October, 03 2016, 02:15pm EDT
ACLU And 90 Organizations Press Justice Department for Data on Fatal Police Shootings
WASHINGTON
Ninety-six organizations sent a letter today spearheaded by the American Civil Liberties Union pressing the Department of Justice on the need for states and law enforcement to collect and report data on fatal police shootings as part of the implementation of the Death In Custody Reporting Act (DICRA).
Kanya Bennett, ACLU legislative counsel, had the following reaction:
"It is unacceptable that two years after Ferguson and the enactment of the Death In Custody Reporting Act, the federal government is not properly collecting data on fatal police shootings. We have reached a state of crisis with our police-community relations, and solutions can only come once we have solid data.
"When the Department of Justice disregards DICRA so that states do not have to be the primary entity collecting and reporting data, the federal government sends the message that it is not serious about changing the status quo in policing. These circumstances are likely to create future situations like we saw in Ferguson and other cities, unless the federal government provides real oversight and accountability of the state and local law enforcement that it provides millions of dollars to annually."
ACLU affiliates and local organizations in the states below also sent individual letters today to the Department of Justice, calling for the need of information on deaths in police custody:
California
Connecticut
Illinois
Kentucky
Maryland
Minnesota
Missouri
North Carolina
Nebraska
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
South Dakota
Tennessee
Virginia
Wisconsin
The ACLU national coalition letter is online here: https://www.aclu.org/letter/dicra-coalition-letter-dept-justice
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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