The FBI is launching a new database to track how often police use deadly force
On Wednesday, FBI Director James Comey announced the agency will soon release a database that will track police use of deadly force. Comey told members of Congress during an ongoing oversight hearing that the database will be "up and running within two years," and that it will keep a tally of how many deaths are caused nationwide by police, The Associated Press reported.
Many, including Comey, have long been critical of the lack of such a database, as the information is increasingly in demand following numerous controversial cases of police violence over the last two years. Last October, Comey called it "embarrassing and ridiculous" that officials were not able to determine whether two high-profile police shootings were "isolated events or part of an alarming trend," The Washington Post reported. "It is unacceptable," Comey said, that media outlets like The Washington Post and The Guardian are the "lead source of information about violent encounters between police and civilians."
Comey is hopeful the database will allow future conversations about police violence to be shaped by the facts. "Everybody gets why it matters," he said Wednesday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Georgia's new foreign influence bill
Under the Radar Critics claim the 'Russian law' could stifle dissent and wreck the country's chances of joining the EU
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
'Making a police state out of the liberal university'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
8 looming climate tipping points that imperil our planet
The Explainer New reports detail the thresholds we may be close to crossing
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published