One of the ugliest news stories of 2014, both locally and nationally, was the homicide rate and the rate of fatal police shootings.
In 2013, Indianapolis’ recorded 125 homicides, its highest rate in seven years, but as of press time, the city was well on its way to 150 for 2014.
Hundreds of thousands of people across the country, of all races and ethnicities chanted “Black lives matter” regards to the police shootings of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice and the strangulation of Eric Garner. And that’s simply a glimpse of the “ugly” African-Americans have faced. Each year, situations arise that emerge into the sectors of the good, the bad and the ugly, however 2014 was a very “ugly” year for African-Americans.
More than 1,000 killed
The 2013 killing of Trayvon Martin sparked anger and pain in the Black community, and sadly slayings of several other Black men made national headlines in 2014. It is difficult to determine the exact number of people killed by police officers each year. While the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) holds a record of those killed each year, these numbers do not accurately equal those also kept the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many police killings go unreported because participation by departments is voluntary. However, it’s estimated that police killed more than 1,000 people in 2014.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program is defined as “a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of more than 18,000 city, university, and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought to their attention.”
Alexia Cooper, statistician with the Bureau of Justice Statistics stated “What we know is that some places have chosen not to report these, for whatever reason.”
In some cases police departments, for example the station located in Washington, D.C. did not report any homicides for 10 years starting in 1998, the year the city experienced a peak of officer-involved killings.
One anonymous citizen-run database, has recorded the number of police killings since 2013. The spreadsheet set up on killedbypolice.net show a record of 1,089 police killings of all ages and ethnicities since January 1, 2014. The spreadsheet includes the victim’s state, gender, race, age, name and provides an online link to where the story was reported by the media. While an overwhelming amount of victims were male, a large amount were also identified as “Black.” A Facebook page titled “Killed by Police” is also available. While these numbers only reflect the number reported, the number of people involved in police killings has risen by 340 individuals in 2014 according to the site.
Angry riots emerged across the country, including those in Ferguson, Mo. after unarmed Black teenager, Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson Police Department Officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. Protests sprang up like wildfire as the public was given very little information on the incident. Thousands of Americans protested in the streets, and many were arrested, including reporters and activists such as the legendary Cornel West.
Following the St. Louis County’s grand jury ruling to not indict Officer Wilson in late November, several buildings were vandalized and burned.
On Dec. 3, a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, Daniel Pantaleo, 29, who was involved in the killing of unarmed Black man Eric Garner on July 17, was also not indicted by the grand jury due to “no reasonable cause.”
On July 17 on Staten Island, Garner was stopped by multiple police officers in the suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes. Garner immediately raised both hands in the air but was then choked from behind by Pantaleo in an attempt to pull him onto the sidewalk. Garner shouted “I can’t breathe!” as he was brought to the ground. He was pronounced dead later that day. The entire incident was recorded and released to the public.
Tamir Rice’s death, the 12-year-old who was killed by police in Cleveland, Ohio on Nov. 22 was officially ruled as a homicide. Rice was killed by authorities who say they mistook Rice’s air gun for a real firearm. The child was said to have also been mistaken as an adult.
Christmas Eve brought more sorrow when Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, stated on social media “They Take 1 Of Ours…Let’s Take 2 of Theirs. This May Be My Final Post,” shortly before surprising and killing two NYPD officers in their patrol car. Brinsley’s murders of two police officers only seemed to widen an American racial divide.
Indianapolis crime rate
In 2013, Indianapolis’ crime rate spiked higher than that of Chicago’s rate and more than 129 homicides were recorded out of the 55,085 total reported crimes, but in 2014, Indianapolis was well on its way to reaching 150.
“It’s going to take us, the whole city,” said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Chaplain David Coatie. “There is no such thing as ‘what are the police going to do?’ because once the community is involved, there is no separation.”
Due to the increased crime rate, Mayor Greg Ballard assembled a task force to address many of Indianapolis’ ills, including crime, titled “Your Life Matters.” The report received rave reviews where it outlined a plethora of problems negatively impacting Black males age 14 to 24 in the city.
In addition to the report, which also addresses youth employment, mentoring, justice and re-entry, juvenile justice, education and health, IMPD plans to hire 280 police officers by 2018. Currently there are more than 1,400 officers on duty, with 55 in training, according to IMPD Chief Rick Hite.
In early October, the Department of Public Safety released a crime prevention plan which will target six of the city’s most dangerous areas. These locations make up 4.7 percent of the population but also account for 27.1 percent of criminal homicides.
“We’ve done this without a lot of resources, but now we need you,” said Hite. “Two officers lost their lives. We’ve given everything we have to give you folks. We squeezed the belt as tight as we can but we need your help right now.” In 2014, Indiana saw an unprecedented three back-to-back police funerals, said Joe Hamer, a former Gary police officer who leads the Indiana FOP Critical Incident/Memorial Committee. They included: IMPD fficer Perry Renn, 51, Gary police officer Jeffrey Westerfield, 47, and Tipton County sheriff’s deputy Jacob Calvin.
Black lives matter
The decision to not indict created chaos not only in New York City, but other cities around the country as well. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the streets and on college campuses to protest for justice for the lives taken. Many lay in the streets of Times Square shouting “I can’t breathe.” Shortly after the “Black Lives Matter” movement began. Protesters of all ages and ethnicities gathered together to express a message that Black lives truly do matter, and they weren’t willing to stand around and wait for another killing to happen.
As 2015 begins, many questions remain: Will 2015 be any different than 2014 and previous years? Will police departments be required to report officer-involved homicides? Will the Black community stand together to fight for justice instead of fighting one another?
