. The 25-year-old black man died in April from a spinal injury after he was arrested and bundled in a transport van. Four of the officers face murder or manslaughter charges.

None of the officers has been convicted, and over the previous decade just one in five officers charged was found guilty, said Stinson, a former police officer.

Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/prosecution-police-killings_562e26aee4b0ec0a3894eb23

[Stellar]

1. I'm glad that some good can come out of all of this abuse

that cops have inflicted upon people of color and they are not just killing people with impunity. Thanks for sharing.

[sheshe2]

6. Hey, Stellar....

Looks like we only care about black people when Bernie wants to add his two cents.

Where are they now?

Crickets. Wow. I am so surprised.

They are hypocrites.

[Stellar]

7. I noticed that there was an hour where your thread didn't have a

soul that cared enough to post to it. But everybody cares about you voting for their candidate of choice. I was like....wtf!? It seems as though people only care about themselves and their issues, and I guess, forget about you and yours.

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. What a gratuitous slam on Bernie supporters. Really quite low and ugly.

I don't see many responses here, which is a shame.

I don't see many from Bernie supporters, I don't see many from Hillary supporters, I don't see many from our African-American contingent, either. I guess everybody is too busy doing important stuff like calling other people sexist or racist or corporate or warmongers.

Your deciding to pick on the Bernie people alone is shameful and reveals some real self-induced blindness.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. This is a function of mass protests beginning with Ferguson.

And the Black Lives Matter movement deserves some credit.

The cops really don't like being challenged like this. Too bad.

[Taitertots]

3. Western media makes me barf

It's only 12! This is being presented as a huge increase. It's only 7 more than the average.

AND no mention of merits of the cases that warranted the increase.

[DirkGently]

4. Seems necessary, and long overdue.

The recent mass outcry for accountability for police brutality is one benefit of the "everyone has a video camera in their pocket" times we live in.

[bemildred]

5. About time. Let's have a lot more of this. nt

[hobbit709]

9. We need more actual convictions.

As long as they keep walking, nothing will change.

[beevul]

10. Not nearly enough.

I noticed upthread someone attributed this to protests...without taking anything away from that, I'll just say that video has done its fair share of being a wrench in the cogs when it comes to them sweeping incidents under the carpet.

They fear it, as evidenced by them arresting photo/video-graphers and confiscating/deleting the evidence, as well as the obvious outward changes in attitude when the realize they're being recorded and can't get at the evidence such as in the Brett Darrow incident.

Them being afraid of and averse to being recorded, is as obvious as the nose on ones own face, as are their reasons for it.

[MindPilot]

11. At first glance i thought it said "protection".

Seriously, that would have been more accurate reporting. Not doubt once these 12 are found not guilty or have the charged dropped, that will send a stern message to all the other cops that not everybody who guns down an innocent civilian gets a paid vacation.

And America will be assured that all the bad apples are gone and Black men have nothing to fear.