Justice Department Pressed for Data on Fatal Police Shootings
The ACLU and many other organizations have asked the Department of Justice to release more information on the shootings.
The ACLU says it works to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
Ninety-six organizations have sent a letter spearheaded by the American Civil Liberties Union pressing the Department of Justice on the need for states and law enforcement to collect and report data on fatal police shootings as part of the implementation of the Death In Custody Reporting Act (DICRA).
“It is unacceptable that two years after Ferguson and the enactment of the Death In Custody Reporting Act, the federal government is not properly collecting data on fatal police shootings. We have reached a state of crisis with our police-community relations, and solutions can only come once we have solid data,” Kanya Bennett, ACLU legislative counsel, says. “When the Department of Justice disregards DICRA so that states do not have to be the primary entity collecting and reporting data, the federal government sends the message that it is not serious about changing the status quo in policing. These circumstances are likely to create future situations like we saw in Ferguson and other cities, unless the federal government provides real oversight and accountability of the state and local law enforcement that it provides millions of dollars to annually.”
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ACLU affiliates and local organizations in the states below also sent individual letters today to the Department of Justice, calling for the need of information on deaths in police custody:
- California
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Nebraska
- New Jersey
- New York
- Ohio
- Utah
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Read the full ACLU national coalition letter.
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