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| If you value the Guardian’s work to count police killings, please support our efforts If you value the Guardian’s work to count police killings, please support our efforts | |
| (2 months later) | |
| You may have seen this week that the Department of Justice unveiled details of a national system that will require police to report officer-involved deaths for the first time. | You may have seen this week that the Department of Justice unveiled details of a national system that will require police to report officer-involved deaths for the first time. |
| It’s a significant step forward for transparency in the criminal justice system, and this vital form of record keeping is something Guardian US has been calling for since launching The Counted in June 2015, our project to document and expose all police killings across America. | It’s a significant step forward for transparency in the criminal justice system, and this vital form of record keeping is something Guardian US has been calling for since launching The Counted in June 2015, our project to document and expose all police killings across America. |
| Our database, which has influenced the government’s new program, aimed to construct the most thorough public accounting for the use of deadly force by the police in the United States. | Our database, which has influenced the government’s new program, aimed to construct the most thorough public accounting for the use of deadly force by the police in the United States. |
| We realized there was no reliable data to test claims of racial bias or brutality within police forces around America, and, as such, no true picture of the scope and scale of the issues at the center of an intense national debate. | We realized there was no reliable data to test claims of racial bias or brutality within police forces around America, and, as such, no true picture of the scope and scale of the issues at the center of an intense national debate. |
| The Counted records not just police shootings but other fatalities, including deaths in custody like Freddie Gray in Baltimore, and the fatal chokehold such as that used on Eric Garner in New York City in 2014. | The Counted records not just police shootings but other fatalities, including deaths in custody like Freddie Gray in Baltimore, and the fatal chokehold such as that used on Eric Garner in New York City in 2014. |
| This undertaking – and the sheer enormity of the task – was something that no government agency has done, despite the disturbing number of fatal encounters with police, and the protest movement that has followed black teenager Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. | This undertaking – and the sheer enormity of the task – was something that no government agency has done, despite the disturbing number of fatal encounters with police, and the protest movement that has followed black teenager Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. |
| Our team of reporters has worked tirelessly over the past 18 months to bring together this data and verify it – and, in doing so, to tell the stories of the people who have been killed. | Our team of reporters has worked tirelessly over the past 18 months to bring together this data and verify it – and, in doing so, to tell the stories of the people who have been killed. |
| It has required hours and hours of reporting time, countless freedom of information requests, many miles of travel across the United States to uncover stories firsthand, and rigorous analysis. | It has required hours and hours of reporting time, countless freedom of information requests, many miles of travel across the United States to uncover stories firsthand, and rigorous analysis. |
| We have pursued individual cases and brought them to national attention. Last week in Virginia, a rare manslaughter conviction was handed down in the case of a police officer, Stephen Rankin, who killed William Chapman, an unarmed black 18-year-old accused of shoplifting in Portsmouth in April last year. Chapman’s mother, Sallie, had told the Guardian: “I feel alone. Because my son is gone and because nobody is trying to help me understand why.” | We have pursued individual cases and brought them to national attention. Last week in Virginia, a rare manslaughter conviction was handed down in the case of a police officer, Stephen Rankin, who killed William Chapman, an unarmed black 18-year-old accused of shoplifting in Portsmouth in April last year. Chapman’s mother, Sallie, had told the Guardian: “I feel alone. Because my son is gone and because nobody is trying to help me understand why.” |
| The killing of Chapman was brought to widespread attention by our senior reporter Jon Swaine, who told the story of his life and death and revealed that Rankin, who had killed before, was the officer who opened fire on Chapman. | The killing of Chapman was brought to widespread attention by our senior reporter Jon Swaine, who told the story of his life and death and revealed that Rankin, who had killed before, was the officer who opened fire on Chapman. |
| Without this kind of comprehensive, independent reporting, bringing much needed scrutiny to these cases, more families would grieve alone. | Without this kind of comprehensive, independent reporting, bringing much needed scrutiny to these cases, more families would grieve alone. |
| Until the news this week, the Guardian, alongside other crowdsourced projects such as Killed by Police and Fatal Encounters, and the Washington Post, who collated police shootings, were the only outlets bringing this information together. | Until the news this week, the Guardian, alongside other crowdsourced projects such as Killed by Police and Fatal Encounters, and the Washington Post, who collated police shootings, were the only outlets bringing this information together. |
| What the data shows is confronting: last year, we recorded 1,146 people killed by the police in the United States, and young African American men were nine times more likely to be killed than any other demographic group. Black people were almost twice as likely to be unarmed. Our total was more than twice the rate last documented by the FBI, which relied on police departments voluntarily submitting data. | What the data shows is confronting: last year, we recorded 1,146 people killed by the police in the United States, and young African American men were nine times more likely to be killed than any other demographic group. Black people were almost twice as likely to be unarmed. Our total was more than twice the rate last documented by the FBI, which relied on police departments voluntarily submitting data. |
| This year, so far we have counted 653 fatalities. We hoped that by showing this could be done, we could make clear the case for national recording of police killings. | This year, so far we have counted 653 fatalities. We hoped that by showing this could be done, we could make clear the case for national recording of police killings. |
| If you value such journalism – the kind that pushes for real change and requires dogged, time-consuming, investigative reporting work – I’d like to ask you to help us fund it by becoming a Guardian Supporter for just $4.99 a month. | If you value such journalism – the kind that pushes for real change and requires dogged, time-consuming, investigative reporting work – I’d like to ask you to help us fund it by becoming a Guardian Supporter for just $4.99 a month. |
| It is expensive to produce this journalism, and like many other US media outlets, we are operating in a volatile media landscape. But we care deeply about doing this work here at Guardian US, which is also why we’d like to keep you updated on key developments and stories around issues of criminal justice. | It is expensive to produce this journalism, and like many other US media outlets, we are operating in a volatile media landscape. But we care deeply about doing this work here at Guardian US, which is also why we’d like to keep you updated on key developments and stories around issues of criminal justice. |
| Once a month, the reporters on the Counted team – Jon Swaine, Oliver Laughland, Jamiles Lartey and Ciara McCarthy – will send you a newsletter with news related to The Counted and broader US reporting on the criminal justice system. | Once a month, the reporters on the Counted team – Jon Swaine, Oliver Laughland, Jamiles Lartey and Ciara McCarthy – will send you a newsletter with news related to The Counted and broader US reporting on the criminal justice system. |
| Thank you for reading and supporting the Guardian. | Thank you for reading and supporting the Guardian. |
| Lee Glendinning | Lee Glendinning |
| Editor Guardian US | Editor Guardian US |