Police Brutality in 2021
In 2021, there were two high profile convictions of police officers for killing Black men in Minneapolis alone. There was also the convictions of the three men involved in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Overall, it can be argued that there has been increased awareness for police brutality cases due to high media coverage and the protests of 2020. Despite this, the New York Times writes that data shows that the number of deadly encounters with police have remained very high, and accountability has not changed significantly. Criminal justice professor Philip M. Stinson argues that police officer's fear of Black people must be addressed in order for there to be change. On the other hand, Jim Pasco, the executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police claims that the lack of criminal charges signifies the lawful nature of most police shootings rather than neglected accountability (Arango, Tim, and Giulia Heyward).
In 2021, 21 officers were charged with murder or manslaughter for a shooting, which is higher than the 16 officers in 2020 (but five of the officers were charged for the same encounter). However, people are still killed by police officers at the same rate, and Black people are still 2.5-3 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than white people (Arango, Tim, and Giulia Heyward). |
Since Mr. Floyd’s death in May of last year, 1,646 people have been killed by the police, or about three people per day on average, according to Mapping Police Violence, a nonprofit that tracks people killed by the police. Although murder or manslaughter charges against officers have increased this year, criminal charges, much less convictions, remain exceptionally rare" (Arango, Tim, and Giulia Heyward). |
What is the Status of Defunding the Police?
A year after the summer 2020 protests, Ph.D. students Joshua Ferrer and Joyce Nguy at the University of California at Los Angeles analyzed the connection between local protests' intensity and subsequent changes to law enforcement expenditures. They found that overall, cities with more intense protests significantly reduced their spending on police, but this wasn't true across the board. Some cities even increased their expenditures.
In order to do this research, Ferrer and Nguy collected municipal law enforcement spending data from Smart Cities Dive, a platform with verified police budgets, and collected data on protests from the Crowd Counting Consortium. They included all pro-BLM and racial justice protests in their analysis of police budgets and protests between May 26 and July 31, 2020. They measured protest intensity by the per-capita number of participants, and police expenditure differences as the change between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021.
Cities with more intense protests decreased their police funds more than cities with less intense protests. In cities with high turnout, police expenditures were reduced by about $12 per resident. Cities with minimal turnout increased their police spending by an average of $2 per resident. However, even in cities where police spending was reduced, law enforcement's share of the overall budget may have remained the same, or even increased, because the overall budget was reduced due to COVID-19. Cities have even hid police expenditures in other parts of the budget to avoid backlash.
The research also suggests that cities that were more liberal, Democratic, and white had a higher intensity, while more conservative cities saw less turnout (Ferrer and Nguy).
Learn more:
In order to do this research, Ferrer and Nguy collected municipal law enforcement spending data from Smart Cities Dive, a platform with verified police budgets, and collected data on protests from the Crowd Counting Consortium. They included all pro-BLM and racial justice protests in their analysis of police budgets and protests between May 26 and July 31, 2020. They measured protest intensity by the per-capita number of participants, and police expenditure differences as the change between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021.
Cities with more intense protests decreased their police funds more than cities with less intense protests. In cities with high turnout, police expenditures were reduced by about $12 per resident. Cities with minimal turnout increased their police spending by an average of $2 per resident. However, even in cities where police spending was reduced, law enforcement's share of the overall budget may have remained the same, or even increased, because the overall budget was reduced due to COVID-19. Cities have even hid police expenditures in other parts of the budget to avoid backlash.
The research also suggests that cities that were more liberal, Democratic, and white had a higher intensity, while more conservative cities saw less turnout (Ferrer and Nguy).
Learn more:
- "Did last year’s Black Lives Matter protests push cities to defund police? Yes and no." (The Washington Post)
- These US cities defunded police: 'We're transferring money to the community' (The Guardian)
- ‘We Have Not Defunded Anything’: Big Cities Boost Police Budgets (Bloomberg CityLab)
- New push to disband Minneapolis police after Floyd’s death (AP)