Our Killer Cops

To say the least, it is beyond unacceptable for American cops to murder about 100 people a year during routine traffic stops.

Police in the US have killed nearly 600 people during traffic stops since 2017, with the deaths continuing apace this year, a review of national police violence data shows.

The numbers add urgency to the growing push from advocates to prevent deadly stops and remove officers from traffic enforcement following the police killing of Patrick Lyoya, a Black Michigan man, earlier this month.

Encounters with police during traffic stops, including minor infractions, disproportionately harm people of color, according to data collected by Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research group, which argues that armed police should not be involved in many of these cases.

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There has been renewed scrutiny of traffic stops since the 4 April killing of Lyoya, an unarmed 26-year-old in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was shot in the back of the head after a struggle with an officer who pulled him over for having a mismatched license plate. Lyoya’s death is the most recent that has captured headlines and calls for change.

Daunte Wright, 20, was killed after being pulled over for an expired registration tag and a hanging air freshener; Sandra Bland, 28, was stopped for failing to signal; and 32-year-old Philando Castile died following a traffic stop after an officer claimed he looked like a suspect in a recent robbery, citing his “wide-set nose”.

They all look the same…..

Here’s one place to start–no guns for traffic cops.