Advertisement

Here’s How Many People Police Killed In 2015

CREDIT: DYLAN PETROHILOS/THINKPROGRESS
CREDIT: DYLAN PETROHILOS/THINKPROGRESS

Despite public protests, occupations, direct action, and increased public scrutiny, U.S. police killed more people in 2015 than in 2014. While numbers vary from source to source — the Washington Post cites 975, while the Guardian puts the tally at 1,125 — the website killedbypolice.net found that police have killed 1,186 people in 2015 (the U.S. government currently does not track how many people are killed in police encounters.)

CREDIT: Dylan Petrohilos/ThinkProgress
CREDIT: Dylan Petrohilos/ThinkProgress

The data from killedbypolice.net show that white people are the largest group of killed by the police. But when taken together, the number of people of color killed by police — Latino, black, Asian, and indigenous people — surpasses the number of whites. As ThinkProgress noted last year, young black men are 21 times more likely to be killed by cops than young white men, according to a ProPublica analysis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also compiled data which show that people of color are most likely to be killed by cops overall.

The data also show that California, Texas, and Florida lead the U.S. in terms of deadly police encounters.

Advertisement