by Reuters
March 24, 2015
NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.
Poor training led Philadelphia police officers to the mistaken belief that fearing for their lives alone justified the use of deadly force, a new Justice Department review has found. That fear resulted in 394 shootings over a seven-year period.
The 'Assessment of Deadly Force in the Philadelphia Police Department,' released Monday, came with 48 findings and 91 recommendations by the Justice Department. It found that 81 percent of the victims of officer-involved shootings were African-American men in their twenties; 59 percent of the shootings were carried out by white officers; and most shootings occurred in majority black neighborhoods. Those neighborhoods in northern Philadelphia were also police districts with the highest patterns of gun violence and homicides.
“We need to lower all the numbers,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said at a news conference, according to The Associated Press. “Folks need to stop killing each other.”