Deadly Force

The police in the United States kill over 1000 people a year and there exists no federal-level repository of accurate data regarding the instances where the police use deadly force. The police use deadly force against African American men and women in numbers that far exceed deadly force incidents against white men and women. These deadly force incidents against African Americans have long plagued the often-troubled history of distrust, suspicion, animus, and hostility that exists between the police in the United States and communities of color. Beginning in the present era with the shooting death of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri in the summer of 2014, these and other deadly force incidents have brought existing tensions between the police and many African Americans into prominent focus.