Why Fatal Police Shootings Aren’t Declining: Some Uncomfortable Facts

Why Fatal Police Shootings Aren’t Declining: Some Uncomfortable Facts
Police tape secures a crime scene in Brooklyn, in New York City, on Oct. 12, 2019. Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images
James Varney
Abigail Degnan
RealClearInvestigations
Updated:
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News Analysis
When Dexter Reed died in a shootout with Chicago police on March 21, the incident was quickly grafted onto a narrative that began in 2014 after a policeman killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri—namely, that the United States faces an epidemic of violence by unbridled cops who do not believe black lives matter. “Killing of Dexter Reed raises questions about Chicago police reform. ‘The message is, go in guns blazing,’” blared a headline in the Chicago Sun-Times.
James Varney is staff writer at RealClearPolitics. Previously he was a national correspondent for The Washington Times. Varney is currently based in Mandeville, Louisiana.