Fatal Police Shootings Have Been Flat Over the Past Five Years

My Twitter feed has been full of arguments today about police shootings of suspects. I’m not sure why, but it’s as good a reason as any to go ahead and show how it’s changed over the past few years. Short answer: according to the Washington Post’s Fatal Force database, it hasn’t:

It’s true that police shootings of unarmed suspects have declined considerably in the years since Ferguson. And that’s good! However, the overall number of shootings has been flat, and the huge overrepresentation of Black suspects killed has been flat too. That’s a lot less good.

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And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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