Dec 23, 20151 min
2015 Police Killings Nationwide
Dr. Frank Baumgartner’s report on the racial and geographical disparity in the application of the death penalty in Missouri is reflected in this report from Mapping Police Violence which indicates that 100% of individuals shot by Missouri (Kansas City and St. Louis) police were Black. Compared to the national average, Kansas City and St. Louis are among the cities with the highest rate of police killings.
Important findings include:
St. Louis Metropolitan was among the police departments that killed people at the highest rates in 2015.
Rates of police killings differed sharply among police departments. For example, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department killed over 7x more people per capita in 2015 than did Philadelphia Police Department.
Community Violence and Police Violence
The data also concludes that community violence does not correlate with police violence.
This data indicates that there is definitely a racism problem in Missouri that runs deeper than just extreme cases. While the death penalty system in Missouri serves as a microcosm of the bigger problems in Missouri, connecting police violence with the disparities in the death penalty system in Missouri shows a clear pattern of discrimination and racism.