Why Do US Cops Keep Killing Unarmed Black Men?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 19 May 2015
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Recent high profile cases of unarmed black men dying at the hands of the US police have sparked outrage, protests and civil unrest in several American cities. The deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Walter Scott and Freddie Gray are – some claim – evidence of long-standing problems with police racism and excessive violence. But what do we really know about what’s happening? Our expert witnesses this week explain the issues of racism, bias and police use of force. And the head of President Obama’s taskforce on police reform, Charles Ramsey, tells us that fixing the problem will involve much more than just fixing the police.
(Photo: Demonstration in St Louis, Missouri, following the shooting of Michael Brown. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:24.9 | searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds. |
| 0:29.3 | BBC World Service this is Helena Merriman with the inquiry. |
| 0:35.0 | This week, why do US cops keep killing unarmed black men. |
| 0:45.8 | It's 930 in the morning and 50 year old Walter Scott, a coastguard veteran and |
| 0:50.6 | father of four is driving into a parking lot. A police car signals for him to pull |
| 0:55.8 | over. His brake light is broken. Officer Slager gets out and checks his papers. |
| 1:02.2 | Suddenly, Walter Scott makes a run for it. A passer-by notices |
| 1:06.8 | what's going on and starts filming. The video shows the two men in a scuffle. Walter Scott runs off, |
| 1:14.5 | Officer Slager reaches for his gun, |
| 1:17.1 | takes aim and fires, eight times. |
| 1:20.4 | An investigation later reveals that Walter Scott was wanted for arrest on a minor charge, |
| 1:28.0 | but that he was unarmed. A few weeks ago, Officer Slager was charged with his murder. |
| 1:35.0 | There have been other deaths too, Michael Brown, Errik Garner, Freddie Gray, |
| 1:40.0 | yet there are many more, and those deaths an outpouring of anger. |
| 1:47.0 | Amid that anger, one question, why do US cops keep killing unarmed black men? Part 1, missing numbers. |
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