National data on shootings by police not collected

By Alan Maimon
© 2011, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Nov. 28, 2011 | 12:00 a.m.

Looking for the number of burglaries last year in Devils Lake, N.D.? How about the increase in property crimes in Caribou, Maine? The answers (34 and 23 percent, respectively) are readily available from the FBI.

Want detailed information on how many people were shot by police in the United States last year?

That's not so easy to find.

The nation's leading law enforcement agency collects vast amounts of information on crime nationwide, but missing from this clearinghouse are statistics on where, how often, and under what circumstances police use deadly force. In fact, no one anywhere comprehensively tracks the most significant act police can do in the line of duty: take a life.

"We don't have a mandate to do that," said William Carr, an FBI spokesman in Washington, D.C. "It would take a request from Congress for us to collect that data."

Congress, it seems, hasn't asked.
www.lvrj.com...

Hardly a day goes by that we don't hear about a police shooting, all too often with the "suspect" handcuffed in a cop car that ends up being reported as a suicide.

Hmmm what do you think, maybe another harshly written whitehouse petition? Letters to our 85% disapproved congress critters?

Nah, we'll just blame gun owners, they're dangerous.

whatreallyhappened.com...

Some sources have ongoing or MAJOR past problems and get blocked as the source being used automatically. I know of two I've found the hard way... Just use another linked source. It's not the story, but the link you used.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


The Las Vegas Review Journal has a shady agenda?

reply to post by frazzle

Well, I'm not getting into any specific sources as it would be a policy I enforce myself on another site I do moderate at, for the same reasons and circumstances I'd guess it's a policy here. I don't know that for certain on precise reasoning here...but the issues are legitimate and pretty self evident.

Some media outlets, and not many, have used litigation where consideration and courtesy may have worked better in any given situation. Pretty legally generic way of saying it, eh?

Welcome to the internet 2.0