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The FBI Is Finally Taking a Huge Step in Fighting Police Brutality [PSMag.com]

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This year's preliminary federal report on crime in the United States, drawn from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system, is full of good news. Violent crimes decreased by 0.2 percent compared to 2013, continuing a steady decline in nationwide crime rates since a peak in the 1970s and 80s. And despite anxiety over rioting and looting in protest-gripped cities like Ferguson and Baltimore, property crimes fell 4.3 percent since last year. Even sexual assaults showed a slight decrease. America, it seems, is getting safer.

But the goods news isn't in the data; it's in the promise of even more information. In an accompanyingannouncement, FBI Director James Comey declared that the agency would start collecting more complete data on shootings involving police officers. As of April, the FBI had already begun requesting more data from local police departments as part of a major overhaul of its UCR system. But Comey's statement comes an explicit acknowledgement of the protests that have rocked the nation over the past year:

"Once we receive this data, we will add a special publication that focuses on law enforcement's use of force in shooting incidents," Comey said. "We hope this information ... will help to dispel misperceptions, foster accountability and promote transparency in how law enforcement personnel relate to the communities they serve."

 

[For more of this story, written by Jared Keller, go to http://www.psmag.com/politics-...ing-police-brutality]

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