Welcome to another day in racial discrimination. And it looks like Black people are not the only ones experiencing it in this case.
In the last month, there have been many cases of police officers using deadly force and excessive force on Black people and other people of color.
According to a report from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, deputies are disproportionately using force against Black and Native American people. Shocking.
The report displays how Black people are 5.62 times more likely, and Native American people are 2.31 times more likely to have force used against them by Pierce County Deputies.
As a result, the Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance is calling for a civil rights probe into the Pierce County Deputies.
From Fox 13 Seattle:
Most concerningly, the report found Black children experience force between seven and 13 times more often than white children.
In light of this, WaBLM lead strategist Sakara Remmu met with U.S. Attorney Nick Brown to discuss launching a civil rights investigation against the agency.
“It doesn’t get more clear than these numbers; the need for a new vision for justice is overdue at the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department,” said WaBLM’s Carol Mitchell, who formerly served as Senior Counsel for Justice Services in Pierce County.
The report suggests that deputies also filed ‘limited information’ on their justifications for using force when documenting it.
With the passing of police reform legislation in 2021, the report recommends a thorough analysis of how the changes will affect the disproportionate use of force, as well as updating statewide standards of data collection to provide better information across counties.
Per the report from Fox 13 Seattle, Carol Mitchell, who in the past served as Senior Counsel for Justice Services in Pierce County, wants the investigation to go federal and is calling for the U.S Department of Justice to step in and probe the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
I don’t blame her, the numbers are appalling. But, this situation is not unique to Pierce County. It’s a problem happening all around the country. Data like this seems to be saying the same thing in counties and cities where people of color live.