Record number of police killings in 2023 points to the urgent need to adopt National Urban League’s 21 Pillars, enact George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – “The only way to get this number down significantly would be to make more significant changes to, you know, what policing means in this country.” & – Justin Nix, criminal justice professor, University of Nebraska Omaha The sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed Tony Cox in Michigan last month said he had a gun. He didn’t. The deputies said Cox pointed at them with “a two-handed posture.” But in the single still image police released – it’s not clear whether it’s from a body camera or dashboard – Cox is facing away from the camera. Related Stories Police in Fayetteville, N.C., who shot and killed DeMarcus Brodie during a traffic stop on Thanksgiving Day haven’t explained why they stopped Brodie, or how the encounter escalated into violence. Cox and Brodie are two of the 1,329 people killed by police in the United States last year, the deadliest year for police killings since 2013. Black people are three times as likely to be killed by police as White people. Almost 90% of the victims died by gunfire. It’s no mystery why police killings continue to escalate: the nation is awash in guns, too many police are poorly trained, and...