Sunday, December 14, 2014

Louisville Police Shootings More Deadly This Year

They're holding die-ins at UK and Fayette Mall, and candlelight vigils in Shelbyville.  Southern-mannered Kentucky is officially fed to the teeth with this shit.

Scott Utterback at the Courier:

The 15 rounds the deputies fired at him in that parking lot last March were the first shots in what has become the deadliest year for local police in at least a decade. Law enforcement officers in Louisville have shot and killed five people in 2014 — more than in the last five years combined.

While the total number of police shootings has not drastically increased — officers have fired at suspects seven times this year, compared to an annual average of six — more of those targets have died.

The police report no change in policy, weaponry or training that might account for the sudden shift.

SNIP

The surrounding debate has opened old wounds about race and policing in Louisville, a decade after a string of black men were killed by officers and an infuriated citizenry criticized police as too quick to pull the trigger.

Last month, hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Louisville to march when a Missouri grand jury declined to indict the white officer who shot Brown. Other vigils and demonstrations have taken over courtyards, events and sidewalks across town. For a month, activists have gathered every Monday afternoon outside the police department, accusing the police of brutality and racial profiling.

"No justice, no peace. No racist police," they chant.

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