Senators Call for Mandatory Reporting of Police Killings

The Guardian reports that Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, have proposed legislation to make all state law enforcement agencies submit reports about killings by their officers, to the US Department of Justice. 

The Police Reporting of Information, Data and Evidence (Pride) Act, aims to bring transparency and accountability to law enforcement agencies nationwide.

According to Boxer, 

“Too many members of the public and police officers are being killed, and we don’t have reliable statistics to track these tragic incidents.This bill will ensure that we know the full extent of the problem so we can save lives on all sides."

"The proposed legislation would see government officials collect information on the age, gender and race of anyone who was shot, injured, or killed in any way by law enforcement officer. The date, time, and precise location of the incident would also be collected.

The federal government does not currently collect a comprehensive record of people killed by police forces throughout the US. Instead, the FBI runs a voluntary program where law enforcement can chose to submit their count of 'justifiable homicides' each year.

The Boxer-Booker plan would also demand details of whether or not the person killed was armed with a weapon. The Guardian disclosed on Monday that 102 of 467 people who died at the hands of law enforcement so far this year were unarmed. Black people killed by police were twice as likely to have been unarmed as white people."

It's about time, isn't it? Do you guys support this bill? Please discuss below. And be sure to check out The Counted database, where all data on police killings will be reported.